IBF Light Middleweight Champion The Ring No. 2 Ranked Light Middleweight
Result
Wright wins by unanimous decision (117–111, 117–111, 116–112)
Shane Mosley vs. Winky Wright, billed as War at 154,[1] was a professional boxing match contested on March 13, 2004, for the undisputed light middleweight championship.[2]
Instead Mosley agreed to face IBF champion Ronald "Winky" Wright for the undisputed 154 pound title (in only his third bout at the weight), with the prospect of a $10 million fight against former 3-division champion Félix Trinidad in September if he should beat Wright, with Mosley quoted as saying "I promised myself and my fans that from now on, I would only take career-defining fights. I consider that promise a solemn vow. Winky Wright is for boxing history and personal history. Felix Trinidad is for immortality."[5]
In late 2003 Mosley was subpoenaed by the grand jury investigating the BALCO scandal.[6][7]
Wright, who had spent his whole career at light middleweight, had won a major world title at the third attempt in October 2001, scoring a unanimous decision over Robert Frazier, having lost to Julio César Vásquez in 1994 and a controversial majority decision defeat to Fernando Vargas in 1999. He had earned a reputation as an unglamorous trickery fighter who presented as a high risk, low reward option that had prevented him from getting the big fights and had meant that he had been forced earlier in his career to travel to Europe to fight. His tricky style and globetrotting career had earned him the nickname "International Man of Misery".[8]
Wright was a 5-to-2 underdog.
The fight
In a fast-paced bout, Mosley was unable to get on the inside of Wright's right jab. The southpaw Wright made it difficult throwing jabs and straight left to both the face and body. Wright consistently beat Mosley to the punch and outfought him. Sensing he was behind, Mosley came out firing for the final round, but Wright fought back just as hard up to the final bell.
At the end of 12 rounds, Judges Dave Moretti and Chuck Giampa scored it 117–111, while Paul Smith had it 116–112 all in favor of Wright.[9][10][11]
HBO's unofficial scorer Harold Lederman scored the bout 117–111 for Wright.
According to CompuBox Wright outlanded Mosley, landing with 250 of 761 punches thrown (33% connect rate) to 166 of 618 (27% connect rate) from Mosley.
Aftermath
Speaking after the bout Wright said "[Mosley's] fast but I tried to keep him away with the jab, and it worked. He's a very strong fighter but I got my chance and I proved it. If everybody wants it, we can do it again. It's been a long time. I always felt I was better. Shane has speed but I was better all around"
Mosley defend his decision to take the fight and risking the big payday against Trinidad saying "It was not a mistake. I have no regrets. I wanted to find out who was the best in our division. I was fighting for history." He also said he felt weaken in the ring saying "For some reason when I came into the ring I felt like I was dehydrated. I couldn't move. It was a monkey on my back." Mosley graciously claimed that Wright was now one of the best fighters in the world saying "It's not just Sugar Shane, De la Hoya and Trinidad anymore. Now we have Winky Wright."[12][13]
Mosley's promoter Gary Shaw confirmed that they planned to exercise the rematch cause in the contract.
Just over a month after the bout Wright was stripped of the IBF title after refusing to fight mandatory challenger Kassim Ouma and instead accepting a rematch with Mosley.[14] The light middleweight division would remain split until 2022.
^Cotey, John C. (22 April 2004). "IBF strips Wright of its title". Tampa Bay Times. St. Petersburg, Florida. Retrieved 19 May 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
