"It was fun while it lasted I did what I set out to do and that was to be great. Part of being a good boxer is knowing when to call it quits," stated former undisputed jr. middleweight champion Ronald "Winky" Wright, who informed his followers on Twitter that he's decided to hang up the gloves after suffering a unanimous decision loss to undefeated middleweight contender Peter Quillin last night at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. Despite a 3-year absence from the ring, Wright was game and gave a spirited performance, but the youth of Quillin proved to be too much to handle, dropping the 40-year-old in the 5th round and hurting him again late in the fight. The performance has prompted Wright to make the tough decision that all veteran fighters eventually must face.
"If I can't be the champion again theres no need to keep boxing. But I thank all of u from the bottom of my heart for always supporting me & I'll still be ringside at all the fights," he explained in follow-up posts. Wright (51-6, 25 KOs) will walk away leaving behind a career that will likely be underappreciated by most. A long-time jr. middleweight champion, he really didn't gain recognition amongst casual fans until 2004, when he scored back-to-back decision victories over Shane Mosley before following that up with a lopsided win over Felix Trinidad. Wright's stiff jab and tight "turtle-shell" defense made him a tough challenge that most opponents wanted to avoid, forcing him to move up in weight to find the high-profile fights he was looking for. The final highlight of his career would end in controversy. Although he had seemingly won enough rounds to clearly beat the then undefeated middleweight champion Jermain Taylor, the judges scored the bout a draw, which prompted to storm out of the ring in disgust. After that, his career would go downhill fom there, winning just one more fight against Ike Quartey before losing unanimous decision to Bernard Hopkins, Paul Williams, and now Peter Quillin.
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