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Here is the original recap of Bernard Hopkins vs. Winky Wright:

HBO Boxing After Dark Part 1 Recap

July 21, 2007

Mandalay Bay Events Center-Las Vegas, Nevada

Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight (175 pounds, but to be contested at a catch weight of 170 pounds) 12 Round Championship Match:

Bernard Hopkins (47-4-1 (1 NC), 32 KO's,170 pounds) (c) vs. Ronald "Winky" Wright (51-3-1, 25 KO's, 170 pounds)

Hopkins won the unofficial Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight Championship by defeating then champion Antonio Tarver on June 10, 2006 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.  This championship is a somewhat fictitious title representing a voted on ranking by boxing journalists from around the world, published in boxing magazine "The Ring".  Golden Boy Promotions, of which Hopkins is the head of Golden Boy Promotions East, is trying to put an emphasis on promoting matches around Ring Magazine Championships, for two reasons.   They can be promoted as the real championship matches and no sanctioning fees have to be paid to commissions for matches involving Ring Magazine Championships, meaning everyone involved makes more money in these matches.

After the victory over Tarver, Hopkins who had boxed at 160 pounds for most of his career, announced his retirement.  The retirement was to keep a promise to his deceased mother.  She had made him commit to retiring from boxing by the age of 42-years-old.  The boxer, from the projects of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was 41-years-old at the time of his greatest victory.  He was financially set and had no reason to risk injury by stepping into a boxing ring, again.  However, less then a week after the Tarver victory, Hopkins was back in the gym.  Hopkins has said that were his mother still alive he would still be retired, but now he wants to continue boxing for himself.

Hopkins began to box seriously while an involuntary resident at Graterford State Penitentiary in Pennsylvania for 56 months between the ages of 17-years-old and 23-years-old.  There he won the national penitentiary middleweight (160 pound) championship three times.  That was not Hopkins first time in jail, and upon release, he saw boxing as his last chance to escape the life of crime and poverty that had characterized his early life.  A little more then 4 years after his release, Hopkins won his first championship.  Less then 3 years later, he was a world champion, and would go on to make a record 20 consecutive title defenses, at 160 pounds.

He would lose his titles in a close split decision to Jermain Taylor on July 16, 2005.  Hopkins would fail to recapture his former titles in a very close rematch with Taylor.  Taylor won that match by unanimous decision on December 3, 2005.  The Philadelphia boxer's next match was the win over Tarver.  This will be Hopkins first match back, since his "retirement".

Hopkins has been trained for years by Naazim Richardson, who suffered a stroke less then 2 months before this match.  Richardson is recovering well and was able to attend the match, but Hopkins needed a new trainer, while Richardson was recovering.  The Philadelphia boxer went to the man who trained business partner Oscar de la Hoya to face Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Freddie Roach.  The two have had 6 weeks to work together in an unfamiliar Los Angeles setting for Hopkins, who has prepared for all of his previous professional contests in Philadelphia.  Hopkins is a dedicated student of boxing and a tireless worker in the gym.  Always staying near the weight limit for his next match and the change in training should not cause that big a disruption in how Hopkins performs in the ring.

In addition, to being the Ring Magazine Champion at 175 pounds, Hopkins is also ranked by the magazine as the number 6 best pound-for-pound boxer.

Hopkins is undefeated against southpaws, including his last win versus the southpaw, Tarver.  The Philadelphia boxer is an excellent counter puncher who will be looking to do most of his damage on the inside during this match.  Hopkins has a history of starting slow and can give away many early round, but finishes very strong.  In the matches with Taylor he gave away a few late rounds, by letting up his pace and this has cost him.

Wright had to go abroad for most of his early career, unable to find any matches that would pay close to decent money for a boxer of his caliber in the United States.  Between July 31, 1992 and March 26, 1999 boxed in the United States only 4 times, while boxing in Europe, Africa, and South America a total of 20 times.  Almost, all in unknown places to the St. Petersburg, Florida resident, who could not come close to pronouncing the names of the cities he was performing in constantly.  Wright suffered the first loss of his career in 1994 at Jai Alai in Saint Jean de Luz, France, after being ruled to have been knocked down 5 times in the 12 round match.  In reality, probably only 1 was a legitimate knockdown, and had the others been called correctly as slips Wright would have won an easy decision.  Later Wright lost a terrible decision at the Carousel Casino in Hammanskraal (officially Temba), NWP, South Africa, where a scorecard was changed by three points in favor of Wright's hometown opponent, after the decision had been read in the ring and the boxers were back in their locker rooms.  That scoring alteration cost Wright his WBO Championship at 154 pounds.

