Boxingtalkers sound off about Taylor-Wright!

By Loyal Boxingtalk Readers

19/06/2006

Boxingtalkers sound off about Taylor-Wright!

Although not the subject of my E-mail, I had Jermain winning 115-113 and wouldnt have been shocked if it went the other way around by the same margin so I am in no way disappointed in a draw verdict. Regardless of opinion I am sure most would agree this was by far the most entertaining Winky Wright fight ever. So instead of Manning up, saying" it was a great fight that I felt i won, he wont be so lucky next time". Winky(Future Promoter) slunk off to sulk, only to whine when 108 year old merchant finally ran him down(vargas all over again indeed). I hope by the time the post fight conference is started Gary Shaw slaps a little sense into him with a stack of benjamins. What should have been a natural lead-in for a rematch on ppv, was seriously dampened by Wrights classless display. I know Winks your boy, but instead of talking about a great fight, me and the boys were left yappin about winky and various other fighters that disrespected fans and their opponents with displays like that. Winky had a golden opportunity to get the acceptance he craves, in an epic battle(s) with a challenging opponent and he goes all sour grapes on us. Just didnt look good. Like i say hopefully by tomorrow we are reading about Winky congratulating Jermain for retaining his title, apoligizing to hbo and their fans for his hasty frustration induced tirade and asks the Champion for another crack at his crown. If not for his last 3 fights alone, JT has proven himself a true champion by the way he carries himself and the challenges he accepts. He most certainly wants another crack at Wright and would accept it happily. This is the only fight that makes the sense next for either of these guys why would Winky self destruct it, either he had his visions of oscar dashed or he wants no more of Jermains straight right hand. Im sure cooler heads will prevail and a rematch will take place in november,Winky will need to be much better(as he usually is the bigger the chip on his shoulder) as jermain most certainly will be. I cant wait to hearJermains "stop your cryin' bernard you lost" speech on Winky, that alone will fire him up,  makes for good theatre. And if he gets past JT next time he should give Vargas that rematch he never got cause he oviously still loses zzzzs over that, and more importantly its a fight fans would enjoy and would make money. and i doubt HBO is paying for Wright/Solaman II.   have a nice day -elhubbo

 

This is the problem with boxing.  Winky Wright clearly won the fight.  I am not saying he blew Taylor out, or anything like that but it was a clear 115-113 victory for Wright.  From a scoring standpoint, it was like DeLaHoya vs Mosley #1.  Moslely clearly won a 115-113 fight against DeLaHoya.  Also, how in the hell does 2 out of 3 judges give Taylor the last round.  There is no way he landed more than Winky in that last round.  Taylor looked to happy to get the draw because he knew deep down inside he lost.  With all that being said, I think Taylor wins a rematch, but we all said the same thing after Taylor/Hopkins I.This fight really makes you wonder who would win between nard and winky at middleweight.  I give a slight edge to Nard but I really dont know, what do you think. Peace Out

Despite HBO's blatantly one-sided telecast, Wright clearly won, minimally by scores of 115-113, even if you give Taylor round 12, which I did.Wright was the aggressor, had the better defense, and showed far superior ring generalship throughout the entire fight. Taylor got 5 rounds from some great punches and paste jobs at times, but could not mount any sustained offense. He was confused mid-way through the fight and had no real game plan other then pot shotting and trying to flurry. Which he did effectively, but not nearly as much as he needed to. Taylor's facial expression alone at the end of the fight and at the announcement of the draw shows who won the fight. He has arguably gotten 3 gift decisions in a row (I scored the last Hopkins fight was a draw, and the 1st a win for Bernard.) Although in the Hopkins cases I can see room for disagreement and respect that. For this fight, one fighter was clearly more skilled. Imagine what woulkd have happened if Emanuel Steward had not taken him under his wing? Taylor's greatest strength is his promoter and his relationship with HBO. He seems like a really nice guy, but lacks the heart and will that seperated the photogenic from true champions. The cable network/promoter did a great job in protecting their fighter one again. Wladmir Klitchko [sic] anyone HBO's cheerleading was sickening and the broadcasters should be ashamed of themselves. Surprisingly, Lennox Lewis came out of his shell and elivered great blow by blow anaylisis though. Glad I didn't bet on this fight.

