Taylor still world champion!
Sunday, June 18 2006
By Scotti Vandevender at ringside
WBC/WBA/WBO middleweight champion Jermain Taylor (25-0-1, 17 KOs) retained his three world titles with a twelve round draw against mandatory challenger Winky Wright (50-3-1, 25 KOs) on Saturday night at the Fedex Forum in Memphis, Tennessee. Taylor got off to a good start, connecting with some good right hands and body shots to counteract Wright's jabs. Wright crowded Taylor in round two and scored well with accurate punches, as Taylor held his left hand very low. Taylor was very aggressive in rounds three and four connecting with hard rights to the head and power body shots against the southpaw Wright. After round four, Wright's face was showing some swelling. Wright outworked Taylor in the fifth as he repeatedly backed Taylor into the corner and flurried. Taylor controlled round six as he was able to tag Winky hard numerous times by keeping the fight in the center of the ring. Taylor's firepower was on display again in round seven. Wright responded well in round eight and by round nine Taylor's left eye had almost been closed by Wright's repeated jabs aided by several unintentional headbutts. Winky's face was busted up also. Taylor had a strong tenth round and the fight seemed to be very close going into the championship rounds. Taylor was a one-eyed fighter at this point, however Wright seemed strangely reluctant to engage Taylor in the final two rounds, which ultimately cost him the fight. Scores were 115-113 Taylor, 115-113 Wright, 114-114.
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