It wasn't supposed to be a blood'n'guts affair, but Bernard Hopkins-Winky Wright was supposed to provide diehard boxing fans with a steady appetite of subtle tricks of the trade, an intriguing chess match that only the hardcore could appreciate. Instead, it was a dirty, sloppy prizefight, with the winner doing little to deserve the victory.

Hopkins won a controversial decision over Wright at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas last night, in a fight which had once middleweight great "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler in attendance but failed to live up to its hype. Wright, 51-4-1 (25), at 170 lbs looked too small for the weight, but still had the quicker hands and beat Hopkins to the punch in the early rounds. A 2nd round headbutt by Hopkins--which looked highly questionable--produced a gash over Wright's left eye that appeared to trouble him throughout the course of the fight. Wright built up a comfortable lead by outpunching Hopkins and using good lateral movement, but the second half of the fight featured Hopkins holding and hitting by pinning Wright's right arm. Hopkin's flurries mostly were caught by Wright's gloves, though his right hand was his most effective punch. Wright tried to box from the outside in the later rounds and landed a clean right to B-Hop's head to close out the 8th round. Hopkins moved well all night and clearly won the 12th, as Wright appeared fatigued. But it was too little, too late--or should have been. The judges awarded "The Executioner" with a unanimous decision, by scores of 117-111 (twice), and 116-112. I had it 115-113 for Wright, as Winky was the aggressor and came forward all night.

Hopkins, 48-4-1 (32), the naturally bigger man and more comfortable at light heavyweight, did not fight like he was defending his title, and his performance against Antonio Tarver now seems like an anomaly. Wright was robbed against Jermain Taylor, and now again versue Hopkins. Diehard boxing fans who tuned in to HBO PPV to witness a bout that mainstream fans would sooner ignore know they are not going to see an all-action fight. At least they deserve to see competent judges scoring a fight the right way.

And to think Marvin Hagler was lured out of Italy to watch this bore. Will the Marvellous one ever return to Las Vegas?