What's up man, great job as always keeping the site top notch on a daily basis.  Well I just got done watching the Wright vs Taylor fight, and I was shocked at how entertaining it was.  Winky was flat out stupid to just take the last round off, he must have thought he had already won  8 rounds, and that was clearly not the case.  I didn't hear the corner say he had the fight won easily, so I gotta blame Wink.  I scored it 114-114, but could see it 7rounds to 5 for either guy.  It's getting frustrating whenever a guy loses a close fight or gets a draw, they scream highway robbery, that act is getting tired.  Anyways I'm curious how you scored it and do you think Winky will change his mind and fight a rematch. If not what's next for the two of them?  By the way props to "Nardfan" on his coverage with Hopkins in New Orleans. Late-attyg3

Hey GGGG Man.... Taylor vs Wright ... where do I start... It was a draw.... Taylor was right... Winky danced the last round.... if you want the championship title... you fight every round .... no matter how close it is ...or how far... you fight fight fight ... Winky proved to me that he had poor sportsmanship. Yes, Winky has gotten cheated out of close fights, but all 3 judges where from out of state. Just because it was in Memphis, I really truely believe there was no such case as favoritism. It was close and Winky didn't finish strong. Bottom Line. Even Emmanual Steward said he doesn't want to go further than that because of Winky's attitude.... Does Winky truely believe he can beat everybody out there. He didn't really lose. It was a draw. He didn't win the title....but he didn't lose. Your thoughts Greg...

hey g, what up dude, long time fan, first time rant.  we don't always agree 50/50 but i respect everything you print and appreciate your content.....that said, i must say a few things about the fight, the predictablility of outcomes, and the bias of HBO (HomeTown Box Office)..Jermain, you and your network should be commended, I mean it's not everyday that a young, big, good looking, undefeated ?haha?,marquis fighter can lose 2 of his past 3 fights (the other a draw with BHop at best in there 2nd) and smile about it afterwards.  I've seen donkey's ass's with a more deserving smile than yours and your networks.  Jermaine, you know (I could see it in your face) that you lost to Winky, as well as the first Championship fight with B-Hop, and the 2nd fight wouldn't have even existed had they given Bernard his "W".  I applaude your network, Homer Box Office. Don't get me wrong, you need to smile, but not for the same reason you believe, you should be smiling to the point of laughter, as you and your Corporate Marketing Bosses at HBO are a joke.  Keep Winkin' Winky, cheers, we the people know. By the way, I watched the fight with 5 people, and all five of us thought Winky won, and 3 of those were Jermaine fans. What do you think Greg, I know it was close, and I was hoping Winkster would have turned it up that notch in the 12th, but i think even without the last round, he had the fight, but Winky is not that marketable or the sole property of the system.......Canadian Boxing Fan


What up G? Man what a surprisingly exciting fight. I thought it was a draw also sitting in my livingroom watching the fight live ,then watching it again the following day. How did you score the fight? I was satisfied with draw b/c boxing is so hard to score, whether you go with harder puncher or the methodical boxer its tough. What's next for Taylor? What about a super fight with Calzaghe? Also is this Oscar & Floyd thing really going to happen? 1 more question G? I know Floyd is your boy & my favorite fighter but why don't you ever put pressure on this guy with more questions when he says its not about the money? Obviously is by chasing an old about to retire legend in Oscar. Just a question for thought. Best site ever! Boston