Tired of all the travel, Wright began the next phase in his career, which HBO.com calls "Winky Does the United States," which apparently is nothing like "Debbie Does Dallas".  After a series of solid wins, Wright was given the chance to face Shane Mosley to unify Wright's IBF and Mosley's WBA and WBC championships at 154 pounds.  Wright defeated Mosley twice, both time by unanimous decision.  For the first match Wright earned $750,000, and for the second he earned $1.6 million.  A huge increase in pay from the $800 Wright received for scoring a knockout victory to go 16-0, in his final match before going abroad, at the legendary boxing venue, that is the Hyatt Regency in Tampa, Florida.

After the second victory over Mosley, Wright had the greatest victory of his career.  He retired Felix Trinidad, in the biggest boxing pay-per-view of 2005, winning every round on one judges scorecard, while the two other judges generously awarded 1 round to Trinidad.  A consistent right jab, took the competitive spirit out of the formerly proud champion and he has not boxed competitively since that match.  It was a scientific boxing clinic, because Trinidad could not hit Wright all night and Wright did everything perfectly offensively and defensively.

On June 17, 2006, Wright challenged Taylor for the championships at 160 pounds he had won from Hopkins.  That match ended in a controversial draw, that Wright helped create.  Believing himself far ahead on the scorecards Wright cruised out round 12 and ended up losing it on the decisive scorecard, to earn the draw and let Taylor go home with the titles.  Wright was offered a well paying rematch, but turned it down, because Taylor would receive more of the purse then Wright.  The Florida boxer, insisted on at least a 50-50 split of the money, and Taylor insisted he was not going to evenly share the purse with anyone while he has the titles.

Wright has boxed competitively one time since then, against Ike Quartey on December 2, 2006.  Wright winning an easy unanimous decision, but taking far more damage in the match then he usually does in winning.

Wright has been with the same trainer, Dan Birmingham, since, he first walked into a boxing gym at the age of 16-years-old.  Since, really hitting the big time he has become a work hard, play hard boxer while training.  Despite training in St. Petersburg, Florida for years, training camp has now been moved to Las Vegas, Nevada.  Wright has bought a house in the area where he, his trainer, and the other people working to get him ready for his next match all live during training camp.  He can be seen at casinos on most nights of training, decked out in lots of ice.  He has to do a lot to cut weight for matches, walking around in the neighborhood of 180-185 (de la Hoya claims 200) pounds, and even during training knows what time the light comes on to show they are cooking donuts at Krispy Kreme.  (Who can resist a hot Krispy Kreme donut?)  The theory among Wright's people is that it took him a long time to get to this point, and he ought to be able to enjoy it.

Wright is ranked by Ring Magazine as the number 1 contender at 160 pounds to Champion Jermain Taylor, and number 5 in the pound-for-pound rankings.  Oddly, Jermain Taylor is not ranked among the current top 10 pound-for-pound best boxers.

Wright is naturally right-handed and does everything, but box, orthodox.  He uses the southpaw stance to aggressively throw a lead right hand jab with the stronger hand.  The jab comes and goes quickly and often, not allowing counter opportunities.  It is perhaps the best jab in boxing today, from either side.  In the matches with Taylor and Quartey, Wright began to use what he hopes is a more fan friendly style.  It opens himself up to get hit more, in exchange for more offense, and is not as solid defensively.  In this match, he will need to return to his masterful defensive work to give him his best chance to win on the outside.  Wright has very little punching power and a brawl with Hopkins would not yield a knockout, but only potential problems for Wright.  Staying on the outside with the jab and showing off one of the best defensive set of skills in boxing, can win Wright this match.  Wright has a history of giving away round 12, because he believes the match is won.  In his draw, and at least 2 of Wright's 3 losses, he lost round 12 on the scorecards, which proved decisive all three times.  (It is unclear what happened in South Africa with the scorecards as no one ever saw them, but Wright probably could have won rounds 1 through 12 and lost that decision.)

There was a (potentially scripted, to generate more PPV sales) shoving match at the weigh-ins.  For the incident Hopkins had 10% of his purse withheld for a potential fine, because he threw the first push, to the face of Wright.  The Ring Magazine Champion, also nearly lost another trainer.  In what was very funny to de la Hoya, who was on stage at the time, Roach, who has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, was knocked off the stage and landed impressively, safely, nimbly, even cat like on all fours on the ground below.  The fine would be several hundred thousand dollars if it stays, which would be very severe, considering the unofficial "no harm, no foul rule".

Hopkins is 42-years-old and Wright is 35-years-old.  Hopkins holds a significant height advantage standing 6' 1" tall to Wright's 5' 10.5" tall.  Their arm lengths are an identical 23" long measured from the armpit to the end of the fist.  Hopkins boxes out of the orthodox stance, while Wright will solely employ the southpaw stance.

