By Sammy Rozenberg
It sure wasn't pretty, but Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins (48-4-1, 32 KOs) won a unanimous decision over Ronald "Winky" Wright (51-4-1, 25 KOs) at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The scores were 116-112, 117-111 and 117-111.
The event was called "Coming To Fight," yet the two fighters involved did more clinching than fighting. Hopkins did the majority of the holding and the crowd was restless. The referee Robert Byrd never penalized either man in a fight that appeared to be much closer than the official scorecards.
The fight lived up to the expectations of a conflict fought by two technicians who were simply trying to pile up points to win a decision. It was no surprise, most insiders expected the fight to lack action because of the conflicting styles in the ring.
Wright suffered a bad cut above his left eye after a clash of heads in the third round. That was the extent of the damage suffered by either man. Hopkins threw the bigger and stronger punches, Wright was coming forward and throwing more punches. Hopkins, 42, and Wright, 35, began to show signs of their age as the two of them were visibly tired in the second half of the fight.
The CompuBox breakdown of punches:
Power Punches: Hopkins 143 out of 549, Wright 80 out of 328.
Jabs: Hopkins 9 out of 91, Wright 87 out of 290.
Overall Punches: Hopkins 152 out of 640, Wright 167 out of 618.
The fight was billed as a light heavyweight attraction, but fought at a catch-weight of 170-pounds. Wright appeared to be slower and bothered by the added weight. Following the loss, Wright said he was moving back down to 160 or 154-pounds.
"I thought I won the fight. I knew it was close. I'm moving back down to 154, 160. I want Oscar De La Hoya," Wright said.
Hopkins returned after a 13-month layoff showing better legs in the ring than many expected. The win puts him in line for several big paydays.
His future opponents will be determined in the next few months as the best fighters in the middleweight and super middleweight divisions are going to fight each other. On September 29, WBC/WBO middleweight champion Jermain Taylor will meet Kelly Pavlik at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Both fighters have said the September fight will be their last in the middleweight division, and both plan to move up to super middleweight limit of 168-pounds.
In the super middleweight division, undefeated champions Joe Calzaghe (WBO) and Mikkel Kessler (WBC/WBA) will collide on November 3 at the Millennium Stadium in Wales. Following the Kessler bout, Calzaghe plans to move up to the light heavyweight division and his main target is Hopkins.
The future of Hopkins is uncertain at this point. The Nevada State Athletic Commission is meeting on July 31 to decide whether or not they will suspend him for starting a fight with Winky Wright at the official weigh-in. Keith Kizer, executive director of the commission, told reporters on Saturday that 10% of Hopkins' $3 million dollar purse ($300,000) will be held by the commission. The commission may also issue a serious fine on top of a possible suspension.
Hopkins, during a stare down at the weigh-in, placed his hand on the face of Wright and pushed his head back, causing a brief melee between both camps. Kizer said the commission will file an official complaint against Hopkins on Monday.
On the undercard;
Jorge Linares (24-0, 15 KOs), a highly respected prospect has now become a contender. He busted up former champion Oscar Larios (59-5-1, 37 KOs) to stop him in the tenth round. Linares wins the WBC interim featherweight title with the win.
In the fight that stole the show, undefeated Michael Katsidis (23-0, 20 KOs) won a very tough twelve round unanimous decision over Czar Amonsot (18-3-1, 10 KOs). The scores were 116-110, 114-112 and 115-111.
The fight itself was a total slugfest, with both fighters landing plenty of leather during the twelve round contest. Few jabs were thrown as power punches were thrown often by both competitors. Katsidis was badly cut above the left eye, cut under the right eye and had serious swelling around both of them. Katsidis was able to knock Amonsot down in the second and tenth rounds. The fight was close until Katsidis began to slightly take over in the eight round.
Super middleweight contender Librado Andrade (25-1, 19 KOs) destroyed Ted Muller (19-12-2, 9KOs) in two rounds. Muller was a late substitute who lost his last four bouts. Andrade rarely missed any of his power punches as he pounded Muller until the referee Tony Weeks stopped the fight.
A battle of junior welterweights saw Demetrius Hopkins (27-0-1, 11 KOs) drop Jaider Enrique Berrio (11-3, 7 KOs) twice on route to a first round stoppage.
Undefeated welterweight prospect Rock Allen (11-0, 7 KOs) won a six-round unanimous decision over Ramiro Rivera (4-5, 3 KOs). The scores were 60-54, 60-54 and 60-54.
In a close battle of junior middleweights, Jose Rodriguez (12-0, 2 KOs) was able to pull out a split decision over Keenan Collins (12-2, 8 KOs). The scores were 78-74 Rodriguez, 77-75 Rodriguez and 78-74 Collins.