Taylor and Wright, what a nice little scrap!  I am not a fan of either fighter so I feel that I can look at this objectively. I have to comment that Winky's cries of robbery are absurd. Whether you think he won or lost--and I thought he lost 115-113--it was a close fight. I am not a fighter, thus, I can never fully understand all that goes into preparing for a fight and the emotions that fighters suffer when they think they have been wronged, but Wright was out of line. He claims he "caught" most of Taylor's shots, but his face undermines this claim. He took a solid amount of punishment. His leg even slightly buckled in the first round the first time he caught Taylor's right hand flush. There seems to be a big deal being made of Taylor backing up and allowing Wright to walk him down, however, this was part of Taylor's plan. It was not Winky "giving a boxing lesson" to Taylor. I question that he even deserves points for this. Even Lennox Lewis (who seemed to flow better with Lamps and Larry by the way), noted that Taylor was doing the "right thing" by doing this. It's funny when Soliman landed a good number of "light tapping punches" on Wright in December, Wright supporters claimed that Wright's "more effective" punches deserved the credit. Now, when Taylor landed the harder and more telling blows, that rationale is tossed aside. Forget about Taylor's eye, that was clearly from a headbut (Rahman-Holyfield style to a much lesser degree). Winky shouldn't fight a rematch. If Taylor has a substantial amount of time with Steward--as opposed to an abbreviated camp--he will easily beat Winky in a rematch. Keep up the good work.

What up G. Long time listener 1st time caller?LOL!!!! But honestly, I'm soooo sick and tired of the bullshit? Wink got screwed simple and plain? All of Jermaine's attributes he neutralized? Jermain's Strength, althleticism, and his shot gun job were not even factors in the fight? Wink bullied him across the whole ring, in the corner and on the ropes, landed the sharper punches, and looked as if he was the stronger fighter? Yeah Jermaine thru some hard shots and nice combo's but damn 90% of them landed on Winks gloves and Arms? And even sum of Taylors "cleaner" shots, seemed 2 have no effect what so ever on Wink, I mean he walk him down all night? Taylor was back peddling better than Deion Sanders?LOL!!!!!!!!!!! But when Jermaine went 2 the body, he was landing nice hard clean shots, he jus didn't do it enough? I'm bias to Winky I meet wink twice, @ the floyd vs. Judah ass beating, and @ the Oscar vs. Mayorga fight, and eacht time he was cooo as a fan, very down 2 earth good person, easy to talk to? And he is a joy 2 watch in the ring, he just gets the job done? But bad intentions has a great future in front of him, and being wit Manny Stewart is gone make him a very sound fighter? PS I watchd the fight @ home? While u were there did u run into Floyd, cuz on tv it looks like he then put on @ least 10-15lbs of muscle, if so is that in preperation 4 the fight @ 154 wit oscar, or was the tv playing tricks on me!Ezekial "Bad Ass Yella Boy" Mitchell, LA, CA!!!!!!!!!!!

Great fight Saturday night!  I see nothing wrong with calling that fight a draw.  Winky did next to nothing during the 12th round, somewhat reminiscent of De La Hoya / Trinidad.  If Winky pressed the action in the 12th, he’d have all of the belts right now.  Even Taylor alluded to that. Winky has always been a class act, but I was a little disappointed in his post fight antics.  He’s coming off like Marvin Hagler or Larry Holmes, and he’s made himself the victim.  None of the judges were local, so it not likely that the result would have been different whether it was in Vegas or even St Pete. I hope he reconsiders a rematch, as that could be one of the biggest draws in boxing short of De La Hoya /Mayweather. How about next big fight, you turn Tyson loose with a camera and mic so he can get feet wet as a commentator!  Thanks for the top notch coverage and keep up the good work.Regards, Ted

Hey G its ur boy Bread, All i can say is wow what a fight. High contact high skill level. Taylor is better than i thought and so is Winky. I do have a problem with Gary Shaw and Winky however. This was not Whitaker-Chavez. Its was close as hell i actually had it a draw and as u know i was pulling for Taylor. Listen G i know u probably had Winky winning i know thats ur boy and it could have went either way but u should check these guys when they start bringing up punch stats and other nonsense. I fight is based on 12 individual rounds. Im sure u know but i will state it neway. If one guy wins a few rounds where he connected alot. And the other wins the same amount while not connecting so much but landed hard shots the other guy will have an advantage with the punch stats. Winky should show more class than that and he keeps saying he wasnt getting hit the guy had knots and welps all over his head he got hit plenty.

