BrickCityBoxing Calls the Winner of This Saturday’s Fight. (We will be adding more predictions up until fight night….to participate send your prediction into the site.)

Christopher Roche:
The winner of this fight will be Jermain Taylor, and the fight will be easy for him.

Danny Serratelli:
We know what we will get from Winky, but despite the 2 close wins over Hopkins, we are not as sure of what we will see from Jermain. Winky was underrated for many years, but after beating two great fighters that he matched up with well, Shane Mosely and Felix Trinidad, (both naturally lighter guys), his stature has soared.
Jermain picked up the confidence and experience he needed in the two Hopkins fights. Jermain is also the naturally bigger and stronger man. Emanuel Stewart may add some finishing touches, and what you have is a victory for Jermain Taylor. It is tough to dominate Winky because of his style, but Taylor will surely control enough of the action to take a decision.

Joseph Kulyeshie:
In the vein of Hopkins vs. Tarver, two confident, proven fighters face off against each other. Once again, a bigger, stronger boxer takes on a smaller, counter puncher. Luckily for us, the bigger guy does’t have to drop the weight that Tarver did. This is a tough one to call. While Winky Wright is far more technically sound, Taylor has experience beating (barely) this sort of fighter. I don’t see either one of these men knocking the other out. Wright is going to get his share of points throughout the fight. The question in my mind is: Will Taylor be able to outpoint Wright? My answer: yes. Taylor’s size, athleticism, and Emmanuel Steward in his corner will be just enough to pull out another close, hotly debated decision in a fight that is close on judge’s scorecards, but not all that exciting to watch.
Jermain Taylor by unanimous decision.

Jim Amato:
On the fence with this one. I like Winky. He’s a true pro and his style could make anyone look bad. Jermain is a big strong middleweight with a good jab. Taylor has decent hand speed and power. I doubt if he’ ll be able to stop Winky though. Either Jermain is going to outhustle Winky or Jermain is going to be taken
to school by Wright.I’m on a roll here. I picked Lacy over Calzaghe and Tarver over Hopkins. I’m going with Taylor by a close decision.

Saul Lelchuk:
The Taylor/Wright fight tomorrow night is a good and interesting matchup, but if putting money down I would bet on Taylor. He has the age advantage and also size, which I think will be a big factor. Taylor has shown that he isn’t afraid to be aggressive, which never hurts when it comes to the scorecards. That being said, it should be remembered that Taylor’s reputation can, first and foremost, be traced straight back to the two victories over Hopkins this past year. And it should not be forgotten that Wright has roughly double the number of pro fights that Taylor does. Wright will certainly have to use every bit of his considerable defensive talent throughout the fight. Thanks to the recent destruction of Chris Byrd at the hands of Wladimir Klitschko, we’ve all seen what happens when a boxer whose greatest asset is his ability to not get hit doesn’t use that ability against a fighter bigger and stronger than him.
Tracy Sheffield:
Wright in a close decision. if he has his jab working it will be a hard night for Taylor, but i think the x factor will be Emmanuel steward- if he has made significant changes in Taylor or not. I was not that impressed with Taylor technically in the 2 fights with Hopkins.

Luis Cortez:
Jermain Taylor is going to try and use his momentum from his two wins over Hopkins to carry him into this fight. His management has tried to pin point the little things that almost coast Taylor his two fights with Hopkins by bringing in the legendary trainer of champions Emmanuel Stewart. Even though they have been working together for the past six weeks, it is no secret that solid championship chemistry between a fighter and trainer takes time to mold and form.

Taylor is a professional and I believe he will implement some of the little things that count into the fight early on. But the question is, when push comes to shove will he be able to stick to his plan, or will the dog revert to his old tricks in the heat of the battle. Conventional wisdom suggests that he will it is only natural.

Like I said six weeks is no life time. Dan Birmingham and Ronald Wright have had just about that long of a relationship together. Birmingham knows the Winkster in and out. What he can and can’t do. This helps during the course of a fight, when adjustments need to be made. They have had that chemistry for the Winksters whole career. So the question is, can they continue the mastery they showed as a team in the fight with Trinidad, or will they revert to survival mode like they did in the fight with the live wire that was Sam Soliman.

I believe we will see the Wright that dominated Trinidad. Before the fight with Soliman began this winter, a lot of things were happening around Wright. To be honest, he looked as though he didn’t even want to be anywhere near a boxing ring on that night. He was in the midst of starting Winky Promotions and there was an even a report that he didn’t pull out of the fight, even though he was suffering from a head cold.

So if the Wright that beat Tito does show up and a brand new improved Taylor enters the ring, who wins the fight?

I am going with the young dog, Jermain Taylor by split decision. He will have a tough go of it that is for sure. See unlike Hopkins, Wright is the type of defensive fighter that knows how to make his opponents miss, even when he is staying right in front of them. He also knows how to counter well once he makes them miss. He will make Taylor miss at times and don’t be surprised if he even makes Taylor look a little amateurish. If Hopkins did, why wouldn’t Winky.

The difference in this one will be size, yes in this sport, size does matter. See Winky himself is a true middleweight in the classic sense. He can fight as low as 154 and as high as 160. Taylor on the other hand is a big 160 and would have no problem fighting at 168 in the future. Winky dominated two smaller fighters, Shane Mosley a blown up welterweight and Felix Trinidad, a blown up super welterweight.

Taylor will be able to physically push Winky around the ring and land some telling blows in the process. In doing so, he will be able to pile up the points with a nice jab (under rated tool against south paws). He may also find a home for that right hand of his. It is going to be interesting to see if he will be able to land it as a lead punch, instead of throwing it as a one – two, which is how he is most effective with the right.

If he can land the straight right, be effective with a power jab, and land some clean hard body shots, I think he does just enough to win the fight.

I know, I know, we were all saying the same thing about the current light heavyweight champion and his chances last week. How he couldn’t do anything against the bigger and supposed stronger man.

Plus Hopkins and Tarver are closer in age. Hopkins is a young 41 and Tarver looked like an old 38. Taylor on the other hand is still a fresh and eager 27, while Wright is winding down his career at the age of 34. Hopkins is also just one inch shorter than Tarver. While Winky is a full 3 inches shorter than Taylor.

Once again, I know, Hopkins proved that stats don’t always mean that much once the bell rings. He did make us eat our words and I wouldn’t be shocked or feel bad if Winky did the same. Maybe Winky knows something we don’t; he did weigh in just one pound lighter than Taylor did in the seven day prior to the fight weigh in.

For Winky to prevail on Saturday night, he needs to revert back to all of the things that made him such a dangerous fighter to face in the late 90’s. Jab, Jab, Left. Smoother all of your power shots, Make you miss by a mile and return fire with pot shot power punches that make you just look like a club fighter that got no game. If anyone can turn a pot shot into a power shot that makes his opponents think twice about their skills, it’s Winky, don’t believe me just ask Trinidad, Vargas, and Mosley.

Winky has that old school since of the sport about him. He is kind of like an older more foot heavy version of Floyd Mayweather. His defensive skill does not come from his lower body; it is all up stairs, which is why Taylor will need to hit the body. But if Taylor, who has yet to show a serious debilitating body strike on most of his opponents can’t find Winky’s lower half. He could be in for a long night of missing.

Heck that would be a much better reason for “EX” to stick around, a fight with Winky instead of faded RJ.