WINKY TOPS SHANE, NOW ONLY CHAMP AT 154

Winky Wright, no longer a vague name in boxing, was simply spectacular the way he handled Sugar Shane Mosley Saturday to become the WBO’s first undisputed junior middleweight champion in 29 years at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Wright, a slick southpaw from St. Petersburg, Fla., predicted there was no way Mosley could beat him and made it stick with a mean right jab, superb defense, and dominating pressure that almost scored three knockdowns in easily winning Mosley’s WBA/WBA championships.

The crowd of 9,017 was standing, roaring its approval in the12th round’s final action as the wearying Mosley desperately offered too little, too late in what might be considered the sport’s upset of the year.

Mosley, a heralded boxer-puncher from Pomona, Ca., was a solid 3-1 favorite with Nevada’s legal odds-makers but it was the ever-forward Wright, defending his IBF crown, who surfaced as the super spoiler.

Mosley, in his first defense since taking Oscar De La
Hoya’s titles in September, had to get past Wright to fight comebacking Felix ‘Tito’ Trinidad in a mega-million dollar showdown later in the year in Las Vegas. Promoter Don King, who holds the options, was at ringside with Trinidad and neither appeared too upset considering there was a return match clause in the fight contract if Wright won.

As early as the eighth round, it appeared Mosley couldn’t get untracked to become a force in handling the fight’s tempo and might need a knockout to halt Wright’s march to a title sweep.

Ringside judges rarely had an easier night in a major championship fight. Chuck Giampa and Dave Moretti both voted 117-111 for Wright while Paul Smith had it 116-112 for the winner. This observer saw it 116-112 for Wright.

Three judges gave Mosley the first round but Giampa
would later only tab the super star in the fifth and 12th
rounds. Moretti didn’t give Mosley another round until the 11th and 12th, the same as Smith who also included round six.

Wright, improving to 47-3, 25 KOs, earned only $750,000 but that kind of purse is a thing of the past since he is now the world’s undisputed 154-pound champion and the first since 1975 when Koiche Wajima scored a 15-round decision over Texan Oscar Albardo in Tokyo.

Mosley, whose record dipped to 39-3, 35 KOs, picked up $3 million and seems certain to demand more when launching his second comeback after losing twice to Vernon Forrest in two WBC welterweight title bouts in 2002.

In the pre-fight hype, Wright repeatedly said there is
nothing Mosley could bring to the table that he couldn’t handle, especially his right jab.

Wright started backing up Mosley in the second and third rounds and waved to the crowd with his jab coming back to his corner.

“I knew a lot of fans weren’t familiar with my style but I wanted to show them I could outbox even a great fighter like Shane and that’s what I did. Not only with my jab but also with some solid combinations to the head and body. I came into this fight knowing the only way I would lose is if I died. I was going to give it my all. Shane has a nice little punch, but he never hurt me with a solid shot. I’m used to sparring with bigger fighters. Mosley was quick, but he was not as strong as I thought he would be was. Yeah, he had a little sting but no boom. When I got inside, I caught the punches and tried to counter.”

Referee Tony Weeks was an alert third man in the ring, and with the number of clinches as the fight wore on, he warned both champions about head butts, notably in the sixth round.

Unlike his stretch runs in both De La Hoya fights, Mosley rarely could penetrate the gloves-up defense
employed by the pressuring Wright, often settling for
solo hooks to the body.

“Winky is not only a great fighter, but he is a difficult fighter.I just couldn’t get off like I wanted to. I was dehydrated and it affected my strength. I just didn’t feel right physically. My muscles felt some fatigue and I just couldn’t get off when I was trying to box. Wright is a true champion. He is all heart. I know I needed a kayo to win the fight. I couldn’t throw punches like I wanted too but I adjusted when I bobbed and weaved. I got away from a lot of shots. Winky was the better man tonight.”

Jack Mosley, managing his 32-year -old son, made
no excuses.

“Shane was dehydrated but the show had to go on. He didn’t want to disappoint Winky Wright or the fans. I had to check him every round during the fight, Shane wasn’t consistent enough, but we will be back.”

Wright had told the media he was confident if he could get his jab in Mosley’s face, he would be able to slip inside and work assorted combinations to the head and body, backing him into the ropes in the process.
Late in the eighth round, Wright whacked Mosley with heavy right jabs and made him hold twice. In the ninth, the same punches made Mosley clutch to stay erect.

