By Charles Jay

 

One has to regard the Bernard Hopkins-Winky Wright fight as important for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it is a clash between two of the world's best fighters - both now and over the past 5-10 years. At the same time, one couldn't be blamed for being a little apprehensive about this bout from the standpoint of pure thrills, inasmuch as these are two boxer-types who like to play the chess match, and who seem perfectly content engaging in a marathon as opposed to a sprint.

 

I've seen paper matchups like this that turned out terrific, because each guy thought he had to push the action, rather than let the action come to him, and things just started to unfold. I wouldn't promise that here, but - at the risk of sounding that old cliche - this is a fight for the boxing purist.

 

Typical of this era, where the divisions suffer from being relatively thin, these fighters have had to climb into higher weight classes in order to enhance their "legacies." Neither guy will be fighting at what would be considered his natural weight. That could turn out to be an equalizer. And unlike a lot of the matchups we analyze, there really is no experience disparity to speak of.

 

As we were speaking of size, something, I guess, must be said about that. Hopkins has a size and height advantage; that might be a real concern if this becomes a fight where Hopkins is able to employ some rough-house tactics in order to wear on Wright and his stamina. Hopkins, of course, was a middleweight for many years, and earlier in his career he was a cruiser and light heavy. Wright, by contrast, is not that far removed from his venture into the middleweight class.

 

But even though it has been mentioned that Winky is moving up two divisions - from middleweight to light heavyweight (for the uninitiated, the super middleweights are in between), he's really only moving up one. I mean, let's say a guy officially declared himself a super middleweight (168 pounds). Going to 170 pounds would not at all be uncommon for a non-title fight in that division, for example.

 

The center of this "weight" question would mostly involve Wright's ability to take Hopkins' punches. But Hopkins, at this stage of his career, is not really throwing combinations in profusion. He's moving in and out, conserving energy, throwing a punch here, a punch there. Wright is a tough guy - he has a pretty good chin. He's gritty. Some of the punches Jermain Taylor landed in their draw that were clean didn't seem to faze him too much.

 

What's important to remember is that the way Wright holds his guard up - and he has tremendous discipline in keeping it that way - an opponent needs to throw combinations to move those gloves out of the way and deliver the follow-up cleanly. In other words, it is a sustained attack that would work best. I don't know if Hopkins is going to be in a position to do that too much. Wright's defensive posture, which is very well-conceived, is difficult enough to penetrate, even for a busy fighter. So Hopkins will have his work cut out for him. One quick note of concern for Wright backers - when he holds his hands up like that, in front of his face, he will be blocking punches with the gloves that the judges, depending on what angle they're looking at, may misinterpret as punches that land.

 

Wright is relentless in his own way - he is determined, comes forward, is accurate with his punches, and doesn't often throw just one punch at a time. He is a busy fighter, and he keeps the pressure on even when he's not punching because the opponent knows he's going to be countered effectively if he misses. And though Winky is not considered to be a big puncher, he can deliver with authority if you're standing right in front of him.

 

I don't think it causes a logistical problem for Hopkins that Wright is a southpaw. He handled Tarver pretty good, and has fought quite a few guys that came from the other side. But Wright is a different ballgame than Tarver. Tarver is talented, but I wouldn't call him a brilliant tactician or ring general. Wright is one of the most savvy fighters in the ring today. He is rarely off-balance, rarely out of a position to throw a punch, and able to press the opponent and throw without leaving himself wide open. That defense he has may not be impenetrable, but it is hard to get through. He knows what he can prevent his opponent from doing, and he goes from there.

 

Conversely, Hopkins is the opposite of Felix Trinidad, the foe who constituted perhaps Wright's most impressive win. Hopkins is an improvisor, while Trinidad was failed by being too mechanical. But Wright has been able to adapt to a number of different styles; no one could argue that Shane Mosley was a fighter who lacked speed, or the ability to dart in and out as the situation dictated.

 

It has been over a year since Hopkins fought. when you're 42 years of age, that creates the factor of the "unknown," since as is often said, no one really can tell whether an older fighter is going to get REALLY old overnight. This much must be said about Hopkins - he has defied Father Time better than almost anyone in the last twenty years.

 

I don't see either guy running away with this one, and I don't see either of them getting knocked out. But fundamental edges, defense, and aggressiveness will tilt the scales in Wright's favor.

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