Yo G, as always, nice work with the site.  Winky didn't impress me much.  I thought he was cheering for himself a bit excessively, and there was no reason for him to storm out of the ring, especially since he didn't even lose and will likely just get another opportunity/payday out of it.  Of all boxers, he should know best that he'd have to win convincingly on the other guy's turf to get the decision, especially in a championship fight.  Winky did show his experience and was impressive when Taylor would inexplicably retreat to the corner.  Taylor fought like a real dumbass at times, keeping his hands too low and not even bothering to pick them up or even attempt to block when Winky had him on the ropes.  As Manny and the broadcast team countlessly pointed out: as long as Taylor was off the ropes, he could handle Winky pretty well.  Taylor did mess up Winky's face pretty bad, while the swelling on Jermain's eye really got serious after a headbutt. It was a good fight (decision could have gone either way), much more action than I expected, but I was disappointed that neither guy stepped up in the 12th.  I think both guys need to realize that a convincing win will be required if they ever meet again.  If they don't fight each other, who do they look to next?

G keep up the good work!  Now to the Wright – Taylor fight.  First off I know you were at the fight in person and I just want to say that you are lucky! Yeah you are lucky to see the fight in person but you are also lucky that you didn’t have to hear Lampley commentate this fight!  I thought it was really bad for the sport, it got so bad that I had to mute my TV! You could clearly see that Taylor’s punches were landing on Winky’s arms and all you hear is “Taylor is catching Winky with 5 punch combos in the middle of the ring!” He spent so much time talking about Taylor that if you were listening to Lampley commentate this fight on the radio you would’ve thought Winky was losing every round! I am sick and tired of Lampley. We as boxing fans need to do something about this, Lampley turned one of the best boxing matches in a couple of years to match that I definitely have to watch again on MUTE! I was wondering do Lampley and Merchant have lifetime contracts? They’ve been broadcasting these fights forever!  G, what can I and other boxing fans do about this? Lampley definitely needs to go!  Thanks for reading this message and hopefully it will be posted on the site for everyone to see.   Ez from CT.


Hey G. Upon further reflection (and another viewing) of Wright/Taylor, I have to give Emmanual Steward maximum props for the way he conducted Jermaine Taylor's corner. I have to disagree with anyone who how suggests that Steward's presence made no signifiant difference in the fight. In fact, Jermaine should slap one of those coveted middleweight belts right around Manny's pudgy  waistline!! Because sure as hell JT would not be champion right now had it not been for Manny's guidance & genius (and subsequently,  the judges scorecards). Notice that when Taylor's eye blew up like an airbag in the later rounds, Manny, did not say ONE WORD about the eye. He just worked the endswell while keeping JT totally focused on the idea of winning the fight, and effectuating that outcome. Thereby JT's attention was OFF of the eye, and ON launching that right hand whenever Winky got too close. Furthemore,  on at least two occasions Jermaine looked visibly worried, discouraged and/or confused about the status of his performance, and I believe Manny's wisdom and surefooted guidance helped get the young fighter past his fleeting insecurity and back on gameplan. And as much as i LOVE Winky Wright, and thought he won the fight, Manny's gameplan was wicked enough to give Winky Wright fits. Far from being his easiest fight, as Winky had suggested it would be, it proved to be his most difficult (and Taylor has since said the same.) So the bottomline is... Manny's strategy and assurity in the corner, I believe, had boatloads to do with JT even getting the draw, and thus retaining the belts. (Conversely, Wink's corner should have sent their man on a "right hook frenzy" in the 12th round to target Taylor's ballooned left eye)  Finally,  I recently read that Emmanual Steward is now saying that he would NOT train JT again should there be rematch, in part due to Wink's sour response to the decison. Greg, I predict that if Manny is not in JT's corner come rematch time, it will be even more onesided in Wink's favor. Which again is why brother Wright should stop BSin' and take the fight! Peace/Blessings Bionic Soy


