19.02.04 – Interview by Carlos Kalinchuk: With less than a month away, Florida’s Ronald “Winky” Wright 46-3 is getting ready for the biggest test of his career against Sugar Shane Mosley 39-2 on March 13 at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas Nevada. After having some matches fall through, Mosley will be putting it all out on the line against the13-year veteran Ronald “Winky” Wright for the Undisputed Jr. Middleweight Championship of the World. Many expect a fairly evenly matched fight but any dominant performance by either fighter will further shake up boxings hottest division. After all, the Jr. Middleweight Division includes the likes of Vargas, Trinidad, DelaHoya, and for the right price (if he could just stop managing himself!) Bernard Hopkins. While this fight will open many doors for Wright if he walks away victorious, it could also shut just as many if he loses. Will we see more of a brawling style from Wright as we saw in his last fight against Hernandez? Will Mosley’s last victory over DelaHoya be the antidote he needed to get back to his winning ways? After all, this was a fighter who was once said to have been arguably one of the best fighters sans his last 2 ½ years in boxing. In short order, we will soon find out all the answers to these questions. Eastside Boxing caught up with Winky and his longtime trainer Dan Birmingham here in Houston while preparing for what could be the defining fight of his career. Read what Team Wright had to say about Mosley and other potential fights with Hopkins, DelaHoya, and Vargas. This is a good read. Enjoy.
East Side Boxing: Can you comment about the training and how it’s coming along so far?
Dan Birmingham: The training is going fantastic! We’re nearly 4 weeks out. He’s already boxing 10 rounds with 3 real good sparring partners and he’s right on track. His weights coming down great and he’s focused. I’ve never seen him so focused and we’re going to be real ready to win them belts.
East Side Boxing: What do you expect from Mosley in this particular fight?
Dan Birmingham: Sugar Shane will do his usual thing. He’ll start out with a real fast rhythm and he’ll try to box with Wink but once he finds out that that won’t work, he’ll try to lunge in and throw combinations to the body and try to throw power shots.
East Side Boxing: Have you already started to look at the video-tapes of Shane? Probably long before this right?
Dan Birmingham: Yeah. We knew the fight was made on Christmas eve so I started then.
East Side Boxing: He seems to be on schedule then?
Dan Birmingham: He’s ahead of schedule. His weights good. He’s strong. This past sparring session he looked tip-top; he’s strong, his stamina, his strength is there, the movement, everything is there.
East Side Boxing: You said that he was more focused. What evidence did you see that he was in fact more focused for this fight than for other fights that you’ve seen him in?
Dan Birmingham: The money (Big Laughs)!
East Side Boxing: (Big Laughs)
Dan Birmingham: Wink is really money oriented. The value of this fight, when he wins this fight…Oscar says he’s going to fight us and he’s just…I’ve never seen him so focused because of the magnitude of this fight. He wants all the belts and he wants to make boxing history.
East Side Boxing: Can we expect him to get in the trenches and go to war with Mosley or can we expect the cautious more boxer-oriented fighter that we’ve seen in the past?
Dan Birmingham: Winks going to do what’s necessary to win the fight. You’re going to see warrior. You’re going to see great boxing. Your going to see great defense-ring generalship and you’re going to see it all in this fight.
East Side Boxing: So he’s going to earn some major fans from this fight?
Dan Birmingham: No doubt about it! No doubt about it.
East Side Boxing: How are the people treating you here in Houston?
Dan Birmingham: Ahhh, we love Houston. We’ll be back for the next fight! It’s just been great!
East Side Boxing: Opps! One last question, do you think that they’re still be some detractors out there that will say that he fought a Mosley who really lost against DelaHoya and that he was beaten by a fighter that lost to Forrest twice and didn’t really look all that good against Marquez?
Dan Birmingham: We’re not trying to put ANY negativity at all in our mind. We’re looking at everything from the positive aspect. People can say what they want but we’re going to give a great performance! Look at Roy Jones and James Toney and Holyfield. All the great fighters, the better you are, the more they criticize so we’re ready for all that.
East Side Boxing: Thanks a lot.
Dan Birmingham: You’re welcome.
Ronald “Winky” Wright Interview
East Side Boxing: Okay here’s a generic question, how’s the training going for this fight? Everyone wants to know.
