This is a fight that i was really hoping would be made when both fighters were at or around their best and fighting within a stone's throw of their best weight. I wanted desperately to see it in 1997 or somewhere thereabouts...and by the time these two met up in 2005 both were on the wrong side of veteran status, Tito, obviously more so, and the move past 154-pounds obviously took both men outside their best body shape and size, Tito obviously more so. It turned out to be a fine performance by Wright, but it was mostly sad to see him able to dismantle Tito Trinidad and put a relative clinic on him without bringing his A-game at full speed. So, near the eve of Paul Williams dance with Wright, let's rewind to '97 and try to call this fight that provided far too little far too late when it actually occurred. The fight that went off between Winky and Tito, to my eyes, said almost nothing about what might have happened eight years before when Tito was newly in the mix at junior-middle, moving up from welterweight, and Winky was still near to his best at the weight that was obviously the natural, best fit for his frame. What happens between these two in 1997 at 154? Can Tito throw enough punches to overwhelm Winky's superlative defensive skills and tricky ring generalship? Can Tito's aggressiveness take Winky out of the controlled, metered pace that best suits his skill-set? Does Tito's punch at 154 have a shot at cracking the slightly bigger Wright's excellent chin? Does Wright have the power to make Tito think twice before putting a full-court press on him from bell to bell? Can Winky frustrate Tito with his slickness and change the complexion of the fight in his favor? Can Tito find a place for the left hook enough times to get Wright moving away from it and towards the straight right hand? There are a lot of interesting questions on this one and I am eager to hear what you all have to say.
Winky's just bigger and better than Tito. He would've controlled Tito with his jab and Tito would've had a tough time cracking Winky's defense. Also, Winky had the foot speed to move in and out of spots when he was younger. He was mostly flat footed when he fought Tito and he still dominated him.
I definitely think Tito would have looked very different either at 147 or 154lbs.. I don't know about winning..... But Tito lost a lot when he stepped up to 160. First, he went up without gaining any muscle mass. You could easily see the difference in his waist. He lost head movement and leg speed. He was also throwing less punches. Which I think, IMHO, could be caused by: 1. Getting tired at that weight. 2. Got used to people falling at 147lbs and got lazy(I called that heavy puncher syndrome). Or 3. A combination of both. Those bigger guys can take big punches. Tito wasn't used to that. He had to throw a lot more punches if he wanted to be effective.
Trinidad can't handle the Winkster's style at any point. Tito fought 2 of the best defensive fighter's you'll find and got his ass handed to him both times.
He couldn't get off **** against Hopkins or Wright. That was his problem. They took his best weapon from him. Size is an excuse. He couldn't hit anything.
Trinidad needed someone who was willing to fight.....good movers and defensive guys will beat him every time IMO