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Wright's Return To The Ring Was A Long Road

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By EDDIE DANIELS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 24, 2009

For Winky Wright, the pathway to April 11 has been similar to an episode of the 1960s television series Mission Impossible.

The St. Petersburg middleweight hasn't fought since his July 2007 loss to Bernard Hopkins and each time he set his sights on an opponent, an excuse would be made not to fight.

"HBO gave me a group of names," Wright said Tuesday afternoon during his teleconference with his April 11 opponent Paul "The Punisher" Williams. "They would give me six names and they would say, OK, go out and get one of these fighters and see if they want to fight you. We would go to all six fighters and … none of the fighters wanted to fight. They come with an excuse, this and that, and at the end of the day, nobody wanted to sign on the line. So it wasn't me. It was them."

He attempted to get Jermain Taylor in the ring after their 2006 draw, which many argue Wright won. He also made hard runs at Kelly Pavlik, Arthur Abraham, Vernon Forrest and Mikkel Kessler.

"When I say it, it's like, Winky Wright doesn't want to fight because he wants too much money; Winky Wright doesn't want to fight because he wants this or he wants that," Wright continued. "We were trying to work with them. We were trying to do whatever it takes to make the fight happen. To let the fans see the best fights out there. From Pavlik to whoever it is; Abraham, whoever. None of them wanted to fight."

Golden Boy Promotions' CEO Richard Schaefer vouches for Wright (51-4-1, 25 KOs). He even takes it a step further.

"The fact is, Winky Wright is really one of the easiest guys to work with," Schaefer said. "These names and these fights didn't happen because Winky turned them down. When Winky suddenly said, 'Yes, we're going to do this fight,' some of these names were surprised and they tried to find a way, and they did find a way, to weasel out. Suddenly, they're not available or they were scheduled to fight somebody already or one was injured or one was this or one was that; they changed their mind and just couldn't reach them any more. A multitude of reasons.

"If you have a guy who is as tricky as and as good as Winky Wright is, the fact is, the other guys are not lining up to fight Winky Wright. He's almost too good for his own good. That's the bottom line."

In steps Williams (36-1, 27 KOs), who has been dubbed the most feared man in boxing because of opponents' penchant for ducking him. He's dealt with not getting fights due to his ability and is just thankful he and Wright, the most avoided man in boxing, can fight.

"I'm just glad Winky gave me the opportunity to fight," Williams said. "I know what he's going through because we go through the same thing. My manager, Mr. [Dan] Goossen, gets a list of names and [those fights don't happen], so I know what he's going through. I'm just happy to get a fight with him."

Despite Wright's two-year layoff, Williams isn't allowing that to feed a false notion Wright won't be ready to fight.

"My thing is, I think he's been training while he was off those two years," Williams said. "He's been coming in, working out, training, sparring and all that. So in a way, it seems like he's been in training camp for two years."

Added Williams' trainer George Peterson: "It's no mystery why opponents weren't fighting Winky. As a matter of fact, Winky has been one of my favorites for the longest time. I just figured what would happen is we would just prepare for war and of course, this is what it's going to be. No doubt about that."

As for Wright, he isn't convinced his hiatus will hamper him.

"I don't feel rusty," Wright said. "Like I said, gym work and fighting are two different things. We will see when we get in the fight. It has been a long time, but I feel good in the gym. We just have to wait until we get in the fight to see how it goes. We're coming to win just like Paul is coming to win. That's what's going to make this such a great fight. I'm looking forward to it."

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