Ronald Wright (boxer)

Ronald Wright
Data
Birth Name	Ronald Lamont Wright
Fight name	Winky
Weight class	medium weight
nationality	US-american
birthday	November 26, 1971
place of birth	Washington
style	Legal display
size	1.79 m
Combat Statistics
Struggles	58
Victories	51
Knockout victories	25th
Defeats	6th
draw	1

Ronald Wright , often only Winky Wright called (* 26 November 1971 in Washington as Ronald Lamont Wright ) is a retired American boxer.

amateur

Wright began boxing in 1987, played his entire amateur light welterweight career and had a record of 52 wins with only 4 losses.

In 1989 he won the Florida Championships, the Florida Golden Gloves , the Southeastern Golden Gloves, and the Sunshine State Games. At the National Golden Gloves, the most prestigious amateur boxing tournament in the USA, he was only defeated in the semi-finals by the later professional world champion Terron Millett and thus won the bronze medal.

In 1990 he won the US Olympic Festival in Minneapolis and the bronze medal at the US championships.

professional

He began his professional career in October 1990 and won 25 fights in a row, 18 of which by knockout. He was quickly recognized as a talent by journalists and was characterized by good boxing technique with an excellent leading hand and good taker qualities. Nevertheless, he won only a few fans because of his defensive boxing style and relatively low punching power. On August 21, 1994 he received in Saint-Jean-de-Luz the opportunity for the world title of the WBA in light middleweight. Against the reigning world champion Julio César Vásquez (50-1) he had to go down a total of 5 times and lost significantly on points after 12 rounds.

He then won again nine fights in a row, including against Larry LaCoursiere (19-3) and Andrew Council (25-3). On May 17, 1996 he received in Monroe again a world title chance in light middleweight, this time the WBO association against Bronco McKart (28-1). Wright was able to prevail over 12 rounds just on points and then defended the title against the below-average opponents Ensley Bingham (16-6) and Steve Foster (19-13). In December 1997 he defended the title by injury-related abandonment victory in the sixth round against the undefeated Adrian Dodson (18-0).

But in his fourth title defense on August 22, 1998 in South Africa, he lost the WBO belt just on points to Harry Simon (16-0). Wright did not find out about his defeat until minutes later in his dressing room, as a draw had previously been announced in the ring due to a point-counting error. After a knockout win in a title elimination match against Derrick Graham (11-4), the IBF accepted him for a fight for their world title in light middleweight. Wright lost this fight, however, on December 4, 1999 in Lincoln City just on points against Fernando Vargas (17-0). Both boxers were badly marked after the fight.

After a subsequent, renewed points win against Bronco McKart (42-2) and another win against Keith Mullings , he was again approved for an IBF title fight. He defeated Robert Frazier (23-4) unanimously on points and was then at the height of his career. Because then he defended the championship belt early against Jason Papillion (34-6) and again Bronco McKart (45-3), as well as on points against Juan Carlos Candelo (25-4) and Ángel Hernández (26-4).

On March 13, 2004 there was a title union fight in Las Vegas between Ronald Wright and the world champion of the WBA and WBC , Shane Mosley (39-2). Wright won the fight by unanimous decision and has now been recognized by Ring Magazine as the number 1 light middleweight division. In the rematch in November 2004 in Las Vegas, Wright won again on points. After this fight he rose to middleweight division.

On May 14, 2005 he defeated the Puerto Rican Félix Trinidad (42-1) unanimously on points in Las Vegas , whereupon he announced his retirement from boxing. He also defeated the Australian Sam Soliman (31-7) unanimously in December 2005.

On June 17, 2006 he boxed in Memphis against the WBO / WBC world champion Jermain Taylor (25-0) for his world title, the fight was, however, a draw which Taylor kept his title. In December 2006 he achieved one last major victory; he defeated Ike Quartey (37-3) in Florida by unanimous decision on points.

On July 21, 2007 he suffered a point defeat against Bernard Hopkins (47-4), after which he did not fight for a year and a half. In April 2009 he boxed against Paul Williams (36-1), which he also lost on points.

He returned to the ring for one final bout on June 2, 2012; he lost against the undefeated Peter Quillin (26-0) on points.

Web links

• Ronald Wright in the BoxRec database

predecessor	Office	successor
Bronco McKart	World Light Middleweight Boxing Champion ( WBO ) May 17, 1996 - August 22, 1998	Harry Simon

predecessor	Office	successor
Félix Trinidad	Light Middleweight Boxing Champion ( IBF ) October 12, 2001 - June 5, 2004	Verno Phillips

predecessor	Office	successor
Shane Mosley	Super light middleweight boxing champion ( WBA ) March 13, 2004 - May 2005	Miguel Cotto

predecessor	Office	successor
Shane Mosley	World Light Middleweight Boxing Champion ( WBC ) March 13, 2004 - May 2005	Javier Castillejo