After taking a three-year break, former WBC light middleweight champion Ronald "Winky" Wright wasn't able to find his groove against Peter Quillin, losing via unanimous decision to the unbeaten up and comer.
As always, Wright landed his jab effectively against Quillin, but he wasn't able to set anything up with it. Quillin sent Wright to the canvas during the fifth round of their June 2 encounter - a pretty impressive feat by itself, punishing the well-tested veteran with some unorthodox combinations.
With the loss, Wright has wisely decided to hang up his gloves while he still has his dignity intact.
"I'm gonna call it a day. I'm gonna chill out and play golf and live life," Wright said during an interview with ESPN.com. "I figured I'm 40 and if I can't be champion again, I don't want to do it anymore. I'm not here just fighting to be fighting. Boxing is supposed to be fun and if it ain't fun anymore. I don't need to do it so I am done for good. I had fun. I fought a good fight [against Quillin], I didn't get hurt. I was in shape. My timing was off but I take nothing away from Quillin. He fought a good fight. He was strong. So I'm going to go ahead and get out of the game."
With a professional record of 51-6-1, Wright has lot to be proud of, with wins against top notch opponents like Felix Trinidad and Shane Mosley. He'll probably end up in boxing's hall-of-fame, with the other dedicated students of the sweet science.
Unlike others who have stayed around boxing a bit too long, Wright's decision to bow out is certainly the right one, as it's pretty clear he's no longer able to compete at the highest level. While I do give Quillin all the credit in the world for his performance against Wright, I don't think he would have been able to defeat the Winky that fought Mosley in 2004.
David is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and boxing practitioner that has watched and studied MMA for the past 7 years. Follow him on twitter @davidkingwriter and check out his blog.
Sources:
Dan Rafael, "Winky Wright: 'I'm gonna call it a day'"
Fight and fighter information from BoxRec.com
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