WINKY AND THE CHAMP
RINGSIDE LA WITH JOHNNY ORTIZ
JUNE 16, 2006
“WINKY AND THE CHAMP”
This Saturday night, June 17th, Ronald “Winky” Wright, the former Jr. Middleweight World Champion will be fighting his third fight at the middleweight level when he attempts to win the WBC/WBA/WBO Middleweight title from current champion, Jermain Taylor. The fight will be held at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee, after the fight was announced, Jermain Taylor opened at 2-1 to win the fight, a week before the fight he is still holding as the 2-1 betting favorite. The majority of the people I have talked with are of the opinion that Winky Wright will emerge as the new undisputed middleweight champion…I am not one of them. A few polls I have read have Winky winning a twelve round decision, I am picking Jermain Taylor to win, if Winky had fought Jermain before he went twenty-four rounds with Bernard Hopkins, I would have given him a better chance of winning. Although Winky has a twenty-eight edge in professional fights, you can throw that edge out the window, having gone the distance with a Master Fighter such as Bernard Hopkins twice, is an experience that cannot be bought or taught, it has to be expierenced. Even though I thought Bernard won both fights, the first one was very close, the second, I had Bernard winning by two points, the very invaluable lessons Jermain gained from those two encounters have gone on to make Jermain Taylor a much better all-around fighter. To put it in perspective, it is the equivalent of a young actor working numerous hours on a film with Marlon Brando, by the end of the movie, that young actor will have learned what acting is all about from working with a Master Actor such as Brando. So it is with Jermain Taylor, he will take what he learned from Bernard and put it to good use against Winky Wright. I am going to put it in writing why I think Jermain Taylor will beat Winky Wright, first off, Jermain is a big, natural middleweight, he is only twenty-seven years old, while Winky rings in at thirty-four years of age. It is, and always will be a young man’s sport, there are of course exceptions, such as Bernard, Sam Langford, Jersey Joe Walcott, Archie Moore, etc. etc. Thirty-four is not old by any means, but twenty-seven is better, I’ve been both, I felt a lot better and stronger at twenty-seven than I did in my middle thirties. Jermain should not have to worry about Winky’s power, it is the one thing lacking in Winky’s profile. His last six opponents have all gone the twelve round distance with him, if Winky cannot take out guys like Sam Soliman, Angel Hernandez and Juan Carlos Candelo, he sure as hell is not going to take out a guy who in his last two fights went twenty-four rounds with a solid puncher like Bernard Hopkins. The big factor still remains that Winky, having fought all of his fights as a Jr. Middleweight except for his last two bouts, still has the frame of a Jr. Middleweight, he is by no means, a full-fledged middleweight such as Taylor. Winky will come in at the middleweight limit of 160 pounds and maybe a few pounds more come fight time, but Winky’s main asset is his mobility, added weight can diminish some of it. Jermain is a very good puncher who has registered 17 KO’s in his twenty-five wins, he has a killer left jab that I am looking for him to use to set up his combinations and power shots. Not having fear of your opponent’s power can work for a fighter in various ways, he can take more chances, he can try to draw the other guy into exchanges, and he can be the aggressor from start to finish. Jermain must respect Winky, he is one of the great defensive fighters of his time, he has to be careful of Winky’s counterpunches, he must remember that even a fighter without a big punch can hurt you if his punch lands on a certain spot at the right time, case in point: Michael Nunn, who was not considered a big puncher, knocked out Sumbu Kalambay in the first round of their IBF Middleweight championship fight in Las Vegas, Michael hit him on the button. Jermain must fight with confidence, he is after all, the champion. He must fight with intelligence and concentration, Winky’s been fighting for sixteen years, Jermain was only eleven years old when Winky had his first pro fight on October 16, 1990, like Bernard, Winky has learned all the tricks of the sport, Jermain will have to be at his best to beat him. So on Jermain’s side, here’s what you have: Youth, Size, Strength and the holder of the undisputed middleweight title. I like Winky Wright, I have the utmost respect for him both as a person and as a fighter. It is a shame that it took so long for him to get his chance to compete in world-class fights. If he could punch, he would be damn near unbeatable, but being the great champion that he was as a Jr. middleweight, he has more than made up for his lack of power with ring intelligence, a great defense, mobility, and fast combinations. The middleweight division has always been a favorite of mine, it is where boxer-punchers have long lived, at thirty-four, I just think Winky does not fit the mold of a big, hard-punching middleweight. On the other hand, Jermain Taylor fits the mold to a T. The one thing I have a problem with is Winky’s last fight against previously unheralded, Sam Soliman, much has been made of Winky’s poor showing against a mediocre opponent, that he had been ill with the flu leading up to the fight. As far as I am concerned, Winky broke one of boxing’s cardinal rules when he chose to fight his second middleweight fight not being 100%, how in the world could his manager, Chris Lighty, and trainer, Dan Birmingham, allow Winky to get into a ring without being medically sound? If Sam could punch, Winky might have been beaten. Another thing, a lot has been made of his fight with Fernando Vargas, some people think Winky got jobbed, that he was on the wrong end of the decision. The scores were 112-116, 113-115, 114-114 in Fernando’s favor. I watched the fight, I scored it, I had the fight even going into the last round, Fernando, being the consummate pro that he is, won the twelfth round big, therefore deserving the win. The Trinidad-Wright fight is still a mystery to me, Tito landing only 53 punches in a 12 round fight? I don’t know who that impostor was, but it sure as hell was not Felix Trinidad…not the Felix Trinidad I once knew. But then, two days later, and ten million dollars richer…Tito announced his retirement. Oh-Hum!
