Deadly this forum , liked most of Winky's fight's . His style took him a long way in da boxin world . Trinidad timeing just couldn't match up wit Winky's time . .
Watch the Taylor fight one of the better matches hbo had in its final decade. We were still trying to see if Taylor had staying power and what wink had at middle Great fight with a lot of back an forth and featured Wright’s skills. No rematch ever came about and wright never quite found his form after that Even though he was mostly shut out his defense held strong vs Williams and he landed sharp counters just was beyond out worked
Winky had one of the best jabs and guard of the era. He had usually long forearms which he would just put up like a shield and it was really hard to get around. Alot of boxers had no answer for it. His clinic against Tito Trinidad was one of the best of the era. He was a quality operator who was underrated as a counter puncher underrated toughness and chin. A stylistic nightmare for most. I still say that if PBF had fought him at 154 he probably would have beaten him or atleast had the best chance of beating him of anybody in the world 154 and down back then. I had him beating Taylor and the Vargas loss is suspect as well. A HOF fighter who really never got his due, a top 5 ATG at 154 IMO.
Not a hugely versatile fighter, but very good at a few things (namely defence and controlling range with his jab) which enabled him to beat a lot of more flashy guys who were unable to break through his ridiculous high guard. Very 'Eastern European' style, as they say.
Actually Wright usec to move around ALOT. Very slick movement. Watch his bout vs Council who was a pretty good contender. He fought overseas for years with little fanfare. Vasquez fight was fun to watch. When he got older is when he sat down alot and blocked. I also think he was trying to make his style more fan friendlier.
No. Winky was one of few in history who would match up well h2h against Calzaghe. Joe throws a lot of punches but against Winky that means a lot of counters with his defence. Winky was robbed against Hopkins who fought extremely dirty even for his standards. No one wanted to fight Wright as he wasn't spectular but would just outbox you for all 12 rounds.
Imo hes one of those fighters thats so undynamic that its easy to overlook and underrate him... but his performances speak for themselves. Personally I think immense physical and mental strength played a huge part in it... its not something that will stand out through the tv, but to be able to use the guard so effectively on punchers like he did, and to be able to get opponents respect without being an actual power puncher, while controlling center ring, suggests imo he had an imposing strength based presence and an iron mind. Not sure that made any sense at all worded that poorly.
imo one of his best fights to watch is the vargas fight. Vargas was rather inexperienced in it but gave a great effort in a close, competitive and controversial fight between two of the top jr middles of their era.
Do you remember that punch in the clinch, where Paul threw a shot on one side of WInky and it landed on the other side of his face?! What a reach.
Many on here didn't seem to notice Wright until he fought Vargas but in the UK his talent had been spotted a while back with some wins over decent fighters in the UK. Wright had a great jab which was his imo key weapon. He used to tuck up well and shoot the jab out
I remember hearing there was a possibility of those two facing. Wright boxed alot in the UK before that It's funny when people mention Wright or Sergio Martinez as in the UK we got to see their talents a long time before they became stars