G your my boy and all and boxingtalk is definately doing the damn thang but I had to write about this one. What happen to the time when a challenger had to "TAKE" the title from the champion, not try to slick out a decision win? On top of that, While Winky was scoring with pitty-pat like punches, JT's punches were harder, stronger, knocking Winky off balance, and had Winky busted up. NO WAY did Winky win that fight! People were saying why did Winky stop trapping JT in the corner? Answer: because Winky didnt want to get hit  with anymore of those hard right hands. Wink did have a cute jab going but the headbutt caused the swelling (as the replay showed) not the jab. All I say is, let's not turn boxing into to the WWF. Let's get back to when a challenger had to clearly beat a champion to win a title. If Winky had gotten the decision should he have been satisfied? Hell No! He was getting waxed all night with those right hands thats why he didn't show up for the press conference. So suck it up Wink, you lost


Hey G, I like you thought that Winky clearly won that fight against Taylor. I had it 116 - 112. Everyone seems to be debating over the last round about Winky taking his foot off the gas but Taylor didn't exactly put the work in did he? He seemed to be out of gas by the end of the 10th and i thought Winky got his 2nd wind and rubber stamped his victory in the last few rounds. What i found interesting here is the fact that Winky decided to take the fight to Taylor and really fought at a high pace. Taylor seemed to want to try and nick the fight and never really imposed himself on Winky. I agree that Taylor at points landed the cleaner punches but as you said Winky outworked him and showed great ring generalship throughout the whole fight. I can see why Winky was fuming afterwards he did everything a challenger should do to take away a champions titles but still came up short. Taylor should count himself a lucky man if i were him i wouldn't be in a hurry to get in the ring with Winky again if he (Winky) fought like that with confidence then imagine him in anger! Peace G. Blinkz, Leeds, UK


Alright, everyone needs to stop acting like Winky Wright was ROBBED and that it was a hometown decision.  They fought in Memphis TENESSEE, not Little Rock Arkansas, yes they are close but it wasn't a hometown decision.  But I just need to say a few things, I don't know what experience boxingtalk readers have in boxing, but I am a boxer and those ineffective light punches from Wright weren't better than the effect punches of Taylor.  Winky's hands could be up, but a lot of those punches were penetrating at about 75% (meaning the glove took away about 25% of the effective/power), but Jermain's 50% power is Winky's 100% power, so that PROFESSIONAL boxing, Jermain's 75% is BETTER than Winky's 100%.  Amateurs is about punch points, but in the Pro game, it is about who you think hurt the other man and did the better job in the round as a whole.  And to all you "hometown judges" people, Taylor WON the last round 100% and a judge gave WINKY that round??  Put that in your pipe and smoke it.  Overall it was a close fight that warrants a rematch and Taylor won or it was a draw, no way did Winky win.  But I love hearing other's perspectives.. later Boxingtalk

G.. Why is it that some people can't accept the fact that close rounds can go either way?  I had Taylor beating Winky by 2 points.  If Taylor would have lost, I wouldn't complain about it because I can understand that there were a lot of rounds that can go either way.. I'm just sick of hearing all these Winky dickriders bitching about how he won 115-113 and got "ROBBED".. If they scored it 117-111, I could see them thinking he got robbed but anyone with common sense knows that unless they were 7 rounds that he dominated, some could go the other way.. Either way, it was an awesome fight and you gotta talk to your boy Winky and get him to stop being a sore loser when he didn't even LOSE, and take the rematch which Jermain already said he'd give him.. It seemed that Winky and Jermain showed eachother respect and good sportsmanship before the fight and even during the fight, hopefully Winky can understand that what the judges say isn't Jermain's fault.. Who could EITHER of them fight at this point and make more money and a better fight than eachother?  Like Floyd says, if it makes dollars it makes sense, and in that case I don't think anything makes more sense for either of them than a rematch.

G, JKForty7 here, I don't write you all that often, but how can I contain myself after that BS Saturday night.  Bottom line is, JT keeps his hands up and he wins that match without any contention, but he didn't.  He got it, and it got taken to him.  Winky let him have it everytime he was against the ropes.  Yes JT got his share of power shots off, but 308 of 'em, yeah right.  Just because he is HBO"s new boy does not mean they have to make him sound good.  And yes Jim Lampley did refer to himself in the third person while commentating in the fight.  I know you know.  Might as well left Roy in there.  I know Winky won that particular match, and Winky yes I thought you wore a boring fighter, boring but solid nonetheless, except for your last fights you have demonstrated a level of respect that can't be denied congratulations champ you handle business.  Another thing is Winky was ahead, and if he didn't do nothing JT didn't do nothing or anything if you must get anal. Well that is that, JT I know you read BT, because well who doesn't, so you better do what it takes to get whatever it is you think you really deserve after that gift decision Saturday.  Winky congrats, fight hard and you will always be on top.  Peace Out...JK47
 