I picked Winky to beat Shane Mosley both times they fought. The reason? I never thought that Shane was a true jr. middleweight, just as I think that Winky is not a true middleweight. Having Emmanuel Stewart in his corner is a big plus for Jermain, knowing Emmanuel, he will have Jermain ready to fight the smaller Wright. I particulary like what Emmanuel had to say: “I know I want to help Jermain get this victory, at the very least I can say that Jermain Taylor is one of the most talented fighters I’ve ever worked with.” Win, lose or draw, at twenty-seven, Jermain Taylor can only get better with each fight, Winky at thirty-four is as good as he will ever be.
Taylor-Wright is going to be a very interesting fight, one that you should not miss. There you have it, I could be proven wrong, but I don’t think so, in four of the last big fights, I picked Bernard Hopkins to beat Antonio Tarver big, Oscar to KO Ricardo Mayorga, Joe Calzaghe to beat Jeff Lacy and Wladimir Klitchko to beat Samuel Peter. I will add another this Saturday night.
The Taylor-Wright fight as well as Hopkins-Tarver can be seen on HBO June 17th.
“PHILLY JUNK YARD DOG TAKES CARE OF BUSINESS”
After our morning World Boxing Hall of Fame Board of Directors meeting concluded this past Saturday morning, June 10th, the subject of the Bernard Hopkins-Antonio Tarver light heavyweight title confrontation later that evening was discussed with the some of the members. A few thought I had lost my mind when I told them that Bernard would not only win, but would do so convincingly. It took me back quite a few years ago when the board was overwhelmingly in favor of voting Felix Trinidad our “Fighter of the Year’ in our upcoming annual Banquet of Champions and Induction ceremony. The only problem was that he still had to get past Bernard Hopkins in the final of Don King’s middleweight tournament, everyone at this particular meeting had already conceded Tito the winner of the tourney and therefore a worthy recipient of our prestigious award. Everyone except me. I stood up at the meeting and asked if we were not being a bit premature in granting Felix the award before his fight with Middleweight Champion Bernard Hopkins. I received a lot of good natured laughs when I revealed that I was of the strong opinion that B-Hop was going to win the fight and win it big. On my radio show I was also met with quite a bit of sarcasm when I had the audacity to not only pick Bernard as the winner, but to pick him to KO Tito Trinidad. I had the last laugh on that one and I had the last laugh once again when I picked the old school Philly fighter to beat the champion Antonio Tarver handily. A lot of fight people thought Bernard had finally come to his fistic end when he lost his last two fights against young Jermain Taylor, I not only thought Bernard had won both of those fights, but that his greatness was evident in both bouts. I will grant the fact that Bernard fought too cautiously in the early going in their first fight, but I thought he did enough to win a close fight once he put it in drive. He again started a bit slow in the rematch, but he picked it up to win the fight clearly. Everyone wrote him off when he signed to fight Light Heavyweight Champion Antonio Tarver, stepping into the ring Saturday night as a 4-1 underdog lent credence to the little chance most gave The Executioner. I have followed Bernard’s career from the moment I first saw him fight, I knew I was watching someone special, he had all the moves early on, and he was hungry to learn everything there was to know about the sweet science, he absorbed it all and put it to good use throughout his brilliant career. He was a street kid who served time in the joint when he was only seventeen, he vowed that he would never return, he turned all the negatives into everything positive. He became a gym rat, as a middleweight his whole career, he walked around at 165 pounds, only five pounds over the division limit. He had all the ingredients required for greatness, dedication, concentration, hard workouts, uncanny defensive moves, good power, and most of all…he believed in himself. After losing his very first fight, he reeled off twenty-two straight wins, his winning ways put him in line for a fight with another fighter marked for greatness, Roy Jones Jr. It was a great, close fight with Roy getting his hand raised at the end, it takes a great fighter to beat a great fighter. Roy had never been in with anyone who could win more than one round against him, Bernard won four, maybe five. After their fight, Roy gave Bernard kudos, saying that he was the toughest guy he had ever fought. Bernard always sought a rematch with Roy, it never materialized. After their fight, as Roy’s star rose, Bernard fought for every cent he earned. He was sort of a forgotten champion, that’s why he wasn’t given much of a chance to beat Trinidad. If certain people had followed Bernard’s career the way I did, they would have known that he had fought his whole career at middleweight, had not been beaten since the Jones fight