Wright vs Quartey

[Uke]

That fight was a sham. Anyone who watched the fight saw that Quartey had been landing the harder, more effective shots for the first 8 rounds of the fight. They wanted Wright to win so badly that the commentators kept speaking about Quartey in terms of "look what heart he's displaying" and "what a courageous effort". That fight was a joke.

Both knockdowns weren't knockdowns. The first was a matter of the legs getting tangled up. The second knockdown nothing touched the ground! I can see why Quartey is lost his love for this game. He loves the art but hates the bullshit that comes along with it.

I like Wright as a fighter and I think he did enough to upset Taylor, but he wasn't nearly as impressive as the scoring implied. Quartey had blocked with his gloves and avoided most of the punches that the commentators were giving praise to Wright for. I watched the fight thinking "these commentators have no idea what the hell they're talking about". It was painful to watch because it was more than just Wright against Quartey. The referee was so inept that he more than once ruled knockdowns that didn't happen.

If anyone watches the fight, watch the punches that Quartey lands. They are cleaner, harder and did more damage than anything Wright was throwing. Quartey began to fade in the late rounds only in terms of punch output, but he still was scoring with the harder, obviously cleaner landing shots. The little pitty pat punches that Wright threw were mostly landing on gloves and arms.

That fight left a really bad mark on boxing in my mind. I know there have been much worse decisions, but these guys aren't two young contenders whose careers are just beginning and this won't have any effect. They're pushing 40 and they're both veterans. The ref should have been more experienced and competent for a fight between two fighters like this.

If anything, IMO Quartey showed he still has it, while Wright shows that he's getting easier to hit and hurt.

But if you watch this fight, remember not to pay attention to the commentators and look for how the ref ruined the fight. Two knockdowns is a lot to have to fight your way back from in terms of points, and it can have a psychological effect on the fighter who's behind and his will to win.

Classic example: Tszyu vs Hatton

[Uke]

I agree, Mike! Ike did lose. That wasn't the point I was arguing. Quartey clearly faded in the latter rounds. However, Quartey was landing the harder, cleaner shots from rounds 1-8. He didn't pitty-pat his jab or slap Wrights arms like Winky did to get points. He engaged Wright A LOT more that Wright engaged him. But, at one point in the fight he just gassed out and went into defensive mode. But there was never a time in that fight he wasn't answering Wright. There were times when Wright wasn't answering Quartey. Wright would let Quartey unload while he would just stand in defensive posture. Sometimes against the ropes. Sometimes not.

Wright won, and I didn't mean to give the impression that he didn't. My problem wasn't with Wright. My problem was with the ref, and the scoring. There was NO WAY that Wright had landslided Quartey the way the scoring reflected. After each round, even when it was clear that Quartey had taken the advantage, the rounds were scored for Wright.

Now there's no argument in the world that can make up for Quartey's fading in the late rounds, but I've around and been a fan of boxing for way to long not to know when politics play a role.

As I wrote before, Quartey showed that despite getting bad calls(Forrest & DLH) he can still be competitive. Wright on the other hand is getting hit a lot more than he ever has before. Congrats to Wright, but the tainted victory IMO is probably making other contenders more eager to fight him now. If a 37 year old Quartey can get inside and do that, I'd love to see what Taylor would do different the second time around.

[Uke]

I don't think he's a phenom, Mike. A defensive phenom IMO is more like a Toney, Whitaker or a Mayweather. I like Wright but his defense more about endurance and durability than skill. His entire defense is putting his arms up and letting his opponents punch away. I don't think I've ever seen him slip a punch. No head movement whatsoever.

I don't see him as a defensive phenom. A defensive fighter ... yes. But a phenom? Nah. He a solid boxer who sticks to the basics and has a great work ethic. He's not flashy. He's not even impressive, and that's why he's boring to watch most of the time. I like Wright, but his record is more impressive than his performances.

Ike's punches were much more potent than Wright's own. I just watched the fight again to make sure I had it wrong. I'm not implying that he ever hurt Wright, as Wright is a hard man to hurt because he spends the majority of the fight in a defensive guard. However, Quartey snapped Winky's head back and caught him clean a lot more than the reverse.

All in all, Winky won. No doubt about it. But the match could have been a lot better if it were reffed better.

Being that you're in the pug world, you should know that bad calls can destroy a boxer's willingness to go in and give it his all. We see it all the time. Once the ref ruled the first knockdown, I noticed Quartey trying to overcompensate by going on an all out attack instead of pacing himself. Then once the second knockdown was ruled, Quartey didn't look much like he wanted to fight. He came alive in the last two rounds, but he knew it was too little too late. Now rewatch and see if what I just wrote isn't true.

Wright is a solid boxer in a very weak division littered with former lightweights and welterweights, so he's safe because there's no one with power there to challenge his defense. I would have loved to had seen him fight Hopkins. Actually, he has a chance to make a mark by going up and fighting Calzaghe: The man who embarrassed Jeff Lacey. Hopkins went up in weight after spending his entire career at 160 with the exception of his first fight. Why can't Wright do the same? A fight against Ouma would put an insomniac to sleep, so I think Calzaghe is the way to go for Wright seeing how he doesn't want to fight Taylor again.

At this point with his division looking so weak, Wright doesn't have a whole lot of choices. He's fighting smaller men because of a lack of competition. He didn't beat Taylor who is thee man to beat at or around 160. So it makes sense for him to be contemplating retirement at this stage.