Hopkins vs Wright By Salvatore Urciuoli (Hopkins) and Luke Chance (Wright)

Hopkins vs Wright

By Salvatore Urciuoli (Hopkins) and Luke Chance (Wright) - Photo Credit HBO - 7/20/2007

This weekend is sure to be great. Why? Because there is a superfight. That’s why. In one corner Bernard Hopkins 47-4-1, a former pound for pound number one and a former undisputed middleweight champion. In the other Ronald Wright, 51-3-1, a former undisputed light middleweight champion and a man who has been earning himself a name as a giant killer of late, and confirming his status as a member of the pound for pound elite. In tribute to this fight my fellow writer and I decided to put ourselves in opposite corners, and see what sorts of arguments we could come up with.

Why Bernard will win

The most obvious argument is the one we will visit first. Being that Winky has been a junior middleweight for most of his career and Bernard a middleweight for the vast majority of his, it is easy to see that Bernard is the naturally bigger man. Standing next to each other at the press conference Bernard seems to be the taller longer, and bigger man.

There is no denying this however I will be the first to admit that with technicians like these two size is less important than in most contests. Except of course if you consider the fact that Winky routinely walks around a few krispy kremes from 200 pounds between fights. When you consider that the first time Bernard has been over 180 pounds in the last 12-14 years was during training for Antonio Tarver. A training camp which he used Mackie Shillstone(the same man that got Roy Jones and mike Spinks ready for successful heavyweight title fights) to put weight on his body properly. Prior to that you can probably count on one hand as many times as Nard has been over the 170 mark. Winky was entering the ring at 170 for his junior middleweight fights and even at middleweight his body had a slightly softer look to it. The point is that even though Bernard is 7 years older he may not necessarily be the older man in the ring.

Being the older man or the better man conditioning wise will not matter unless that can be somehow taken advantage of. After all when was the last time you saw Winky with a fighter up in his grill wrestling and roughing him up? That is absolutely one of Bernard’s strengths. There hasn’t been a fight or fighter he hasn’t been able to do that to. And if that’s the case for this fight he should be able to test Winky physically in a way he has never been tested before. It’s obvious to all that Bernard will not throw more punches than Winky will but if he can lean on him and get to his body those krispy kremes and Vegas lifestyle may begin to take its toll. Admittedly this doesn’t do much to augment the image of the potential action of the fight and that opinion seems to be pretty widespread.

Almost every prognosticator I have heard agrees that this will be a tactical and somewhat boring fight because of both men’s mental makeup and scientific approach to the fight game. All with the exception of one and that man is someone I respect even if I don’t always agree with him. Teddy Atlas brings up some interesting points in the following quotes:

“Both guys’ personalities are to think defense. Even though in the later years, Winky might argue with me. Winky might say, 'Teddy, I'm being more aggressive, more offensive-minded.' And you know what? I'd say, 'Winky, you're right. But you're still doing it behind the ear-muffs and you're still in front of your personality in a responsible way. In a way that's gotten you the titles, that's made you one of the most consistent fighters of the past ten years, probably. You think defense, you think responsible.”

"Bernard definitely thinks that. Bernard, even when he lost to (Jermain) Taylor - and I like Bernard a lot- a lot of people called me up and said, 'The second one will be different, Teddy. The first one was close but it'll be different. He'll be more aggressive in there.' But I said, 'It won’t be different. Because his temperament is the same, that's not going to change. That's not suddenly going to be pulled out of him. His philosophy, his personality, and the way he thinks as a person, not just as a fighter, to be careful, to be thoughtful, to be very responsible, to be chess-like in the ring, that's going to remain the same. So at their peaks, there's no chance that fight is entertaining.” – Teddy Atlas

But he goes on to say that because they are no longer at their peaks there is more chance that this fight will turn into a more entertaining affair than everyone thinks. That’s not to say that it will be gatti-ward but I agree with teddy as long as some tactical elements arise during the fight.

So how will Bernard get close to Winky in order to bully him, shorten the distance at times, and generally make Winky use up a lot of energy for in-fighting? Simple, feints footwork and an educated jab. Bernard is one of the greatest fighters in history as far as footwork and how it pertains to feinting an opponent. Go back and watch the fight against Howard Eastman as a prime example. Or simply you tube the Trinidad fight and you will se exactly what I mean. While I freely admit that Winky is no Trinidad or Eastman the same basic principles apply in getting inside on a fighter. Wink’s strength is his long jab from the outside and by getting inside nard also takes this away from him along with the other benefits mentioned. Once inside how will he break the turtle like defense of Winky?

