Observations on Hopkins-Wright

By Brian Blackwell: On Saturday night, I watched the replay of the Bernard Hopkin vs. Winky Wright boxing fight, and once again it has proven amazing to me how different a fight can be when you get the opportunity to see it for a second time. After watching it the first time, I saw Winky doing nothing, as Hopkins landed most of the clean shots in the fight. However, upon a second viewing, I saw Hopkins holding and landing very little, while Winky was blocking just about everything, and outworking Bernard. That is not to say that Winky had any power in his shots (which is not usually the case), but he did outwork Bernard throughout the fight. More important, Wright controlled the center of the ring, dictating the pace at which the fight was progressing.

Based on this, I scored the fight 117-114 for Winky this time around. Granted, I did have a few 10-10 rounds that could have gone either way, but in the end, I just saw two old fighters in a clash of styles. Hopkins may have won this fight on my scorecard, because he did look quicker then Wright, but he has a bad habit of coming in, and wrapping his left arm around Winky’s right and holding.

As for Winky, my thoughts on him remain the same. If he wants to be more recognized, he needs to bring more to his boxing game. The man has excellent defensive skills, but he needs to bring more to his offense. He has almost no power at this weight class, but I don’t know if at this age, he has the speed to contend with the lighter weight class.