15.05.05 – By Patrick Corcoran: Unfortunately, after a career full of stunning knockouts against top-notch opposition, the enduring image I will have of Tito Trinidad years from now will likely be of his head snapping back sharply after eating one of the 150 jabs that Winky Wright bounced off of his face in Las Vegas. It was the story of the fight, as simple and straightforward as a spaghetti western, with one man simply being better and badder than the other. Winky initiated this pattern in the opening round—popping his right hand at Trinidad, and then covering up like the batmobile when Tito tried to respond—and didn’t relent for 36 minutes of combat.
Such was the domination in Saturday’s middleweight eliminator that many afterward were talking about retirement for Trinidad. After all, never before, not even against Bernard Hopkins, had his attack been as completely neutered as it had versus Wright. It was perhaps the most lopsided big-fight decision in history.
But as Tito himself pointed out, he is still young, strong, and, against most competition, as entertaining a fighter active today, so he will likely have the chance to rebuild his damaged reputation.
This fight did not so much demonstrate Tito’s physical decline as much as the shortcomings that he was fought with throughout his career. Against other fighters, less disciplined and skilled defensively, Tito was able to compensate with his brilliant punching and perpetual aggressiveness. But styles make fights, and Winky Wright, a brilliant boxer at the absolute peak of his abilities, had exactly the sort of style to punish the Puerto Rican hero. Against a man more apt to expose himself, Tito is still an electric fighter. If he decides that he still wants to fight, he should avoid the rematch (and other possible matches against master boxers), and build his fortune and his legacy taking on opponents like Ricardo Mayorga. Boxing fans, in and out of Puerto Rico, could use another few years of Tito’s unique brand of entertainment.
It would seem that Winky Wright, who earned only $4 million against Tito’s $10 million for Saturday night’s effort, has the boxing world by the ear right now. He should finally get a measure of respect from the mainstream sports world. Winky will climb into the top three in many pound-for-pound lists, behind only Floyd Mayweather and Hopkins. He is now the mandatory for
the winner of July’s Hopkins-Jermain Taylor showdown, and he can look forward to another pay-per-view payday in the fall as a result.
A fight against Hopkins would be the boxing equivalent of a pitcher’s duel: Prior versus Oswalt, each lion vying to go the distance. And like a pitcher’s duel, Hopkins-Wright would likely be of interest only to purists. With a massive buildup and evenly matched fighters, the fight would be like showing up to Daytona for a race for Dodge Neon’s. The action would pale in
comparison to that of a potential losers’ matchup of Tito Trinidad and Jermain Taylor.
Although Hopkins would likely be a solid favorite, Wright could give Hopkins his toughest fight in years. Winky is as comfortable with a slowly paced fight as is Hopkins, just as patient, just as cool, just as skilled. Hopkins has a heavier punch than Wright, but Winky has the southpaw wildcard. In short, there would be ample reason to throw a bet on either man.
If Taylor should somehow knock off the middleweight champ, Winky would be in with a much bigger, stronger, and more active fighter than himself. Taylor’s skills are not airtight, however, and Winky could exploit some of his technical lapses. Taylor has a jab as long Winky’s, which would be essential to setting up his full attack. Otherwise, if Taylor ends up
eating jabs rather than landing them, Wright could execute the same game plan against Taylor as he did against Tito. Jab, jab, jab, cover like the batmobile. If it worked on one aggressive puncher, why wouldn’t it work on another?