and was going into the finals of the tournament a middleweight champion, while Tito was fighting only his second fight at 160 pounds. Bernard Hopkins was an old school, big, legitimate middleweight, Tito never had a chance. Going up two divisions, plus having to put on fifteen pounds in order to challenge Antonio Tarver would seem disastrous for any fighter to try to attempt, but Bernard Hopkins is no ordinary fighter, I knew he would only be an inch shorter, same reach (75’) and by hiring physical fitness guru, Mackie Shilspone, the highly respected expert who is best known in boxing circles as the man who was responsible for getting Evander Holyfield to the heavyweight level, as well as Michael Spinks and Roy Jones Jr. in their bid to win the heavyweight crown, all the pieces were in place. Mr. Shilspone knows how to bulk up a fighter without taking anything away from his physical technique, when I became aware that Bernard had Mackie Shilspone on board, I knew he would be the man that would take Bernard one step at a time, letting the muscle and pounds blend gradually into his frame. When I saw that Bernard had come in at 174 pounds, the exact weight as Tarver, I knew size would not be a factor in this fight, and that Mackie Shilspone had once again worked his magic. Friday night before the fight, I watched the countdown to Hopkins-Taver on HBO, following the promo film, they showed a replay of Hopkins-Antwun Echols second fight. It was a very rough fought fight, both guilty of fouling, in the 5th round, after Bernard hit Echols when he turned to complain to the referee and forgot to defend himself, Echols angrily picked up Bernard bodily and slammed him down hard on his right shoulder. The doctor was called in and it was assumed that Bernard would win due to a well deserved disqualification on Echols part. Bernard’s longtime trainer, Bowie Fisher, wisely advised Bernard to take the win, Bernard surprised everyone but himself when he refused to win on a disqualification, he could have taken the easy way out, but the fighter in him would not hear of it. It was then and there that I was once again reminded of what a fierce competitor Bernard was and has always been, he is above all things…a fighter. Bernard was classic Bernard Hopkins on this night, he showed his boxing brilliance by stopping Echols in the tenth round. Bernard and James Toney are all we have left of throw-back fighters, they would have fit right in with the great fighters of the past. They would have made their mark in any era. They will be sorely missed when the day comes to ride off into the sunset. This was the kind of fighter that awaited Antonio Tarver Saturday night. Right from the beginning, Bernard, with all of his boxing wisdom, surprised Tarver by aggressively taking the fight right to him, he took control early on, confusing Antonio by pressing the action. Tarver could only muster up weak jabs and combinations while Bernard started to find the range with his right hand. By the fifth round, Antonio’s right eye began to swell from Bernard’s well-timed combinations, he took a big right hand from Bernard, causing him to take a couple of steps from “The Funky Judah.” While trying to regain his fighting balance, his glove touched the canvas, the referee gave Antonio a standing eight-count. The boxing genius of Bernard Hopkins came into play, he never let Antonio get into the fight, Bernard put on a clinic, using his uncanny boxing instincts to win nearly every round. He said people would be surprised how easily he would win, he kept his word, Antonio Taver, put simply…got schooled. Bernard, reflecting on the fight has been quoted as saying: “I still had a middleweight mentality. You saw speed, quickness and reflexes. Even though I bulked up fifteen pounds, I didn’t lose the mobility I had as a middleweight.” Prior to the fight, Bernard had indicated that Tarver would be his last fight, he came back to Atlantic City for his final fight, it was here where it all began for him, fifty miles from his hometown. At the news conference following the fight, Bernard had this to say: I’m done, there’s nothing else to do, I don’t need to risk anything else, my family is more important.” His wife Jeanette, who he affectionately calls “Netty,” has been patiently waiting for Bernard to retire, to keep the promise he had made to his beloved mother, his daughter, Letrece, whose life Bernard wants to be more involved with, wants her father to be done with it. I’m selfish, I want Bernard to go on fighting forever, but I must put my selfishness aside, Bernard has nothing more to prove, it’s time for him to take his well deserved, rightful place among the greats of all-time. His kind only pass this way once in a lifetime…it’s been a great ride. Bernard’s boxing accomplishments are what legends are made of, one of them, twenty defenses of his middleweight crown will not be broken, not in my lifetime. In May of 2003, I wrote an article for Ring Sports Magazine, it was titled, “The Greatness of Bernard Hopkins”… nothing has changed.
