Taylor v. Wright ends in a draw

[spinning27]

I thought that was a pretty appropriate decision after a very entertaining fight.

Winky Wright didn't even try in the 12th, and he deserved to lose just based on that. Interestingly, one judge gave the 12th to Wright. Had he given it to Taylor, Taylor would have won the fight outright.

I hope Wright re-thinks his post-fight comments about not wanting a rematch. Sorry Winky, but you didn't win the fight outright. If you don't want a rematch, nobody will ever take you seriously again.

 

[HoopsMcCann]

yeah... i had wright up a round going into that last round... and, well, seemed like if he woula just tried at the end, he'd have it. two or three punches would have been all it took

neither guy won -- and you shouldn't take a guy's belt in something like that

i'm guessing we'll see a rematch and i'm certainly looking forward to it

 

[nafselon]

I believe Taylor will take a walk over fight in Little Rock before giving Wink a rematch. There is no rematch clause since Taylor didn't lose, but Taylor is a pro, he'll give him one in 10 months or so.

Really good fight...I had the exact same 114-114 card as Lederman.

 

[spinning27]

I believe Taylor will take a walk over fight in Little Rock before giving Wink a rematch. There is no rematch clause since Taylor didn't lose, but Taylor is a pro, he'll give him one in 10 months or so.

Really good fight...I had the exact same 114-114 card as Lederman.

I had it 115-113 in favor of Taylor. I thought Taylor barely won the 9th round, but Lederman gave it to Wright.

 

[shotglass]

I did not see this fight. I'm only going by having seen Taylor several times.

Does anyone else think this guy is not getting his due as one of the sport's rising superstars?

 

[spinning27]

I did not see this fight. I'm only going by having seen Taylor several times.

Does anyone else think this guy is not getting his due as one of the sport's rising superstars?

Though Taylor won the first two fights with Hopkins, neither were very good fights and there was still some skepticism about Taylor's ability. He earned some respect after Hopkins dismantled Tarver, and I'm guessing he'll get even more after the way he fought against Wright.

 

[nafselon]

I did not see this fight. I'm only going by having seen Taylor several times.

Does anyone else think this guy is not getting his due as one of the sport's rising superstars?

I can't agree, maybe he hasn't hit mainstream yet but in just 26 fights he's had two major PPV events for the middleweight championship and tonight a match that HBO would've put on PPV if they didn't feel the need to occasionally throw their subscribers a bone. I think he's fought more than half his professional fights on HBO or PPV.

 

[joe]

Popped in and out on the fight while watching American History X on Starz. From what I saw, I thought Taylor landed the better punches and had the better combinations. But he should have used his jab more to keep Winky from getting inside. And, for god's sake, keep your hands up.

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

Contrasting styles made judging the damn thing almost impossible.
I can live with the draw, but I didn't think it was all that entertaining and I'm not sure I'll watch the rematch.

 

[friend of the friendless]

Sirs, Madames, Cornerpersons,

I'm surprised to hear it was an entertaining fight. I'll catch it on replay but I have to say that I've never thought of Winky Wright as an entertaining fighter based on what I've seen. Not a risk taker, my impression. Could be wrong.

YHS, etc

 

[spinning27]

Sirs, Madames, Cornerpersons,

I'm surprised to hear it was an entertaining fight. I'll catch it on replay but I have to say that I've never thought of Winky Wright as an entertaining fighter based on what I've seen. Not a risk taker, my impression. Could be wrong.

YHS, etc

I thought it was entertaining because both guys were more aggressive than they had been in past fights.

 

[shotglass]

Maybe it's because I saw him against inferior competition on the way up, but I think Taylor is about as stylish and engaging a boxer as I've seen in a long time.

 

[Overrated]

It was an alright fight. Winky was the better "boxer," but I think Taylor did more damage. I don't think Winky did anything to ever hurt Taylor and guaranteed Winky is the one who is sore this morning.

 

[friend of the friendless]

Sirs, Madames,

Where's Carlos Monzon, Rodrigo Valdez and Bennie Briscoe when you need them?

160 hasn't been an interesting division for a long time (15 years and, for James Toney, 70 pounds ago).

YHS, etc

 

[nafselon]

Sirs, Madames,

Where's Carlos Monzon, Rodrigo Valdez and Bennie Briscoe when you need them?

160 hasn't been an interesting division for a long time (15 years and, for James Toney, 70 pounds ago).

YHS, etc

160 wasn't interesting because Bernard Hopkins beat the **** out of everyone. When Tito Trinidad went to him he got mauled, when De La Hoya stepped up he got dropped on a body shot.

With Winky probably moving up to fight Calzaghe it doesn't leave Taylor with much unless Vargas wins this second fight with Mosley and Taylor can coax him to move up in weight (which shouldn't be a problem for Vargas) and there's always Ricardo Mayorga for an easy payday.

 

[friend of the friendless]

Mr or Ms N,

Jones beat the **** outta people, then Hopkins. Both did it predictably, less than crowd-pleasers, and had no surpassing competition.

I have no idea whether Calzaghe is the real deal. But history would tell you that moving up a couple of divisions in a short span is risky for Winky--though it might not be a matter of carrying power up weight classes.

YHS, etc

 

[Smallpotatoes]

I've often wondered if there should be some sort of tiebreaking mechanism in boxing. Most fans, who tend to look at a fight as a whole rather than the way judges do, which is as 12 one-round fights, seem to believe that a draw is a cop-out and over the course of 12 rounds a judge should be able to determine a winner.
Draws also tend to lend credence to the idea that the result was somehow contrived to advance whatever agenda the promoter might have. But if while scoring a fight round-by-round, it turns out that both guys won the same number of rounds, what are you supposed to do?
Two decades ago, New Jersey tried fighting an extra round to break the tie. I'm not sure why they stopped doing it, but there are some very good reasons why it shouldn't be done. After the last scheduled round, the fighters cool down for several minutes and as far as they know, the fight is over. Throwing them back into three minutes of very intense combat in that situation can be very dangerous.
But perhaps there should be some other way to break the tie.

 

[shotglass]

But perhaps there should be some other way to break the tie.

Penalty kicks ... to the groin.

 

[Smallpotatoes]

But perhaps there should be some other way to break the tie.

Penalty kicks ... to the groin.

Like that game Cartman talked about, rochambo (sp?)?

 

[FootballScribe]

Outstanding fight and probably was judged the right way. I had it at 114-114, though I don't know how much Taylor did in the final round to win the round either. Sure, Wright was on the dancing defensive, but Taylor wasn't exactly free swinging to get the win. Wright was, by many accounts, up a round heading into the final round, so all he had to do was protect the lead. Shouldn't Taylor have had to do something to win the fight himself?

I think that what few punches Taylor did land, he probably had more impact than the jab that Wright was working, but for as many big swings as Taylor took, he didn't land much of anything. You could hear the fans going nuts when Taylor was taking those big hacks, but reality was that Wright was blocking almost everything.

Either way, it was an excellent boxing match and I'm pleased that I didn't pay to see it (though I would have). The rematch WILL happen. Maybe not right away, but sometime in the next year. It's an exciting time in the middle classes right now. I'm going to the Julio fight in Vegas this weekend and I'm really excited. I think Julio could be the next big star and eventually move up some classes. Between guys like Julio and Taylor, there is a bright future for boxing. If only we could get some heavyweights worth a darn.