Ronald “Winky” Wright: Does His Career Merit Hall of Fame Enshrinement?
By Mike “Rubber Warrior” Plunkett
I recently stumbled upon a discussion about “greatness” and Hall of Fame worthiness on RSR’s General Boxing Forum. Part of that argument was that certain respected members of our message board fraternity felt that Ronald “Winky” Wright deserved Hall of Fame induction and that his career to date merits serious consideration for enshrinement. Laughable as that assertion seemed at the time I decided the moment had come to put Wright’s fine career under the microscope to see if it had the kind of memorable achievement and historical significance one might expect from an accomplished prizefighter being considered for induction. Don’t get me wrong – and likely many of you will if you hold favorite fighters closer to your heart than to your head. This is more about sweeping aside personal preference and not about character assassination; taking a good hard look at a career that seems to evoke extreme views as opposed to anything else.
Wright turned professional in October 1990 with a four-round whitewash over one Anthony Salerno in Tampa, Florida. Standing a hair over 5’10 with a 72’ reach, the lanky southpaw found little love in his home country where promotion and career backing were concerned. The mainstream power brokers of the sport such as Don King and Lou Duva had no interest in promoting the Floridian at the outset of his career, instead Wright was forced to look abroad for the type of backing and career mapping that would set the stage for his success years after the fact. His first big-time promoters were the Acaries brothers out of France.
They struck a deal with “Winky” to fight Darryl Lattimore in January 1993, a bout that would serve as a linchpin of sorts with Wright dropping his foe three times over the course of the contest, ultimately serving notice that one could move forward towards a successful career in boxing beyond the borders of the United States. From there Wright embarked on a very successful eight-bout winning streak, punching for pay in such locales as Germany, Monte Carlo and France. Occasionally he’d trip across the Atlantic to fight stateside, but for the most part he was honing his skills and turning heads in Europe.
In August 1994, Wright received his first title match against WBA light middleweight titleholder Julio Cesar Vasquez, a squat Argentinean southpaw known for his strength and formidable punching power, in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, France. Although undefeated with a 25-0 record, Wright had not fought in a match that had gone more than eight rounds. His inexperience bled-through as he lost a wide unanimous decision, with Vasquez flooring him five times over the course of the contest. Always the diligent gym rat and quick study, Wright took the defeat in stride and went back to the drawing board. Six months later in February 1995, “Winky” defeated Tony Marshall by a wide twelve-round unanimous decision, winning the NABF light middleweight title and re-establishing himself as a contender on the make.
Wright continued fighting in Europe, only fighting in the United States occasionally, until his unanimous decision victory over the rated Andrew Council in March 1996. The impressive win opened the door to challenge WBO light middleweight champion Bronco McKart, a fight he would go on to win by split twelve-round decision. He made three successful defenses of that title in England before losing it in South Africa to the undefeated Harry Simon in 1998, a brutish Namibian known for his numbing punching power and penchant for manhandling his foes.
Having parted ways with the Acaries brothers under the pretense that he was tired of all of the travel, Wright’s next big moment was a challenge of then-undefeated Fernando Vargas for the IBF light middleweight title. In a bout that saw “Winky” press the youthful champ to the very limit in an all action brawl, Vargas managed to salvage his championship with a controversial and very much disputed majority decision. To these eyes it looked as though Wright had come within a hair of pulling out the win but it was the type of razor close call where one could easily understand why the challenger came up short, having not emphatically taken the championship from the defending young lion. Undaunted, “Winky” reverted to his former ways of activity and workmanship, ultimately earning another title shot. In October 2001, Wright achieved his goal of once again becoming a world champion by outfoxing Robert Frazier for the vacant IBF light middleweight crown, a title left vacant by Felix Trinidad after his move up to the middleweight division.
Pedestrian wins over the likes of Jason Papillion, Juan Carlos Candello and a rubber match with McKart saw him retain his status as a world champ and earned him what can now be considered comparative scale money, but they did little to enhance his world standing at the upper levels of the sport. As fate would have it, “Sugar” Shane Mosley, then the WBA/WBC light middleweight champion, stepped up to the plate and challenged Wright to a major money unification match. Having controversially acquired the titles from Oscar De La Hoya the previous fall, Mosley went into the bout with Wright a decided favorite. Using his defensive prowess and greater size to his utmost advantage, “Winky” neutralized Mosley’s ability to get in close to deliver his heavy body punches and flashy combinations, essentially shutting out the Californian at every turn, sweeping the cards and unifying the light middleweight titles.
The win put Wright firmly into the boxing stratosphere causing the once hesitant cable giants to now consider showcasing him where before they tended to overlook him. A much closer majority decision win over Mosley in the rematch eight months later thrust Wright into a highly advantageous and lucrative position to pick and choose among a menu of potential challengers. Problematic to that new position, many of the bigger names of like championship caliber opted to look past or outright avoid Wright, largely because of his complicated defensive style and ability to shut down a foe’s offense.
Unable to secure a lucrative match with cash cow Oscar De La Hoya, Wright accepted the challenge of former three-division king Felix “Tito” Trinidad in a non-title middleweight match-up, a fan favorite that was in the midst of a comeback after an extended layoff and a feared power puncher that many figured might be able to knock Wright out. Instead, Wright’s spearing right jab and uncanny defense nullified the rusty Puerto Rican’s ability to put together any kind of effective offense. The May 2005 win underlined Wright’s ability to shut down even the most cunning and dangerous of foes when it counted most, established him as the top contender for the WBC middleweight title, further lending credence to his stance that he had the skills and style necessary to perform and win at the highest level. With some fans this played well but to others his approach came off as boring and somewhat predictable, his defensive style not being conducive to quality action or drama.
