19.06.06 – By Michael Montero: It’s that time again everybody. Whether you agree with me or disagree, love me or hate me, you gotta respect me because I tell it like it is…
Winky Wright, the new Middleweight Champion: Another close fight left up to the judges – I hate draws! Although this was a close fight, and could have gone either way, I think that Winky clearly (but barely) won the fight.. I scored it 115-113 (seven rounds to five) for Wright; upon my second viewing on Sunday I scored it 115-114 (six rounds to five, one even) once again for Wright. I just don’t see how one of the official judges scored it 115-113 for Taylor; he must have been influenced by the hometown crowd, or perhaps he just overheard the biased HBO commentators’ nuthugging of their network guy.
Power is great, and fun to watch, but there is much more to boxing. Taylor’s big shots certainly moved Wright and pushed him back, but they almost always landed on his gloves, forearms or elbows. The punch stats don’t lie; Wright threw 60 less total punches and landed 63 more. He also showed superior ring generalship as he consistently had his younger opponent off balance. I’m sick of hearing about the 12th round as well. Yes, Wright went into defense mode because he felt he had the fight in the bag; but he still controlled the round, threw more, landed more, and made Taylor miss. Simply put: if Wright did little in the final frame, then Taylor did absolutely nothing.
I must give credit where it is due; Taylor has gone 36 rounds back to back to back with two truly elite veterans in Winky Wright and Bernard Hopkins. (In my opinion, his record in those fights should be 1-2, but it history will read 3-0) For all his faults, Taylor is a powerful, tough fighter and his future looks bright. Defense-first fighters like Wright and Hopkins rarely make anybody look good. Perhaps when we see “Bad Intentions” in the future against young contenders who like to come forward, we will see a more dominant fighter. Only time will tell…
All that being said, I felt Taylor was the undisputed Middleweight Champion of the world coming into this fight – but not anymore. In my opinion he was bested by Wright in Memphis; and although he retained his belts via draw, he did not retain his legitimacy.
Rematch anyone? Perhaps in St Petersburg, Florida – or maybe at a neutral location like Las Vegas. Wright is upset right now because he felt he won the bout, but if the money is right (no pun intended), I’m sure he will agree to a second bout. Regardless of whom you feel won this fight, it is clear to everybody that there is unfinished business here.
Montero’s Ratings:
I base my ratings on resume, current activity, records against other ranked fighters, potential, skills, training dedication and several other factors. It’s not all about record though. For example – I have Samuel Peter as my #5 heavyweight not due to his record and fundamentals (or lack there of), but because he has the power, chin and determination to knock out most of today’s top big men – plus he did manage to go twelve hard rounds with my top guy. Others might place James Toney there instead, but in my opinion if Toney and Peter fought today, the Nigerian would knock the fat man into next week…
Heavyweight
1 Wladimir Klitschko
2 Hasim Rahman
3 Serguei Lyakhovich
4 Lamon Brewster
5 Samuel Peter
Cruiserweight – 200
1 O’Neil Bell
2 Jean-Marc Mormeck
3 Guillermo Jones
4 Wayne Braithwaite
5 Steve Cunningham
Light Heavyweight – 175
1 Bernard Hopkins
2 Tomasz Adamek
3 Zsolt Erdei
4 Glen Johnson
5 Antonio Tarver
Supper Middleweight – 168
1 Joe Calzaghe
2 Mikkel Kessler
3 Jeff Lacy
4 Markus Beyer
5 Anthony Mundine
Middleweight – 160
1 Jermain Taylor
2 Winky Wright
3 Arthur Abraham
4 Felix Sturm
5 Sam Soliman
Super Welterweight – 154
1 Roman Karmazin
2 Kassim Ouma
3 Shane Mosley
4 Oscar De La Hoya
5 Fernando Vargas
Welterweight – 147
1 Antonio Margarito
2 Floyd Mayweather
3 Luis Collazo
4 Arturo Gatti
5 Carlos Baldomir/Kermit Cintron
Super Lightweight – 140
1 Ricky Hatton
2 Jose Luis Castillo
3 Miguel Cotto
4 Carlos Maussa
5 Vivian Harris/Paul Malignaggi/Mike Arnaoutis
Lightweight – 135
1 Diego Corrales
2 Joel Casamayor
3 Juan Lazcano
4 Juan Diaz
5 Julio Diaz
Super Featherweight – 130
1 Manny Pacqiao
2 Marco Antonio Barrera
3 Erik Morales
4 Rocky Zuarez
5 Jorge Barrios
Featherweight – 126
1 Chris John
2 Juan Manuel Marquez
3 Humberto Soto
4 Takashi Koshimoto
5 Injin Chi
Super Bantamweight – 122
1 Isreal Vazquez
2 Oscar Larios
3 Somsak Sithchatchawal
4 Poonsawat Kratingaengym
5 Ricardo Cordoba
Bantamweight – 118
1 Rafael Marquez
2 Jhonny Gonzalez
3 Veerapol Sahaprom
4 Silence Mabuza
5 Hozumi Hasegawa/Irene Pacheco
Pound for Pound
1 Manny Pacquiao
2 Winky Wright
3 Floyd Mayweather Jr
4 Marco Antonio Barrera
5 Bernard Hopkins
6 Joe Calzaghe
7 Jose Luis Castillo
8 Rafael Marquez
9 Ricky Hatton
10 Jermain Taylor
Questions, comments, hate mail – you know what to do:
Ciao.