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The Sweet Science, unlike the Beautiful Game, does not rewards ties with points or plaudits. Instead, a draw is unfinished business, a lack of forward progress that is rarely beneficial, aside from the occasional titlist retaining his belt by default.
Such was the case in March, when Hasim Rahman’s even outing with James Toney did little to bring clarity to the heavyweight division, nor did it have fans begging for an immediate rematch.
And although Marco Antonio Barrera’s split decision victory over Rocky Juarez in May invalidated the initially-announced draw, neither the win nor a draw could make Barrera’s night feel like anything but a loss. Juarez had exerted his force, established his presence and entered stardom, even in defeat.
So how is it that, with this weekend’s entertaining draw between Jermain Taylor and Winky Wright, fight fans can feel satisfied while the fighters themselves can find positives in both their performances and the results?
Wright himself seemed quite unhappy with the decision, storming out of the ring and forcing HBO’s Larry Merchant to track him down in back for an interview. He compared the outcome to his controversial majority decision loss to Fernando Vargas in 1999, blamed hometown judging in favor of Taylor and ignored his choice to move but not stick in the last round, a strategy that cost him that one crucial point on Melvina Lathan’s 114-114 scorecard. [details]
Such was the case in March, when Hasim Rahman’s even outing with James Toney did little to bring clarity to the heavyweight division, nor did it have fans begging for an immediate rematch.
And although Marco Antonio Barrera’s split decision victory over Rocky Juarez in May invalidated the initially-announced draw, neither the win nor a draw could make Barrera’s night feel like anything but a loss. Juarez had exerted his force, established his presence and entered stardom, even in defeat.
So how is it that, with this weekend’s entertaining draw between Jermain Taylor and Winky Wright, fight fans can feel satisfied while the fighters themselves can find positives in both their performances and the results?
Wright himself seemed quite unhappy with the decision, storming out of the ring and forcing HBO’s Larry Merchant to track him down in back for an interview. He compared the outcome to his controversial majority decision loss to Fernando Vargas in 1999, blamed hometown judging in favor of Taylor and ignored his choice to move but not stick in the last round, a strategy that cost him that one crucial point on Melvina Lathan’s 114-114 scorecard. [details]