by Ricky Town

06.09 - Winky Wright, the IBF junior middleweight champion refuses to fight with reckless abandonment for a mere $30,000. Wright insists that once he is offered a $5 million dollar payday, he will show some spectacular knock-outs.

Scheduled to fight Saturday on the under card of the Roy Jones Vs. Clinton Woods fight, Wright will not only have to win, not only win spectacular but do so for less than he might deserve.

Today's fighters dream of the large purses, the lucrative television deals and the choice to pick and choose opponents. That in a nutshell describes the modern day prize fighter.

Gone forever are the days of "Smokin" Joe Frazier who vowed that he would, "fight my Momma if she tried to take my title."

Larry Holmes, a fighter who never achieved due recognition for his true greatness would fight anyone from a knock-out artist like Ernie Shavers to a "what is he doing in the ring?" fighter like Renaldo Snipes. Those were fighters who fought for the love of the sport rather than how much they could get for a fight.

I watched the old fighters who barely made enough to cover the training cost, fight their hearts out to the last second. They would turn over in their graves to know that million dollar fighters run around the ring, holding and biting and then asking at the end of a lackluster performance, "where's my check?"

I often wonder how a fight would turn out if it was a "winner take all" event. I can assure you, there would be few decisions. Fighters knowing everything is on the line would fight to the end.

Unfortunately for fight fans, we have to play the luck of the draw when we order Pay Per-view, attend a live match or watch a fight on television. You never know what you are going to get.

Everyone can remember that great fight that was promoted for over 6 months. You counted down the months, weeks, days and hours. You invited your friends over, prepared your favorite fight food and sat down for the fight of the century. It wasn't even the fight of the night.

The best fight was the one in the stand. They fought their hearts out without a contract or a guaranteed rematch. They fought for life and respect.

Winky, the money is out there, you can get it, but you are going to have to show us something for $30,000.00 before we put the rest in the mail.

Winky Wright (43-3, 25 knockouts) defends his portion of the 154-pound title for the second time when he meets Bronco McKart (45-3, 29 knockouts) in a fight that will be televised on HBO. Wright won the title vacated when Felix Trinidad moved up in weight.