Ronald “Winky” Wright was a boxer’s boxer with a motto that fit his winning technical style, “It’s called boxing, not knockouts.” The slick southpaw didn’t have the “sizzle” of “Sugar” Shane Mosley nor the “steak” of Felix Trinidad but he served both all-time greats “L’s.”
The three-time world champ was a grinder with a granite chin who fought anyone anywhere around the world before establishing himself on pay-per-view as one of the best P4P fighters in the mid-2000s. “I wouldn’t say it was a black hole,” Wright told ESPN. “I really didn’t see exactly how it was going to pan out because, you know, I was doing a lot of fighting. I was overseas. I was beating everybody put in front of me. The European fans were loving me. It was just that I needed to get back home and have my American fans feel the same way about me.”
Wright’s (51-6-1, 25 KOs) low-key personality and counter-punching style never made him a fan favorite, but his shocking upsets over Mosely (twice) and Trinidad were cheered by boxing insiders who always appreciated the finer aspects to his fight game. “I said just keep putting in the work,” the 2018 boxing Hall-of-Famer told ESPN. “You know, you keep beating everybody they’re going to have to give you your chance and your opportunity and, you know, it just played out perfectly. A long struggle to a great career.”
In a sport like boxing it’s better to be respected than loved. In our book, Winky is both. Happy birthday, champ!
