WRIGHT DEFEATS MOSLEY
WINS BY DECISION

Round by Round Commentary - by Anne Vitello

ROUND 1
From the get-go, speed is apparent on both sides. The fighters jab away repeatedly, and it's Sugar Shane who gets to the body with a couple shots. Winky grins it away. Arms get tangled a few times, then with an aggressive exchange initiated and largely controlled by Wright, the boxers themselves get entangled. Mosley is standing in front of the bigger man, and Winky is walking in behind a constantly pumping right jab.

ROUND 2
Shane looks pretty relaxed in his defense, and he is a target for Winky's counterpunching. Sugar Shane is going to insist on going straight to the body rather than using lateral movement. And sometimes he finds success! The awkwardness of southpaw vs conventional fighter is apparent, but not exceedingly so. Winky Wright looks like he could make this a very long night for Mosley. It is his big opportunity, and he is ready to perform. Never slacking off, he keeps busy and outboxes Sugar Shane.

ROUND 3
These two are exchanging with almost complete parity in the first minute. And then, though the punch counts continue with equivalence, the fight is showing imbalance in other ways: Wright looks at home; Mosley looks stressed out. Shane cannot seem to put together a solid fight game as of yet. Bouncing off the ropes, he expresses frustration and goes on the offensive. But Wright is not fazed. Mosley ends the round with a furious flurry; Wright coolly hammers back. Sugar Shane has his hands full.

ROUND 4
Okay, so now Wright is loading up and finding Shane at will! Sugar Shane has the heart of a lion, and is able to reach the much-defended body of Winky Wright. But it's not quite enough. Shane's face tells a story. In close quarters, he is getting stung with the left. At a distance, he can't get to Winky. Not surprisingly, this is just a very awkward fight for Shane. A bigger man, a southpaw, a man who can take a punch! Where is the crack in the Wright armor?

ROUND 5
Wright keeps asserting his size, and this round starts out looking like another headache for Shane. Now Mosley is making a bid! In close quarters, at the mid-point of the round, Shane finds a way to connect with his right! And then he does so, again and again and again. This could unlock the fight for Mosley. Is it enough for the round? Can he build on this? Winky is having less fun now; he has built up a lead in the fight, and seems to remind himself as he works to re-assert that long, stiff right. But now Shane has a tool to work with.

ROUND 6
Busy, busy fighters here. In first class action, Winky Wright recedes to a slightly more pensive mode. Shane is toiling away; when his punches don't land true, he hits Wright's elbows, shoulders, whatever he can. These 2 champs are showing tremendous spirit and determination. Shane gets one good shot in, but Wright retaliates with 2. Then Shane seems to turn the tide on sheer force. His confidence is restored. How will Wright handle this renewed Mosley?

ROUND 7
Now what? At first Wright looks to re-establish himself as the aggressor. Mosley stands and trades with him! Though Shane is the harder hitter, at this weight class, he is not hurting his man. With the crowd chanting his name, Winky Wright goes to work. Mosley moves and counters, again Wright seems to edge ahead. A short Mosley right pushes through Wright's peek-a-boo forearm defense. Others are blocked. Winky's defensive talents are highlighted in the final minute. Shane, though frustrated, is still looking for a fight.

ROUND 8
Wright is coming straight at Shane now! Walking forward, and not always behind a lot of punches. Sometimes he just moves in and then loops around with a wide left or hammers with a big right. Okay, now Winky definitely is regaining any lost ground. Mosley is getting backed around the ring. Sugar Shane is not hurt, but is decidedly flummoxed. This fight is threatening to take a piece of his heart.

ROUND 9
Here comes Wright again. When he backs up Shane, he dominates the jabfest. When they are in the phone booth, he dominates the short punches. Confusion degenerates into discouragement on Shane's face. He evades punches, but does not counter well. When he does throw a punch or two, they most often are jabs that fall short. Winky Wright is blocking so well it looks almost like Shane is doing hand pad work!

ROUND 10
More patty-cake to start with, then Wright breaks through with the harder punches. In close quarters, he closes up his defenses, then uncoils with short effective hooks. This is really looking like a big night for an "always the bridesmaid, never the bride" kind of fighter, Winky Wright. And there's what could be the punch of the night (among so many) a short right hook by Wright that lands dead on. Later Shane does score a nice right of his own. Sugar Shane Mosley is a great fighter, and so is Winky Wright. And tonight - and perhaps any time - Winky just has Shane's number.

ROUND 11
It's a little painful to watch the expression of discouragement take hold and deepen on Mosley's face. Early in the fight, his father was trying to talk him out of his doubts, and momentarily he had seemed able to pull it off. Now Sugar Shane tries again to rally. No dice. At one point he pokes through with a clean right. But really, Winky Wright is just too much for him. Wright has earned this night, and this fight. ROUND 12
Well, up against one of several big men, Sugar Shane no longer outclasses everybody in his division, but he is going to finish like the champ he is. Now going after Winky Wright , he is pouring it on. And so is Winky Wright. Fans are given the great gift of breathtaking action for not one but two final rounds of tonight's fightcard. By the time the last minute comes around, both men are sucking wind, and sucking it up. Again, tremendous action. But even in the firestorm, the tone of the bout is consistent: Shane pounds against an almost impenetrable defense, and when Wright punches back, he finds the mark.

POST-FIGHT COMMENTS:
Nice guys finished first tonight. In the case of Shane Mosley, they finished last too. In trying to explain himself, Mosley was humble and frank: "I don't know; for some reason I felt like I was dehydrated, I couldn't move. Felt like there was a monkey on my back."



While Mosley's descriptions fit that of a fighter who is toiling under mental distraction or emotional upset, he did not agree with Larry's suggestion that he may have had a case of nerves. Nor did he necessarily chalk it up to Wright's size or left-handedness. Flummoxed, Shane could only say: "I just I don't know what happened in there."



As for the $12 million he turned down in refusing a third fight with Oscar, Sugar Shane was decidedly philosophical in his defense of the choice to fight Wright: "It's a historical fight, who's the best fighter, that's why I took this one."