What's up G, you think the Taylor-Wright fight was the best middleweight title you had seen in the last 10 years? Brother you said it, you were tripping. I even think the Bernard-Jermain fights were much better. What was said, that those guys set personal records for the amount of power punches thrown in a fight? Sure did look that way too with both guys breathing heavy by the 4th round and fighting a sloppier fight than you'd expect from guys at that level. Jermain was winging big hooks in and after doing so keeping his glove right out in front of him and to his waste and yet by that time Wink had slowed down to the point where he couldn't capitalize. It might just be a particular fighter or style
of fighter that makes a fight more or less interesting (you think Winky is the bees knees), but I personally like to see the stamina and craftiness of a B-Hops (he's a hero of mine). Not the style of plodding forward behind a high defense like Winky Wright. I did like watching Winky when he fought Shane and Tito but he seemed so much more impenetrable with his defense and so much craftier with his positioning and so much more sharper with his punches. I like all fights, I like the chess matches, the slug fests, the boxing skill exhibitions, whatever it may be, but I just completely lost interest in the fight after the first three rounds, even though JT was smashing Wink with the big bombs and Wink was peppering JT with them little flurries on the ropes, the fight just never did it for me. BTW check your video archive for a fight that happened back in Sep 2001, if you think Taylor-Wright was the best middleweight title fight in 10 years you might be taking this one straight to Canastota and asking them to include it as a late submission for best fight ever!Brad, Australia


Whoa G!! I like your P4P top 20 with the exception of one glaring mistake......where the HECK is Wladimir Klitschko??  Have you watched this guy's last two fights?  He was awesome vs. Sam Peter, and dominated Chris Byrd - both no easy feats.You gotta give WK credit where credit is due my friend!
Peace! Dave.


Greg whats popping. Just wanted to ask you why is Zab Judah not in your top 20 pound for pound list? He won four rounds against pretty boy, some would argue five, dropped him, although it was never called, and showed that he was just as quick if not quicker. Tarver won one round against Hopkins and Tszyu quit on his stool and has not been heard of since his loss to Hatton. I cannot justify leaving off Zab in favor of Tarver and Tszyu. Please give me your thoughs and rationale. Thanks. Al B.  


I made the trip to Memphis for the fight and had seats in the lower corner (always the best value price wise for fights) and was on the opposite end from where the fighters made their entrance. It happened to be the area where security, promotion etc came in. At one point Lou Dibella is walking out screaming at someone who appeared to be head of security (or some other executive at FedEx Arena) saying "You guys deserve this! You Deserve ALL OF THIS." Dibella was obviously speaking about the lack of ticket sales. Dibella got about 20 yards away before he went back for a little more. Apparently someone from the building threatened to take one of Dibella's guys out back and "kick his ass". Lou started telling the guy "if he talks to one of my guys like that again he's going to end up in a pine fucking box! You hear me, tell him he's gonna be in pine box you mother fucker". This went on for a another 30 seconds or so before the guy taking the heat finally fired back "Bring it Big Boy!" Dibella without missing a beat went right at him. Luckily security kept them apart. They actually tried to get each other a couple of times. The people down in the corner rallied behind Dibella yelling "Kick his ass Lou!" Props to Dibella for sticking up for his employee and having their back. You always want that from your boss. As far as the fight goes, watching it live and in person, it looked as though Wright landed more of the solid shots. I wouldn't have been upset with a decision in Wright's favor but the draw actually seemed fair. Watching the fight at home it looked even closer and difficult to score. There were a few times that it appeared Taylor was trying to throw the left hook over top of Winky's jab and actually got it home a few times. I was amazed that Taylor, from the get go, was daring enough to keep his left hand so low against a southpaw. More or less one with the tremendous jab that Winky has. The City of Memphis will take a lot of heat over the sparse crowd but for the ones that were there, it was extremely lively and a very intelligent group. Overall it was a tremendous fight and the entire weekend was a great experience. Jason Prinzo

