Wright Battles Taylor to Hard Fought Draw: Shades of December '99
 Chris Robinson, BRC (June 19, 2006)
Saturday night at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee, Jermain ‘Bad Intentions’ Taylor retained his WBC, WBO, and WBA Middleweight belts with a spirited, see-saw battle against St. Petersburg, Florida’s Winky Wright that ended up a draw. From the outset if was Taylor’s youth and strength against Wright’s technical skill. The fight was ebb and flow throughout and there will be much debate on both ends as to who should have walked away the winner on this night.
Early on Wright pressed forward and elected to make the fight a chest to chest battle as opposed to a pure boxing match from the outside. Wright had success with his stinging southpaw jab while Taylor scored with right hands through Winky’s guard while also trying to mount a sustained body attack. It was give and take on both ends and the action proved to be much more exciting than many had expected. Neither fighter was able to take control of the momentum without having it swiped away moments later. It was that close.
Chants of ‘JT, JT’ echoed the forum whenever Taylor would get into his groove but Winky would always be there to
answer him. Wright knew the score coming in and he fought this fight with the same patience, poise, and determination that he used throughout his career. Winky seemed to be in control when the fists let loose on the ropes but Taylor shined in the middle of the ring, ripping Wright with power shots and causing a swelling on Wright’s eyes. Wright’s presence was felt in rounds ten and eleven but he seemed to coast in the 12th, leaving the HBO crew of Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant, and Lennox Lewis to wonder if he had squandered his opportunity at Middleweight supremacy. When the scores where announced Judge Chuck Giampa had it 115-113 for Taylor, Ray Hawkins had it 115-113 for Wright, while Melvina Lathan saw the contest at a dead heat, 114-114, resulting in a three way draw.
Immediately after the decision was announced Winky Wright fled the ring, obviously upset with the judges’ verdict. Wright has been involved in numerous close calls throughout his career and it’s no secret that he has felt slighted in the past. Obviously tonight he felt he was the better man.
Taylor stuck around for the post fight interview and gave Wright his due respect.
‘I have to give him credit,’ he said. ‘Winky Wright came with it tonight. He surprised me with his jab.’
When asked of Wright’s move to opt to box in the 12th as opposed to slugging it out, Taylor offered no remorse.
‘If he wanted the title so bad he should have fought all twelve rounds. I fought all the way. That’s the difference between me and him.’
Larry Merchant would eventually track Wright down in his locker room, and the Florida fighter wasn’t too pleased with the judges’ call.
‘I won that fight,’ he said, ‘Jermain landed some big shots but I still pulled it out. It’s crazy...’
Wright has been through a lot in the game and at the end of the day he preferred to leave it in the hands of the boxing enthusiasts around the world.
‘The fans saw who won that fight.’
*
With a post fight thought I have to say that this bout was a bit similar to Wright’s hard nosed battle with then IBF champion ‘Ferocious’ Fernando Vargas back in December of 1999.
In that fight, just as tonight, Wright was going up against an undefeated, younger, seemingly stronger champion and was being looked at as the underdog by many. And just as Wright chose to put much of his fancies aside and duke it out with Vargas, so too did he elect to grind it out with Taylor as opposed to trying to box his way towards the win, surprising many along the way.
Wright thought he had built up enough of a lead against Vargas and slowed up in the championship rounds. Tonight he also slowed down in the 12th and didn’t seem to fight with any sense of desperation or urgency going into the final three minutes.
Oddly enough, the first words out of Wright’s mouth during tonight’s interview with HBO's Larry Merchant said it all.
‘It was another Vargas.’"
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