Wright outpoints Quartey

TAMPA – Ronald ‘Winky’ Wright outpointed Ghanaian veteran Ike Quartey over 12 rounds on Saturday to move a step closer to a possible rematch with undisputed middleweight champion Jermain Taylor.

Fighting in front of a hometown crowd for the first time in 14 years, Wright was the busier of the boxers, throwing more than 1 000 punches and scoring a knockdown in the second round, but Quartey continued to push forward and attack. Well behind on points, Quartey made one last spirited charge for a knockout victory in the final round with both men taking turns at landing combinations.Wright (51-3-1) staved off the threat and was awarded the contest 117-110, 117-110 and 117-109 by the judges.Quartey, a former welterweight world champion, fell to 37-4-1 with the loss.”He’s as tough as nails,” Wright told reporters.”I hurt him a few times but he came back.I wanted to take him out, show the crowd I can punch.”He’s a good friend.I didn’t want to hurt him, but I still wanted to win the fight.”The 37-year-old Quartey praised his opponent but disagreed with the judges.”He’s a really good fighter,” Quartey said.”He was harder to fight than I thought, because he’s a southpaw and he has good defence.He didn’t really hurt me and I thought I did enough to win the fight, but he’s a good fighter.”Wright, who dominated the light-middleweight division from 2001-05, announced his arrival in the heavier division with a stunning points victory over Felix Trinidad in a title eliminator last year.However, the 35-year-old’s hopes of becoming champion were dashed in June when he could only manage a draw with Taylor in a bout he insists he won.On the undercard, former world super middleweight champion Jeff Lacy registered a controversial split decision victory in a 10-rounder against Vitaly Tsypko of Ukraine.Also fighting in front of his home crowd, Lacy was far from impressive in his first bout since he was outclassed by Britain’s Joe Calzaghe in a unification bout in March.Nampa-ReutersWell behind on points, Quartey made one last spirited charge for a knockout victory in the final round with both men taking turns at landing combinations.Wright (51-3-1) staved off the threat and was awarded the contest 117-110, 117-110 and 117-109 by the judges.Quartey, a former welterweight world champion, fell to 37-4-1 with the loss.”He’s as tough as nails,” Wright told reporters.”I hurt him a few times but he came back.I wanted to take him out, show the crowd I can punch.”He’s a good friend.I didn’t want to hurt him, but I still wanted to win the fight.”The 37-year-old Quartey praised his opponent but disagreed with the judges.”He’s a really good fighter,” Quartey said.”He was harder to fight than I thought, because he’s a southpaw and he has good defence.He didn’t really hurt me and I thought I did enough to win the fight, but he’s a good fighter.”Wright, who dominated the light-middleweight division from 2001-05, announced his arrival in the heavier division with a stunning points victory over Felix Trinidad in a title eliminator last year.However, the 35-year-old’s hopes of becoming champion were dashed in June when he could only manage a draw with Taylor in a bout he insists he won.On the undercard, former world super middleweight champion Jeff Lacy registered a controversial split decision victory in a 10-rounder against Vitaly Tsypko of Ukraine.Also fighting in front of his home crowd, Lacy was far from impressive in his first bout since he was outclassed by Britain’s Joe Calzaghe in a unification bout in March.Nampa-Reuters