On his best day? Absolutely. But his body of work doesn't quite measure up. Winky is a great guy apparently, but his self image and sense of entitlement got in the way of his progress on many occasions.
Wow. I wouldn't go that far. That's pretty harsh, man. Wright took some good chances. Owned every valuable title at 154. Challenged to a draw for the linear world middleweight crown. 57 fights with some really good names without being stopped once. The fight with Vasquez showed his heart. He kept getting his ass off the canvas. When you look at his few losses where you've got guys like Hopkins well past his weight class and his wins with Mosley twice over and Trinidad. I find him impressive. I agree not 100 though. I'd have him on a top 200, I think. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z0Mg-dw16o[/ame]
I don't even like the guy but that's ridiculous reasoning. Tito was a belt holder at 154 and then 160. It's not like Johnson beating up Ketchel for ****'s sake. Mosley was a natural welterweight, but he was the linear light middleweight champion, was he not?
Maybe, I guess. The way I see it, boxing's been going on at a high level for about 120 years. For Winky to be top 100, he'd need to have been one of the top 20 fighters of the past 20 years. I don't think there's even a decent argument that he could have been. Top 200 - was he one of the best 40 fighters of the last 20 years? I guess there's an argument. I personally always thought the guy was a bit overrated, but he was a beast at 154. So I guess not in the top 300 is probably a little harsh, but he's probably right around the #200 range. Borderline HOFer in my mind - I wouldn't complain if he gets in, but I probably wouldn't vote for him if I had a vote. Took some risks, but at the end of the day, all of his best wins came against smaller fighters. I mean, Mosley's never beaten anyone too worthwhile at 154 (other than a questionable win over Oscar), and Tito was pretty much shot by the time Winky got to him. Quartey was pretty much shot by the time he got to him. Lost to Simon and Vargas (both close but legit) and drew with Taylor (also close but legit, and Wright's own damn fault for giving away the 12th). After that, his best win is a prime Bronco McKart. Can't get him much higher with a prime for prime argument either. Prime for prime, he loses to guys like Norris and Curry, and he actually lost to Simon and Vargas when they were both in their primes. Prime for prime, I think Dzinzuruk gives him fits, although we'll never know because prime Dzinziruk never took any challenging fights, and his prime is already over now. I don't know, I just have trouble seeing him up that high. He's the best 154 pounder of the last decade, but that's about the highest accolade I can give him.
I've never heard the phrase "a prime Bronco McKart" but I guess that does bring your points home. Fair enough, my man.
thats right. remember too that winky was a genuinely avoided fighter for much of his career and it wasn't until he fought and beat mosley that he picked up bigger fights. if winky had got big fights as easily as oscar did (or even half as easily) then we could be talking about winky in a different context.