The unified rules of boxing are in effect for this match.  The referee is Robert Byrd.  The official scores will be posted on the screen after every round, because this is a replay.

All the judges score round 1 for Hopkins, 10-9.  With 2:30 to go in round 2, Hopkins is warned for holding.  This match has started out ugly with lots of clinching and not a lot being done.  This style match is a huge advantage to Hopkins.  Wright has been the aggressor in the first two rounds of the match.  He is coming forward and pushing the pace, but Hopkins is getting out of a lot of tough positions by holding on and backing away at angles to avoid getting hit.  Two judges scored round 2 for Wright, 10-9, and the other had it for Hopkins, 10-9.  Through the first 2 rounds, Hopkins has landed 1 of the 15 jabs he has thrown (and Roach told Hopkins the jab was working, in the corner after round 2).  Wright has laded 12 out of 44 jabs thrown through the first 2 rounds.  After 2 rounds Hopkins leads on one scorecard 20-18, and the other two have the match tied, 19-19.

With 2:52 to go in round 3, Hopkins bounces off the ropes and delivers a vicious headbutt to Wright.  Before the match, Wright had accused Hopkins of using dirty tactics in the ring and he may have some very good evidence, here.  With 2:48 to go in the round, the referee stops the action to check on the cut that has been opened on Wright by the clash of heads, after Wright took a knee.  That will not be ruled a knockdown.  The cut is above Wright's left eye and it is bad.  Max Kellerman, on commentary, noticed that Hopkins was grinning, when sent to the neutral corner with a warning, and to wait for the doctor to check the cut on Wright.  The headbutt that caused the cut, was the boxing headbutt version of Nigel McGuinness' rebound lariat, using the ropes for extra force coming forward.  With 2:26 to go in round 3, the referee warns both boxers this time to watch their heads as they clash, again.  All three judges, score round 3 for Hopkins, 10-9.  Hopkins leads on all three official scorecards, after 3 rounds: 30-27, 29-28, 29-28.

With 20 seconds to go in round 4, Hopkins is warned again about inappropriate use of his head.  He is rubbing his head all over Wright's face, and the manner in which he is doing it, could further open up the cut above Wright's eye.  That is unlikely, an accident from a 42-year-old ring veteran.  All three judges score round 4 for Wright, 10-9.  To begin round 5, the cut above Wright's eye has stopped bleeding, but it is swelling badly and should effect impair his vision badly soon, if it is not already.  Hopkins is definitely trying to re-open the cut using his head as a weapon in the clinch.  In every clinch during round 5, Hopkins put his head on Wright's left shoulder near the cut and never on Wright's right side.  Amazingly, after a clinch with 38 seconds to go in round 5, the cut above Wright's eye begins to bleed again without a punch being landed to the spot in the exchange.  Hopkins won round 5 on all of he judges scorecards, 10-9.  However, Wright outlanded Hopkins in round 5, 17-8, according to CompuBox.  There is an intense struggle on the inside when the boxers come together with Wright trying to protect the cut and force Hopkins head over to his (Wright's) right shoulder.  Hopkins at the same time is doing everything he can to rub up the cut above Wright's eye including, when Wright puts his glove over that part of his face to defend, Hopkins tries to force Wright's own glove to rub on the cut.  These are two very veteran boxers showing they both know the tricks of the trade.  The referee should not be allowing this to happen, though.  Hopkins should be getting docked points for using his head as a weapon and also the excessive holding he positioning himself to use his head as a weapon.  If, the referee were more in control of the action, Hopkins may be nearing a disqualification.  Hopkins wins round 6 on all of the judges scorecards.  Hopkins is ahead in the match on all of the judges scorecards through 6 rounds: 59-55, 58-56, 58-56.

The beginning of round 7 sees the crowd begin to boo this match, mostly Hopkins for holding.  With 8 seconds to go in round 7, Wright goes to the ground, because of a push from Hopkins, while they were clinching.  It is correctly ruled a slip, and time expires before the action can be restarted.  Two judges score round 7 for Wright, 10-9, and the other scores it for Hopkins, 10-9.  After 7 rounds Hopkins is ahead: 68-65, 68-65, 67-66.  Wright looks very slow in this match, worse then in any of his previous major matches by a lot.  Wright wins round 8 on all of the judges scorecards, 10-9.  Hopkins, also looks extremely slow in this match.  Neither boxer appears to have the leg movement or hand speed they possessed, only a year ago.  Both boxers known for never tiring, are breathing through their mouths and now clinching out of exhaustion in round 8.  Hopkins is the more tired boxer, though.  With 17 seconds to go in round 9, the referee gives Hopkins his final warning for holding and the next infraction will cost the boxer a point.  There is a Hopkins initiated hold to finish out round 9, yet no point deduction comes.  All the judges score round 9 for Hopkins, 10-9, and have him ahead in the match: 87-84, 87-84, 86-85.

