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Winky's corner man found dead

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By EDDIE DANIELS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 25, 2009

During the infancy of former junior middleweight champion Winky Wright's fighting career, he had to travel all over Europe just to get fights.

Back then, all he had was his trainer Dan Birmingham and cut man Mike Birmingham.

"He kept us laughing all the time when Wink and I and him were overseas. He would keep everybody in stitches," Dan Birmingham said of his youngest sibling Mike. "He was like Wink's personal comedian."

That laughter came to an unexpected end last week when Mike Birmingham, 49, was found dead inside his Treasure Island apartment Sunday.

The funeral will take place 1 p.m. Monday at A Life Tribute Funeral Care, 5601 Gulfport Blvd. South in St. Petersburg.

"I got the news early Sunday after noon and when I drove out to this apartment, the police were already there because no one saw him walking his dog from Thursday on," Dan Birmingham said. "So they think he died on Thursday."

According to Dan Birmingham, his brother appeared to have just come out of the shower. After wrapping himself in a towel and taking a few steps away from the shower, Mike Birmingham collapsed.

Mike Birmingham was an amateur boxer in Florida in the 70s and was trained by Dan. Once his boxing days came to an end, Mike Birmingham joined his brother at Dan's St. Pete Boxing Club and became a certified cut man.

The two have been in the corner of not only Wright, but also former the IBF and IBO super middleweight champ Jeff Lacy – both of St. Petersburg – and current light heavy weight champ Chad Dawson to name a few.

"Mike was a real caring, loving kind of guy," Dan Birmingham said. "He didn't have much, but he'd give you the shirt off his back."

Reporter Eddie Daniels can be reached at (813) 259-7066.

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