Judges Make It Another Nod to Winky

He was quicker and smarter than he was the first time. He had more stamina, better defense and more accuracy and sting in his punches.

But still, it wasn’t enough for Shane Mosley.

For the second time in eight months, Mosley fought Winky Wright at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in a super-welterweight title fight; for the second time, it went to the judges’ scorecards, and, for the second time, Wright’s hand was raised in victory.

Mosley is getting closer. Last time, he lost a unanimous decision. This time it was a majority decision, judge Hubert Earle scoring the fight a draw at 114-114, while judges Duane Ford and Tom Kazmarek gave Wright a 115-113 edge in front of 8,103.

Mosley had changed trainers, from his father, Jack, to Joe Goossen. He had changed diets, going for a leaner frame. And he changed strategy, opting, at least in the early rounds, to box more against Wright, a fundamentally sound southpaw with a powerful jab.

But ultimately, Mosley (39-4, 35 knockouts) couldn’t overcome the obvious differences: size and strength. Wright (48-3, 25) has the larger body frame and more power.

“Things happen,” Mosley said. “He’s tough and has a great left jab. He has a great southpaw stance that makes it tough to get inside. I was in there giving it my all, trying to bang with a good fighter, and it just didn’t work out.”

The early rounds looked like a repeat of the first fight, Wright dominating with jabs and solid shots with his left hand, while sealing off all avenues to his body with his impregnable defense.

Then in the fifth round, Wright dropped his hands, abandoning the defense that has so frustrated Mosley, and dared the Pomona fighter to hit him.

And that Mosley did, connecting with two solid punches to Wright’s head, punches that not only slowed Wright, but seemed to energize Mosley.

He was back in the fight.

“I wanted to show that he couldn’t hurt me,” Wright said. “I took a punch, but it was a heck of a punch.”

Mosley couldn’t sustain the momentum, however, as reality crept back in the ensuing rounds.

“We were hoping Winky would keep his hands down for one more round,” said Mosley’s promoter, Gary Shaw.

Wright dominated in all three categories of the punch stats. He connected on 273 overall punches (41%) to 154 (24%) for Mosley. Wright connected on 138 jabs (35%) to only 46 for Mosley (16%). And with power punches, Wright connected on 135 punches (49%) to 108 (30%) for Mosley

“He came to fight,” Wright said. “He showed he deserved the rematch.”

Afterward, Wright said he wants Felix Trinidad, Oscar De La Hoya or Bernard Hopkins for his next opponent. Still to be determined, however, before any of those fighters can be lured into the ring, is whether two victories over Mosley have given Wright the drawing power he has previously lacked.

For Mosley, 1-4 with one no-contest in his last six fights, his options appear limited. One thing seems certain: There should not be a third fight with Wright. The script for this matchup is not going to change.