Ronald 'Winky' Wright- 51-4-1 (25 KOs)
Ronald 'Winky' Wright, born on 26th November 1971, is an American boxer. Born in Saint Petersburg, Florida, Winky is considered by many as a top P4P boxer. He is a former undisputed Light-Middleweight Champion of the World, and has campaigned at both Middleweight and Light-Heavyweight. Winky is defensively an amazing fighter, coupled with an excelllent southpaw jab and good chin he has always been very tough to fight.
Winky's career started all the way back in October 1990, where he won a 4-round UD. He went 25 fights undefeated before his first title opportunity, fighting in France against Julio Cesar Vasquez. Winky lost for the first time via UD, getting knocked down 4 times along the way. He carried on fighting all over the world before getting a shot at the WBO Light-Middleweight title. He fought Bronco McKart, and win over 12 rounds by SD. Winky only managed a couple of defences before he was defeated by undefeated Harry Simon, this was a close decision and was judged an MD by judges.
Winky had one more tune-up before fighting young superstar Fernando Vargas for the IBF Light-Middleweight Title, in a very close battle between two evenly matched fighters, Winky came up just short on the judges card and lost another MD. After this fight, Winky went on a streak of 7 straight wins and picked up the vacant IBF Light-Middleweight Title along the way. This set-up Wright's first big fight.
In March 2004, Winky got a shot at unification against the highly regarded, and one of the best P4P fighters at the time, Sugar Shane Mosley. The fight came as a surprise to Winky, but with the WBA, WBC & IBF title's on the line Winky boxed brilliantly and controlled the fight with his jab and excellent defense. Winky won soundly on all 3 cards, and became the first undisputed champion at 154 for 29 years. The rematch took place in November later that year, which was a much closer affair as Mosley adapted his style. However, Winky still won the fight managed to win via decision 115-113, 115-113, 114-114.
After the Mosley fights Wright stepped up in weight, where Felix Trinidad came out of retirement to fight Winky in a WBC Eliminator. Trinidad was expected to be a tough fight for Wright, however Wright dominated from start to finish in a very one-sided fight. He won practically every round and got a lob-sided 119-108, 119-108, 120-107 decision. After this fight, Winky took on a tune-up at 160 and defeated Sam Soliman in a close fight by UD.
In June 2006, undisputed Middleweight king Jermain Taylor, who held the WBO & WBC title's, and Winky fought for the titles. The fight was close throughout and ended in a controversial draw, Winky stormed out of the ring and refused a rematch because of his disappointment with the end result. 6 months later, Winky stepped back in the ring to defeat Ike Quartey over 12 rounds.
In July 2007, Winky Wright stepped upto Light-Heavyweight, to fight Bernard Hopkins at a 170lbs catchweight. The bout was HBO PPV, and did over 300,000 buys. In a largely uneventful fight, Winky was clearly not good at the weight and a cut early in the fight didnt help his cause. He lost a close decision, though the judges cards were much wider than the fight was as he lost 116-112, 116-112, 117-111.
At this point, it is very uncertain what the future holds for Winky Wright. With no bout scheduled, and reports that he has refused several offers to fight various opponents, it seems Winky is either pricing himself out of fights or has no intention to continue boxing.
Updated by LeedsLad (2/25/08)
Ronald 'Winky' Wright Fighter Information
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