PATH TO GLORY RETURNS TO THE DOUBLETREE HOTEL!
FRIDAY, JUNE 23, 2006
Thompson Boxing Promotions will kick off its 2006 Summer Schedule with a stellar fight card at the popular Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, California on Friday, June 23, 2006. The previous fight cards in February, March and April were all sold-out, standing room only events. Now considered the top boxing promotional group in the Southland, Thompson Boxing Promotions is totally dedicated in bringing to its fight fans, the very best in local boxing. Beginning with President Kenneth Thompson and Matchmaker Alex Camponovo, along with a hard working staff, they are building a future in California boxing that is going to be around for a long time to come. On June 23rd, Thompson Boxing Promotions will start the summer off with a dandy fight card. “The Desert Storm” Timothy Ray Bradley Jr., is not only a terrific, undefeated fighter with a record of 13-0 w/ 7 KO’s, but a huge crowd favorite, The Storm will be facing a very formidable opponent in nineteen year old Pavel Mirando, Pavel will enter the ring with an impressive record of 9 wins, no losses w/7 KO’s. Timothy and Pavel will be fighting for the vacant WBC Youth Jr. Welterweight title. Two undefeated gladiators, someone’s ‘O’ must go. Young matchmaker, Alex Camponovo, who is making quite a name for himself in the matchmaking field, has, as always, put together an outstanding card of six bouts, in the semi main event, two tough middleweights, James Parison and Jesus Hernandez will meet at center court to determine who’s career will get a big, jump start. Thompson Boxing who in their quest to build an outstanding stable of house fighters are very high on Parison, he is 5-0 w/2 KO’s. Keeping in tune with the boxer-puncher category that middleweights live in, Ivan Stovall will meet Ramon “The Killer” Espinosa. I’ve seen them both fight, this should be a war while it lasts.
Rounding out the rest of the night’s entertainment will be three other exciting bouts. You want to be in your seats when the fun begins, I say this because the first three undercard fights at the last card at the Doubletree Hotel were pure, toe to toe, slugfests that had everyone in attendance standing and cheering wildly. They were indeed a hard act to follow. To give you an idea just how intense a fight can be, a young fighter who opened the last show asked Alex if he could be paid right after his fight, the reason: He had to be at work in Tijuana at four in the morning. His job: Demolition expert. That my friends…is dedication. The charismatic Kenneth Thompson is excited about his boxing promotions summer schedule, for their next fight card on July 14, 2006, the show will go on the road to Omega Products International in Corona, California. I must admit that I am also looking forward to their first outdoor card of the year. I wrote this before, but I think it bears repeating, there is nothing like watching a good card under the stars, there is something about fights outdoor that is extremely enjoyable, you can feel the camaraderie among the fight fans, the festive mood is highly contagious, not to mention breathing the healthy fresh air. If you haven’t been to one of Thompson Boxing Promotions “Under the Stars,” take my word for it, you will not be disappointed. Josesito Lopez, another of Thompson Promotions highly touted fighters, will officially kick off the first of three summer nights of boxing under the stars. He will be returning to the ring wars after losing a very controversial decision to Wes Furguson on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather-Zab Judah welterweight title fight in Las Vegas. Joseito is definitely a young fighter to keep an eye on.
I hope to see you on Friday, the 23rd, and don’t forget…all roads lead to the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario. Path to Glory tickets are available for purchase by calling 714-935-0900 or through www.thompsonboxing.com
Until the next round…Peace and God Bless!
Johnny Ortiz is a member of the World Boxing Hall of Fame Board Directors
Johnny Ortiz is a member of the Golden State Boxers Association Board of Directors
Johnny Ortiz is a media advisor for Thompson Boxing Promotions
Johnny Ortiz is a former co-owner of the famous, legendary Main St. Gym