By Amy Green

Bernard Hopkins and Winky Wright engaged in a twelve round light heavyweight event that made it tough to find any glowing adjectives to describe their match. Styles were a huge factor in this fight not being a rock ‘em sock ‘em affair. Wright blocked a lot of Hopkins straight combinations with his trademark high and tight defense, and Hopkins used the tools in his veteran’s arsenal- head, left shoulder, and right hand, to combat Wright’s offense and defy his defense.

 

Hopkins (48-4-1) won round one by virtue of a hard right hand, while Wright (51-3-1) searched for his rhythm. Round two, Wright pressed the action which forced Hopkins to hold, and that set the stage for the rest of the fight.

The third round was punctuated by an accidental head butt, cutting Wright over the left eye, and the round was an ugly scuffle, with Wright trying to be effective using combinations, and Hopkins doing lots of sneaky inside work and reverting to his comfortable holding pattern.

Hopkins remained somewhat in control throughout the fight with hard rights, angles and movement, which frustrated Wright, who had the showier punches but fell victim to Hopkins close range tactics.

The hold and clench style of fighting made the rounds difficult to watch and equally difficult for referee Robert Byrd, who warned Hopkins constantly throughout the fight for holding, but never deducted a point, despite stern threats of doing so in round nine.

 

Neither Hopkins nor Wright fought with any round stealing urgency. Wright began to step up the pace in the tenth round, with Hopkins continuing to out maneuver him in close. Hopkins was the fresher fighter to the end, with Wright seeming to tire and be bothered by the cut. Round twelve Wright came out fast in an effort to close the show, but while his punches were higher in volume, they were wide and less accurate than Hopkins.

 

My pre-fight prediction was a split decision for Winky Wright or a draw being the worst case scenario. Imagine my surprise when the judges tallied it 116-112, and 117-111 twice to give Hopkins the unanimous decision, and retain his light heavyweight distinction.

To his credit, Wright was more active, but evidently the judges saw the accuracy in Hopkins efforts, in a fight that was very even, by Compubox calculations.

 

Bernard Hopkins, in his post fight comments, said he will be back to fight again, possibly for another four years, "but it has to mean something"; and called out Joe Calzaghe for a mega fight in New York at Yankee Stadium. Wright announced he would go back to the 154-160 weight range and called out Oscar de la Hoya.

For any of this to happen, Calzaghe must first succeed against Mikkel Kessler and Oscar should make up his mind. Is he going to create Hopkins/Calzaghe at Yankee Stadium for Hopkins/Golden Boy or return to the ring at 147 and go out for good in a classic fight, or concentrate solely on orchestrating his promotional and philanthropic empire? Again, the world awaits.

 

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