After routing former middleweight title challenger Sam Soliman by unanimous decision in December 2005, Wright faced off against then WBC/WBO middleweight champion Jermain Taylor in June 2006. In an entertaining, close encounter, the match was ruled a draw. Two judges scored the bout 115–113 for each fighter, while the final judge scored it a 114–114. When the verdict was announced, Wright stormed out of the ring upset that he was not awarded the win in a match he felt he had won.
When interviewed later, he rebuffed the notion of a rematch with Taylor, stating that he felt he could not get a fair shake with the former Olympian and the powers that had invested interest in him. Both camps later attempted to negotiate a rematch, but talks failed when both sides could not agree on the purse split—a problem attributed to Wright’s insistence on parity and Taylor’s reluctance as the champion to acknowledge fifty percent to the challenger. After the close shave with history and middleweight glory, Wright bested another former welterweight champion in the midst of a comeback, routing the capable but well beyond his prime Ike “Bazooka” Quartey by a wide twelve-round unanimous decision in December 2006.
Subsequent to his win over Quartey and with little hope of a rematch with Taylor, “Winky” curiously accepted a match against two-division kingpin Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins in July 2007, a cunningly dangerous ring geriatric with the style, experience and clout to throw anybody just enough off of their game in order to put things squarely to his advantage.
Fighting at a career high 170lbs Wright found himself on the losing end of an ugly and controversial unanimous decision in a bout that more resembled a slow motion street mugging than a contest by two world-class combatants. In it there was an excessive amount of holding and wrestling initiated by Hopkins, punctuated with an early-round head butt and periodic low blows throughout the contest. Regardless of the outcome, Wright expressed the feeling that the cards were increasingly stacked against him in any close bout, and that he was the one taking the chances and putting it on the line having gone up in weight to face a marquee name.
Taking the rest of the year off and having virtually disappeared from the sport throughout 2008, “Winky” re-emerged to challenge the streaking and freakishly talented Paul “The Punisher” Williams, a former WBO welterweight champ and the current WBO light middleweight king on April 11, 2009 in a non-title bout where fan opinion was split regarding his chances after such a long layoff.
Standing 6’1 with a reach that extended 82’, “The Punisher” was a formidable assignment for even the most talented and active fighters on their best night, but for an aging 37 year-old fraction of Ronald “Winky” Wright, and with no ring time under his belt in almost two years, the younger southpaw essentially did to Wright what Wright had been doing to others for years, inflicting his will, conditioning and sharp technique on his opponent for an easy and convincing win.
For twelve rounds the younger bigger southpaw beat the aging former champ to the punch, taking a wide shut-out win. For me it was an expected outcome given Wright’s hiatus from the sport and his advanced age, despite the fact that many, perhaps even the majority of fans could not conceive of Wright losing in the weeks leading up to the encounter. Notable in the aftermath of the official verdict was the positive and sportsmanlike demeanor “Winky” displayed, accepting the loss and congratulating his conqueror on a fine showing.
Looking back at the extraordinary career of “Winky” Wright, it’s crystal clear that he was a prizefighter that came up through the back path of our sport, paying his dues across the ocean, often learning his craft in virtual anonymity and taking away the best from the hard-earned disappointments and setbacks. He honed his craft over time, a defensive style of boxing that lacked the explosive punctuation that fans so often look for in fighters. But his style was more than just jab, slip and slide, he could switch gears and lay out the leather when the situation called for it, taking the lumps as they came and pulling himself off the canvas when the unexpected occurred. Over the course of a long and oft overlooked career, Ronald “Winky” Wright demonstrated the heart and soul of a champion.
Is “Winky” Hall of Fame worthy? I suppose that the answer to that truly lies in the eye of the beholder. I’ve often wondered aloud what Wright had done to ensure enshrinement. It’s true that he excelled at turning back some naturally smaller men and he did essentially douse the flame that was “Sugar” Shane Mosley at a point when I and many others figured the former welterweight king to be a quart low, but time has a way of adjusting perception and providing context, sometimes even many years later.
With his thorough January 2009 shellacking of the once thought near-invincible Antonio Margarito in regaining the WBA welterweight title, Mosley provided perhaps a career-best performance, giving fans something new to consider while providing a new sense of value to the losses Wright so clearly inflicted upon him those many years ago. And while Wright holds key wins over aging approximates of “Bazooka” Quartey and “Tito” Trinidad, neither fighter was shot or even so far gone that they failed to bring a sense of danger to the equation. Perhaps it was more a case of measured technique and that cool, smooth boxing sharpness that Wright administered that left both wondering where they had left their game.
In the case of Jermain Taylor, I believe Wright may have done just enough to warrant the win although I concede that particular viewpoint comes with its share of counter-points, and its too bad because it robbed “Winky” of certain historical claim…and I believe it took the better part of his fighting spirit in the aftermath that was filled with utter disappointment. Bernard Hopkins? I see that match for what it really was; a lucrative gravy match and a potential springboard to an even greater golden handshake, but an experiment nonetheless.
What of the Paul “The Punisher” Williams loss? Well, despite the irony of losing to a former welterweight champion after having turned back the challenge of several such-sized former champs in the past, I believe that Father Time will further underline Wright’s talent and grit, faded as it currently may be as “The Punisher” moves forward quite possibly towards greatness.
As denied as Ronald “Winky” Wright so often was by the power brokers of boxing and by the golden players of his time, there can be no denying that he was an extraordinary and willing champion that history will very likely look back kindly upon in the years to come. He paid his dues, put in his time and gave us his all when the moment allowed him to shine with the best that were willing to share a ring with him. In my updated view, the case and presented evidence leans ever so slightly towards Hall of Fame enshrinement for Ronald “Winky” Wright. Let’s hope he doesn’t have to wait as long for that moment as he did for the opportunity to shine as a fighter and the credit he is due for a fine championship career.