In the 10th round, Winky scored on a 4-1 punching ratio and Mosley was wobbled. Mosley held his own with his rival in the 11th round until Winky’s right almost sent the rugged adversary to his knees.

Ironically, the 12th round was Mosley’s best since the first three minutes, trying to lure Wright into a winner- take-all slugfest. Shane got the judges’ tab, but Wright was still landing those bruising jabs at the bell in his going away triumph.

CompuBox punch stats have no bearing on the judging’ official voting but Wright’s handiwork totally dominated.

The now triple champion landed 250 punches among 761 thrown for 33 percent while Mosley was on target with 166 of 618 punches for 27 percent.

In the category of jabs, Wright was accurate with 90 of 425 offered for 21 percent while Mosley hit on 30 of 241 for 12 percent. Power punches thrown saw Wright land 160 of 336 for 48 percent and Mosely hit his mark with 136 shots of 377 fired.

Wright, who turned pro in 1990, is grateful that Team Mosley kept its word in fighting to create an undisputed WBO 154-pound champion.

“Shane is the only one who would fight me. Unlike Oscar De La Hoya, this fight has been a long time coming. If it wasn’t for Mosley, I’d still be fighting on the different undercards around the country. Right now I say Don King and ‘Tito’ Trinidad, I’m looking for you, so let ‘s do this thing right. It took me 14 years in boxing to get here, so I feel great,” Wright reflected.

“If ‘Tito’ Trinidad were here right now, I’d ask him to fight, but he should never underestimate me because I said I’d do it and I did it. I fight the best to beat the best. I’d like to fight Trinidad because he was a great champ. And I’d love to fight Mosley again because he gave me a chance and I want to be a man and give him a chance too. I think Shane was a 100 percent tonight, but I was 110 percent.”

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MESI DOWN 3 TIMES IN SHAKY SCORE OVER JIROV

Baby Joe Mesi, knocked down three times in the last two rounds, managed to hang on to gain a squeaker 10-round decision over VassiIly Jirov in HBO’s TV semi-final Saturday at Mandalay Bay Events Center.

The hard-hitting Mesi, 227, out of Buffalo, N.Y., was making his Las Vegas debut with a 28-0, 25 KOs ledger and had won seven of eight rounds before the rugged Jirov, 212, the Russian-born former IBF cruiserweight champion started to alter the scenario.

In the Las Vegas judges official scoring, Duane Ford, Bill Graham, and Jerry Roth all voted 94-93 for Mesi. All officials saw it 10-8 when Mesi went down in the ninth but being on the floor twice in the final round had Ford and Roth marking it for Jirov 10-7 while Graham’s imput was 10-6.

In a literal sense, Mesi was taking target practice with the hard-rock native of Kazakhstan, who was taking the enemy’s best shots flush on the jaw and never close to going down.

Though the lighter puncher, Jirov never hesitated to trade combinations with the 29-year-old, six-foot Mesi and showed early in the action he could handle anything the New Yorker would offer.

In round five and six, Mesi’s reputed power shook Jirov but he hung tough to counter with stinging combinations on the Buffalo bruiser, who does not have racehorse speed.

Jirov brought the house to its feet in the ninth round
with a left hook followed by a chopping right to the back of Mesi’s head which sent him to the floor.

In the 10th, Jirov stunned Mesi with a seven-punch
salvo and then dropped him with a short right hand. The former IBF cruiser king needed only one more knock- down to surprise as a TKO winner, but the desperate Mesi was clutching to hear the bell.

Mesi’s visit to Nevada isn’t his first near-miss in the ring. Back on Dec.6 in Madison Square Garden, he was in with Monte Barrett It was Baby Joe’s first 10-rounder and he survived for the decision by winning the first six-rounds after both fighters scored knockdowns in the later rounds.

Mesi admits he made a mistake in not realizing he had such a big lead over Jirov in the late rounds.

“I didn’t know I was ahead as much as I was or I wouldn’t have taken those chances. I don’t feel like i did a good job tonight, but I will learn from this kind of fight. Pretty much from this point on I’ll be fighting much more experienced opponents. I’m ready to move up the ladder to bigger things.”

When Lou DiBella, promoting Jirov (33-2, 29 K0s),
told Mesi’s team “we are ready to fight Baby Joe in his hometown of Buffalo,” the reception was tepid at best.

(Jack Welsh is a syndicated columnist headquartered in Las Vegas and a regular contributor to Ringsports.com and other sports publications.