All the judges score round 10 for Hopkins, 10-9.  Through 10 rounds Wright has outlanded Hopkins 144 to 121 in total punches.  Through 10 rounds Hopkins is averaging 12 connects on 52 punches thrown per round.  Wright is averaging 14 connects on 52 punches thrown per round, through the first 10 rounds.  In between rounds 10 and 11, blood can be seen on Hopkins left shoulder, because that is where he is positioning his head to rub Wright's cut in the clinch.  Judging by the amount of blood on Hopkins shoulder the tactic is working well.  Hopkins is not bleeding from anywhere and is not suffering from any swelling.  All the judges score round 11 for Hopkins, 10-9.  Wright's corner tells him before round 12 that the contest is even.  Wright is exhausted in round 12 and cannot throw the sharp punches he threw early in the match.  Hopkins, who tired first, is fresher in round 12, throwing the better punches, and has the better body language.

The official decision from Michael Buffer is that judges have scored the match:  116-112, 117-111, 117-111, all to the winner by unanimous decision and still Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight Champion of the World, Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins.  The win moves Hopkins to 48-4-1 (1 NC), with 32 of those wins coming by way of knockout.  The win also moved him up to the number 5 spot in the Ring Magazine pound-for pound rankings.

With the loss Wright remains unranked by Ring Magazine at 175 pounds, the number one contender at 160, and flip-flops spots in the pound-for pound rankings with Hopkins moving down 1 spot to number 6.

Hopkins landed 152 of the 640 total punches he threw.  He landed 143 of the 549 power punches he threw.  Hopkins connected on 9 of the 91 jabs he threw.  Wright outlanded Hopkins, connecting on 167 of the 618 total punches he threw.  The smaller boxer landed 80 out of 328 power punches and 87 of the 290 jabs he threw.

CompuBox scored 132 total clinches in the match, 74 initiated by Hopkins, 53 by Wright, and 5 were mutual agreements.  Wright held 41 times in the final 5 rounds of the match, compared to only 12 times in the first 7 rounds.  The Florida boxer clinched 19 times in the last minute of a round in the last 5 rounds, because he was too tired to keep boxing cleanly.  Hopkins used his superior size, leaned, held, and used every veteran (read borderline dirty) tactic in the book to wear Wright down and the final rounds show that Wright was out of gas.  This is not to excuse the poor showing from Wright.  His legs were not strong when the match started and he never displayed the hand speed he has shown in the past.  This was a frustrating match to watch because of all the extracurricular activity going on in the ring.  The referee's name was called more in this match, then in any recently.  He was constantly breaking clinches and warning the boxers about dirty tactics, but not doing anything to stop it from happening, again.  By trying not to be a determining factor in the match, the referee became one of the most important determining factors in the match.

Emanuel Steward believes after this match it is time for both boxers to retire, because they will not be able to handle the speed of younger boxers.  The obvious next match for Hopkins is dropping down to 168 pounds to face the winner of Mikkel Kessler and Joe Calzaghe which is slated for November 3, 2007 in Wales.  That match is expected to draw in the neighborhood of 75,000 fans to Calzaghe's home stadium, and Calzaghe would be the preferred opponent for Hopkins.  Hopkins for months has been saying he wants to face Calzaghe in Yankee Stadium.  Were that not to happen the next option for Hopkins would be staying at 175 pounds to face Chad Dawson, which would not be a great match up for Hopkins from a stylistic or financial perspective.  Hopkins has also talked about facing Roy Jones, Jr. in a rematch of a match Hopkins lost in 1993 at 160 pounds.  The rematch would take place at 175 pounds, and have been really good 15 pounds lighter and 10 years earlier.

After the match, Wright said the headbutt that caused the cut was not intentional, but were he to watch enough replays, he would probably believe it was at least not unintentional.  Wright said the cut bothered him throughout the match, with blood getting into his eye.  Wright will drop back down to 160 pounds for his next match and likely, accept the rematch with Taylor.  Wright called out de la Hoya in his post match interview, but de la Hoya has already said that Wright is too much bigger then the 1992 Olympic Gold Medalist for him to accept that match.

Both of these boxers aged rapidly in this match, and unless they can turn back time, are unlikely to ever again beat a top contender.

This portion of the telecast easily can be skipped.

 Sincerely,

Jereme Warneck
Hidden Valley Lake, CA


I can be reached for feedback and comments at ZurRoadie@aol.com or as JeremeW on XBOX Live. I read everything.