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It Takes The Wright Man To Unify Th Jr Middleweight Title!
06.08 - Sometimes, all it takes is a little luck. Being at the right place at the right time to open the door when opportunity knocks. But luck will only take you so far. Especially in the brutal sport of boxing.
Unifying the jr. middleweight title? It takes the WRIGHT man for that job.
Two-time jr. middleweight champion, RONALD "WINKY" WRIGHT, 43-3 (25 KOs), is the right man for the job and he has every intention of proving it, Saturday, September 7, on HBO, beginning at 10 PM EDT / 7 PM PDT, when he defends his IBF jr. middleweight title against No. 1 challenger and mandatory contender Bronco McKart at the Rose Garden in Portland, OR.
"With a name like ‘Winky,' I have to be good," said Wright from his hometown training camp in St. Petersburg, FL. "The three champions of the jr. middleweight division are defending their titles on consecutive weekends, and I'm the first one up. I personally guarantee that I will be a tough act to follow when I take care of business against McKart. I'm going to put on a real show!"
Oscar De La Hoya and Fernando Vargas will risk their respective WBC and WBA super welterweight titles against each other, Saturday, September 14, on an HBO pay-per-view telecast.
"These are the fights the fans are demanding. Unification title fights. The best against the best," said Wright. "As I said before, I don't care who wins between Vargas and De La Hoya. I just hope the winner is man enough to try and complete the job and fight me next. Neither one will be successful, but it will be a great fight for the fans. It takes the right stuff to accept the challenge. But it will take the WRIGHT stuff to win."
THE WRIGHT STUFF! IBF JR. MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMP WINKY WRIGHT PREPARES TO LAUNCH BRONCO McKART INTO ORBIT FROM THE ROSE GARDEN!
31.07 - The elite of boxing's 154-pound weight division are preparing to face-off, in world championship fights, on back-to-back September weekends, but only one truly has "The Wright Stuff."
Two-time world jr. middleweight champion, RONALD "WINKY" WRIGHT, 43-3 (25 KOs), will be making the second defense of his IBF title, against No. 1 contender and mandatory challenger, Bronco McKart, Saturday, September 7, at the Rose Garden in Portland, OR. The fight will be televised live nationally by HBO, beginning at 10 PM EDT / 7 PM PDT, as part of a "World Championship Boxing" doubleheader, which will also feature the Roy Jones-Clinton Woods world light-heavyweight championship.
Oscar De La Hoya and Fernando Vargas will put their respective WBC and WBA super welterweight titles on the line, September 14, when they meet in a unification bout.
"I beat Vargas once and I don't mind doing it again," said Wright, referring to his controversial 1999 majority decision world title loss. "Oscar, Fernando, I really don't care who wins. I just hope the winner is man enough to accept the challenge of really unifying the title. That's the definition of a true world champion. It will take the right stuff to risk it all by climbing into the ring with me. It will take "The Wright Stuff " to unify the title.
"But first I have to take care of my mandatory defense. And as the old saying goes, ‘three on a mat is bad luck' -- for McKart!"
This marks the third time Wright and McKart have locked horns in the ring, with Wright winning the previous two championship fights.
Wright dethroned McKart in their first meeting, May 17, 1996, winning the WBO jr. middleweight title via a 12-round majority decision in Monroe, MI – McKart's backyard. Four years later, September 9, 2000, Winky's hand was raised in victory again, winning a dominating 12-round unanimous decision for the USBA-NABF jr. middleweight titles. The winning margin on the judges' cards averaged over five points.
Wright, 29, from St. Petersburg, FL, is a southpaw with an exciting style that combines speed with power. Nearly 60% of his victims have lost by knockout. After capturing the WBO title from McKart in 1996, he successfully defended that title three times before losing a controversial hometown decision to Nambia native, Harry Simon, in South Africa. Wright quickly rebounded and faced then-undefeated IBF champion Vargas at the end of 1999.
The following year, within a three-month period, Wright defeated former world champions McKart and Keith Mullings in successive bouts, easily outpointing both over the 12-round championship distance. Upon Felix Trinidad vacating the IBF title rather than face Wright in a mandatory defense, Wright captured the vacant title with a unanimous decision over No. 2-rated contender, Robert Frazier, October 21, 2001. Wright successfully defended his title via a fifth-round knockout of Jason Papillion, February 2, 2002.
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