Taylor Is Still the Champ After Controversial Draw

When Saturday night’s middleweight title fight was over, Winky Wright, his face beaming, leaped onto the ropes in one corner of the FedExForum and soaked in the moment, assuming he had won.

Jermain Taylor, his opponent, disappeared into the arms of his handlers, his left eye swollen nearly shut, his mood somber. Taylor’s body language clearly indicated he was not a man envisioning a victory party.

But all that changed a few minutes later when ring announcer Michael Buffer read the verdict: A draw.

The crowd booed as Wright stormed out of the ring, convinced that what he won in the ring had been taken away on the judges’ scorecards.

Chuck Giampa had Taylor winning, 115-113. Ray Hawkins had Wright winning, 115-113. Melvin Latham called it a draw, 114-114.

“What do you expect?” Wright said. “I’m in his hometown. They gave him what he wanted. The fans saw who won the fight.”

Memphis isn’t exactly Taylor’s hometown. But he is from Little Rock in neighboring Arkansas.

While Wright howled in protest, Taylor hardly beat his chest in triumph over retaining his World Boxing Council and World Boxing Organization titles.

“The fight could have gone either way” was the best endorsement of the decision Taylor could muster.

“Winky gave him a boxing lesson,” said Gary Shaw, Wright’s promoter. “It wasn’t a real fight. Look at their faces. Any person in this arena who knows anything about boxing knows who won. Winky won convincingly.”

Wright certainly dominated at times after starting slowly. He let Taylor (25-0-1, 17 knockouts), brimming with confidence after two victories over Bernard Hopkins, carry the match to him early. Wright (50-3-1, 25) covered up in his trademark stance, gloves plastered against the side of his face, arms tucked in to protect his sides.

Taylor fired away, especially with his right hand, but he connected with Wright’s leather far more often than his flesh, many of his punches deflected.

But by the fourth round, the momentum shifted. Having let Taylor, seven years his junior at 27, expend volumes of energy, Wright struck back. His jabs began to find their mark. His combinations began to land. And Taylor’s left eye began to swell.

As the rounds wore on, Taylor looked like a gunfighter running out of ammunition. His confidence appeared to sag, his frustration grew.

Wright would move in, land a few punches and then be gone by the time Taylor tried to respond, Taylor’s punches barely nicking the backpedaling Wright.

“He had a great jab,” Taylor said. “He worked it. I didn’t think his jab was going to be that fast.”

By the final round, Wright appeared so confident of victory that he toyed with Taylor, taunting him while not making much of an effort to land punches.

Both Giampa, who gave the decision to Taylor, and Latham, who had the fight a draw, gave the last round to Taylor. Had the final-round score gone the other way, the final verdict would also have done so.

“If he wanted the title so bad,” Taylor said, “he should have fought all 12 rounds. In boxing, you have to fight all 12 rounds.”

Wright wasn’t buying that argument.

“If I didn’t win the 12th round,” he said, “then who did? He certainly didn’t.”

Wright won the statistical battle. He landed 226 punches (connecting at a 35% success rate) to 163 (23%) for Taylor. Wright also landed 103 jabs (31%) to 41 (13%) for Taylor.

The promoters weren’t happy about another number. With a top ticket of $1,250, only 9,678 tickets were sold, just over half of the 18,000-plus seats available in the arena.

So what’s next?

“I don’t want no rematch,” Wright said.

“To come here again and get a decision like this. What would be the point?”