Whats up G! Man, I have to agree with you that this was the most exciting middle weight fight in a LONG time, much to my surprise, props to HBO for stepping up and giving us a great fight. But, I had Taylor winning 115-113, I watched again, same score. That being said I was not mad at the draw and would not have been that mad at 115-113 for Winky. There were plenty of close rounds that were difficult to score. In my opinion, Taylor was landing the harder punches, even the punches that landed on Winky's arms appeared to be hurting Wink. How can you say that you could not see any improvement in Taylor with Steward in his corner? Taylor was working Wink in the center of the ring, he was throwing more punches and was consistently scoring with that straight right and he fought the entire 12. (Although I did laugh when I heard him say he always fights the entire 12, B-Hop might argue with that.) Then Wink decided not to fight in the 12th, what was he thinking. His corner told him to fight but he chose not to. I cannot for one second understand his crybaby response. Be a professional and have some class. He acted like a bitch running out of there and then deciding not to show up to the post fight press confrence, which is a shame because he fought like a warrior for the first 11 rounds. I was very happy to see him stand toe-to-toe with Taylor for much of the fight. There is no way that this fight will be remebered as a robbery, on the contrary it will be remembered as a great fight, we need to see Taylor-Winky II. But lets not confuse the situation, Wink needs Taylor much more than Taylor needs him. Roy Bettencourt

hey Greg, my opinion on the fight is that Taylor pulled it out, the way I saw it Taylor was landing the bigger shots, it looked like he rocked winky a couple of times. it was a very close fight though, and for winky to be so pissed is just crazy. I think he said he doesn't want to fight Jermaine again because he knows how tough a fight it was. Jermaine can improve more with steward in his corner and whiney i mean winky will be the same. if Taylor stays off the ropes and learns to keep his arms up I think he will defiantly win the rematch.


Yo, G! Taylor vs. Wright ended up to be the cherry on top of my birthday cake!!  I had a few comments about the fight, though.  I am one of many who believe that Winky's actions after the fight were a bit ridiculous.  He was not robbed and it wasn't another Wright/Vargas bogus decision.  He didn't come to fight in the 12th round and paid the price.  These challengers seem to forget the fact that they have to bring the fight to the champion.  Champions always have the slight edge over the challengers when the rounds are close. Therefore, it is up to the challenger to take the initiative and press the action, not look lackadaisical and expect the win.  Wright's busted up face clearly showed that Taylor penetrated Wright's guard throughout the fight and made he knees buckle a few times.  I was well aware that Wright did block a lot of those shots and used his long arms to absorb most of the sting from Taylor's punches, but Wright's reluctance to mix it up with Taylor towards the end of the fight makes a good case for Taylor being the more effective aggressor.  If was wasn't the effective aggressor, Wright would not have retreated as much as he did in the (much) latter part of the fight. Taylor's mistake was that he never had a good defensive strategy.  He never kept his arms up and could not really slip Wright's punches effectively. He may not have thought that Wright punched hard, but the fact is that when Taylor retreated to the ropes, Wright became effective and landed punches cleanly. This fact allowed Wright to stay in the fight.  I think if Taylor stays with Steward, he will look much better in the rematch and beat Wright.  If he did that good against Wright with six weeks of training with Steward in the Kronk Gym, can you imagine how good he will look later on down the line with Steward as his trainer??!!  Carlo J. P.S.--Is our bet still on for the Quartey-Forrest fight?  I'm pissed that it will be on my wedding day, but rest assured I will be glued to the TV Sunday afternoon watching this fight!!!  I'm hoping Quartey wins because I want the opportunity to see his next fight live at ringside......maybe you could put in a good word in to Lou DiBella for me.  I'll be glad to pay the price for those tickets.......I just want the opportunity to be ringside to see my boxing idol fight.    

M

Send questions and comments to: gleon@Boxingtalk.com