Winky Wright Dominates Quartey in Homecoming
An impressive homecoming for Ronald "Winky" Wright (51-3-1, 25 KOs), as he dominated former welterweight champion Ike Quartey (37-4-1, 31 KOs) before a cheering arena of supporters in Tampa, Florida.
Wright showed Quartey that size does matter when you move up in weight. He dominated the former champ in a one-sided twelve round decision to maintain his status as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport.
Quartey put on a game effort for a great veteran fighter close to 40 than 30, but was unable to beat the bigger and better man in Wright. Wright scored flash knockdowns in rounds two and seven, neither knockdown was clean.
Wright, 35-years-old, threw a career record 1011 punches against Quartey. In the final round, he tried to close the show by going for a knock out, but was unable to stop his durable opponent.
The scores were 117-110, 117-109 and 117-109, all for Wright.
There are two bouts that Wright wants before he calls it a career. A showdown with Oscar De La Hoya, and a rematch with middleweight champion Jermain Taylor.
In order to make a rematch with Taylor, the price has to be right, for Wright. He recently told USA Today that while he wants the rematch, he is unwilling to make the fight unless the purse split is on even terms.
"I'm an older fighter, so I want the best fighters out there, and I want to fight them now," Wright says. "But I've got to get treated right. When we fought the first time, Jermain got more. I beat him, but they called it a draw, so that means we're even. Why should he get more now? I don't feel Jermain and his team is trying to be fair about the negotiations. Now if they want the fight, it will be a 50-50 fight, or it will be no fight."
Taylor returns next week in his hometown of Arkansas as he faces former junior middleweight champion Kassim Ouma. Taylor's promoter Lou DiBella has told the press that following Ouma, Taylor will return in April, and then a possible meeting with Joe Calzaghe in the final stanza of 2007.
The bout with De La Hoya is one the could make both men a lot of money, and also a bundle for their promotional companies. Wright's Winky Promotions has a co-promotion deal with De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions.
The potential for a bout with De La Hoya rests on whether or not he beats Floyd Mayweather, Jr. on May 5. If De La Hoya loses to Mayweather, most expect him to retire from the ring. De La Hoya has already indicated that Wright could possibly be his next opponent following Mayweather.
"I want to fight my co-promoter," Wright said as he and Oscar De La Hoya laughed during the post-fight interview.
There is always a shot of facing the returning Bernard Hopkins, or super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe. Calzaghe was expressed a willingness to fight Wright in 2007, but Wright would have to move up in weight to 168-pounds to face the much bigger man.
Hopkins on the other hand is looking for a shot at the heavyweight title. He currently weighs over 180-pounds, and Wright would have to put on some serious pounds in order to meet Hopkins at the likely light heavyweight limit of 175-pounds.
On the undercard;
In rematch of a 2004 no-decision, former super middleweight champion Jeff Lacy (22-1, 17 KOs) made a very unimpressive return to the ring when he barely squeaked by Vitali Tsypko (19-2, 10 KOs). In a bout that started strong for Lacy, Tsypko came back down the stretch to almost pull off the upset.
Lacy was able to get two of the three judges to score the fight in his favor for a majority decision. The scores were 95-95 for the draw, and 96-94 and 96-94 for Lacy. It was Lacy's first bout since his March loss to current WBO super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe.
Super bantamweight Rey Bautista (21-0, 16 KOs) dominated veteran Giovanni Andrade on route to a four round TKO win after the corner of Andrade threw in the towel.
An impressive homecoming for Ronald "Winky" Wright (51-3-1, 25 KOs), as he dominated former welterweight champion Ike Quartey (37-4-1, 31 KOs) before a cheering arena of supporters in Tampa, Florida.
Wright showed Quartey that size does matter when you move up in weight. He dominated the former champ in a one-sided twelve round decision to maintain his status as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport.
Quartey put on a game effort for a great veteran fighter close to 40 than 30, but was unable to beat the bigger and better man in Wright. Wright scored flash knockdowns in rounds two and seven, neither knockdown was clean.
Wright, 35-years-old, threw a career record 1011 punches against Quartey. In the final round, he tried to close the show by going for a knock out, but was unable to stop his durable opponent.
The scores were 117-110, 117-109 and 117-109, all for Wright.
There are two bouts that Wright wants before he calls it a career. A showdown with Oscar De La Hoya, and a rematch with middleweight champion Jermain Taylor.
In order to make a rematch with Taylor, the price has to be right, for Wright. He recently told USA Today that while he wants the rematch, he is unwilling to make the fight unless the purse split is on even terms.
"I'm an older fighter, so I want the best fighters out there, and I want to fight them now," Wright says. "But I've got to get treated right. When we fought the first time, Jermain got more. I beat him, but they called it a draw, so that means we're even. Why should he get more now? I don't feel Jermain and his team is trying to be fair about the negotiations. Now if they want the fight, it will be a 50-50 fight, or it will be no fight."
Taylor returns next week in his hometown of Arkansas as he faces former junior middleweight champion Kassim Ouma. Taylor's promoter Lou DiBella has told the press that following Ouma, Taylor will return in April, and then a possible meeting with Joe Calzaghe in the final stanza of 2007.
The bout with De La Hoya is one the could make both men a lot of money, and also a bundle for their promotional companies. Wright's Winky Promotions has a co-promotion deal with De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions.
The potential for a bout with De La Hoya rests on whether or not he beats Floyd Mayweather, Jr. on May 5. If De La Hoya loses to Mayweather, most expect him to retire from the ring. De La Hoya has already indicated that Wright could possibly be his next opponent following Mayweather.
"I want to fight my co-promoter," Wright said as he and Oscar De La Hoya laughed during the post-fight interview.
There is always a shot of facing the returning Bernard Hopkins, or super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe. Calzaghe was expressed a willingness to fight Wright in 2007, but Wright would have to move up in weight to 168-pounds to face the much bigger man.
Hopkins on the other hand is looking for a shot at the heavyweight title. He currently weighs over 180-pounds, and Wright would have to put on some serious pounds in order to meet Hopkins at the likely light heavyweight limit of 175-pounds.
On the undercard;
In rematch of a 2004 no-decision, former super middleweight champion Jeff Lacy (22-1, 17 KOs) made a very unimpressive return to the ring when he barely squeaked by Vitali Tsypko (19-2, 10 KOs). In a bout that started strong for Lacy, Tsypko came back down the stretch to almost pull off the upset.
Lacy was able to get two of the three judges to score the fight in his favor for a majority decision. The scores were 95-95 for the draw, and 96-94 and 96-94 for Lacy. It was Lacy's first bout since his March loss to current WBO super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe.
Super bantamweight Rey Bautista (21-0, 16 KOs) dominated veteran Giovanni Andrade on route to a four round TKO win after the corner of Andrade threw in the towel.
