Head start, spirited finish lift Hopkins

Hopkins led the dance and all three judges’ scorecards, retaining his light heavyweight title with a unanimous decision over Wright on Saturday night before a crowd of 8,626 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Wright wound up with a gash over his left eye, a bloody face and an opinion that he was the better man. But the 35-year-old was visibly exhausted by the end, and it cost him.

The 42-year-old Hopkins, showing the stamina of a much younger fighter, earned the victory with a strong finish. He won the final four rounds on all scorecards.

“People might say it was a boring fight, but I don’t think it was boring,” Hopkins said.

After barking all week and predicting a knockout, Hopkins (48-4-1) looked miscast in the role of underdog. Wright closed as a 2-1 favorite, but Hopkins played the role of bully by landing more power punches.

Judges Dave Moretti and Glenn Trowbridge scored it 117-111 and Glen Hamada had it 116-112.

“That was crazy,” Wright said of the scoring. “I thought it was a close fight. I feel I won the fight.”

Hopkins landed 152 of 640 punches (23.8 percent), and Wright connected on 167 of 618 punches (27.0 percent).

The difference, as many predicted, was in the power department. Hopkins hit on 143 of 549 power shots (26.0 percent) compared to Wright’s 80 of 328 (24.4 percent).

“Winky’s tough, and he kept coming,” Hopkins said. “I respect him.”

Wright (51-4-1) called Hopkins a dirty fighter before the bout, and it was a head-butt that opened the gash over Wright’s eye in the third round.

“I don’t think it was intentional,” Wright said. “It was a dirty fight.”

Hopkins said the clash of heads was accidental, and it appeared that way.

“Winky was coming toward me, and I was going under,” he said. “Those things can happen.”

After the head-butt early in the third, Wright stopped to complain to referee Robert Byrd three times about Hopkins’ physical tactics. By the end of the round, blood was streaming down Wright’s face.

Wright, holding his elbows high in his trademark defensive stance, blocked most of Hopkins’ shots in the early rounds.

Through six rounds, the fight was relatively even with neither boxer landing many impact punches. Wright was most effective with his jab, but he failed to connect with it as much in the second half of the fight.

Hopkins went to work inside and penetrated Wright’s defense enough to take the ninth round and from there began to establish his dominance.

Hopkins, the Ring Magazine titleholder, dropped 5 pounds to 170 to challenge Wright, who moved up from 160 for the first time in his career.

“I’m not a 170-pound fighter,” Wright said. “I wanted to fight the best.”

Hopkins’ purse was $3 million, and Wright earned $2 million. But after Hopkins shoved Wright during Friday’s weigh-in, 10 percent of Hopkins’ purse was withheld until a hearing.

If he incurs a fine, it probably will be significantly less than $300,000.

“What happened the other day was just something to hype the fight,” Hopkins said. “I had no ill intent.”

Hopkins, who came out of retirement to fight Wright, said he plans to continue his career in the ring.

Ceasar Amonsot, who lost a unanimous decision to Michael Katsidis in a lightweight title bout, was taken to Valley Hospital because of a subdural hematoma. But his injury is not believed to be serious.