Winky is famous for his earmuff defense. That basically takes away 90% of head shots as well as all body shots except for the belly button area. He seems unhittable because nobody gets close enough to him to exploit that small opening. Since Bernard should be able to get close to Winky I believe he will employ a little half hook half uppercut to the body. I saw him practicing that in a training video and what he does is simply slide back and forth close the his man while digging that punch to the body. Couple that with some roughhouse tactics and Winky will have to alter his turtle shell defense while trying to keep his balance. Once his balance is upset he will have to move his arms to try to get his balance back which will open up head and side type body shots that we are not used to seeing him get hit with. This principle is easy to prove. Hold your arms up like Winky and have someone push you off balance and see if your arms are still in the same position. I will bet you dollars to donuts you move your arms enough to create openings in trying to regain your balance and composure. Even this does not create a ton of openings it will be enough. The fact that Bernard hasn’t been hurt in a fight also leads me to believe that Winky cannot and will not hurt Hopkins. After all tarver hit him with some helacious shots and he never even seemed buzzed. Add that to the fact that Winky has been getting hit more than ever and what you have is advantage Bernard Hopkins. Shane Mosley nearly came back to beat Winky in the second fight and he isn’t nearly as big, tricky, or as accomplished an in fighter as Bernard Hopkins. With that being said I still envision this fight as being a 7-5 type fight.

Why Ronald ‘Winky’ Wright will retire Bernard Hopkins

I have to admit I'm excited about this fight. These two guys are two of the top warriors in the game today. This should be a great fight, but when you look at the facts, surely there can only be one winner.

Ronald Wright 51(25)-3-1 has been undefeated for eight years, his last lost was a dropped majority decision against Fernando Vargas. Wright has remained undefeated despite facing stellar opponents in the form of multi weight champ 'Sugar' Shane Mosley and Middleweight king and Hopkins conqueror Jermain Taylor.

Last time out Hopkins enjoyed a runaway win over the spectacularly overrated Antonio Tarver. Hopkins may have beaten Tarver but I think we can agree that's no sort of preparation for a warrior like Wright. Wright however has been facing and either matching or beating top names. Two wins over pound for pound elite Shane Mosley and a draw with highly rated Jermain Taylor, who ahs two wins over Hopkins.

There is no way Wright is going to be intimidated by Hopkins.

Hopkins has the size advantage, but that is the only advantage he has. At 42 he isn't getting any younger, and never a volume puncher one has to wonder if he has the number of punches in him to break through Wright’s defense with anything meaningful. Wright however with his southpaw jab and the snappy combinations he showed against Taylor could do Hopkins some damage.

Neither of these men has ever been knocked out, and it's safe to assume a KO is off the cards. Wright’s defense is the best in the world, men like Mosley and Taylor have struggled to break through it, and I don't see how an aging Hopkins can. Hopkins' defense, although good isn't as good as Wright’s. Winky will get through, and every time he hits Hopkins it's going to putting miles on the clock.

Wright has never fought at 170lbs, Hopkins has fought Tarver. Let's not forget Tarver lost his first fight with a shot Roy Jones. He has then built his career off beating that same shot fighter, and sharing a win and a loss with Glen Johnson. It's not hall of fame stuff is it? Bottom line this guy was easy meat. At almost 40 we have to say Tarver was past his prime as well.

Although Hopkins does have a 9(7)-0-0 record against southpaws, which is impressive, these are wins against the like of the mediocre Robert Allen. In no way is this an indicator of how his fight with Wright will go.

In short neither of these men is proven at this catch weight. Wright has proved more adept at middleweight garnering a draw from a man who holds two wins over Hopkins. Many people actually considered that Wright had defeated Taylor. At 36 Wright has shown every sign that he is still in his prime. Hopkins on the other hand has lost two of his last three. Hopkins already has his place in history as one of the greatest middleweights of all time. He has a record for defenses. Wright thirsts for that place, a place he can claim by defeating Hopkins this weekend.

The culmination of Wright’s hunger, his southpaw stance, his defense, the fact that he is six years younger and the fact that he has shown no signs of slowing down will almost certainly lead to Wright claiming a close and hard fought but unanimous decision. .

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