Winky Wright: The trainings going good. We’re working hard. We’ve got a lot of good sparring partners in and it’s been a great camp so far.
East Side Boxing: Dan already said that you’re going 10 rounds right now, is that right?
Winky Wright: Yeah. We’re going 10 rounds. We’ve got some real good exciting fighters working with us and I feel good about our progress right now.
East Side Boxing: In your last two fights, you looked more impressive. Who would you say that you’ve fought that is similar to Sugar Shane? Or is there a fighter you’ve fought that is similar to Sugar Shane?
Winky Wright: I really don’t think I’ve ever fought anybody that fights similar to him. I’ve fought a lot of fighters that are quick and do different things, but Shane is his own fighter and I’ve just got to be prepared for everything and that’s what we’re working on right now. And that’s what we’re preparing ourselves for.
East Side Boxing: How easy was this fight to make? You were calling out DelaHoya and that fight didn’t happen! You were calling out Fernando and that fight didn’t happen? How easy was this fight to make?
Winky Wright: I was calling out ALL of them. Shane and everybody but it was just a point of the Shane fight falling apart with Mayorga because Mayorga lost and he wanted to fight somebody else and they couldn’t fight, and HBO was like you NEED to fight Winky or someone like that. But Shane stepped up and he thought this was the best fight out there besides fighting Mayorga and he stepped up to the challenge and I appreciate it. I’m going to show the world why everyone kept dodging me and running from me.
East Side Boxing: Do you expect to see the same type of Shane Mosley that we saw in his last fight?
Winky Wright: I can’t really say because every fighter fights different. He’s going to fight me different than he would DelaHoya. He got prepared differently from me than DelaHoya and he’s going to prepare differently than he did against Forrest. It’s all about preparing yourself for the fighter you’re getting ready to fight. Hopefully he’s out there preparing himself because he’s going to be in a hell of a fight!
East Side Boxing: Can you comment on Fernando and his comments of the bad back considering you’ve been calling him out for some time? In other words, considering you’ve wanted that fight for so long, is the bad back a legitimate reason in your eyes for not fighting you for as long as he has because you guys have some serious unfinished business?
Winky Wright: It doesn’t matter to me, because he wasn’t trying to fight me. So I don’t care what problems he’s got. His problems are his problems. We all have problems and if he felt his back was hurting and he couldn’t fight, he made the smart decision. You don’t want to go into a fight handicapped. So maybe that was smart for him, but like I said, he wasn’t planning on fighting me, so I don’t care what was wrong with him!
East Side Boxing: When are we going to see that rematch? If it’s up to you, can we expect to see that fight before the end of 2004?
Winky Wright: I’ve been calling Vargas out ever since we fought the first time because he knows he lost that fight and they gave it to him. So I say to him to be a man and since “People thought I lost, we can do it again.” But he didn’t and I had to keep fighting everybody, and he kept saying that he’d fight me but he never wanted to so it just depends. I’m very bitter about that because he didn’t give me the opportunity to fight him again. But now after I beat Mosley, he may want to fight and then it will really depend on how I feel now. The tables will be turned and it will be my turn whether to say yeah-or-nay! Maybe I’ll fight him, maybe I won’t!
East Side Boxing: What are you thoughts of DelaHoya. When I spoke with him last in November, he said specifically “Without a doubt, I’ll never step in the ring with Winky Wright.” What are your thoughts about that? He had his reasons for it but what do you think his reasons were for it?
Winky Wright: I think his reasons are because he knows I’m a tough fighter. I’m a fighter that can do everything; I can fight, I can box. I come in shape and he’s got to be prepared for a fight. He might try and say that the reason is that it’s not marketable when we’re going to show everyone it’s marketable with me and Shane so the DelaHoya fight will definitely be marketable. But look, I’m hoping that he changes his mind after the fight (after he sees me and Mosley). You know what I’m saying? I want him to say, “look he deserves this fight and he’s been waiting a long time and he beat everybody to get to me, and he deserves this opportunity!”
East Side Boxing: Do you remember when Mike Tyson fought Clifford Etienne and and Jim Grey asked him about why he was fighting a fighter like Ettiene? He said something like, “I feel that I’m taking somebody’s ability to make a living away by avoiding them instead of fighting them and that’s disrespectful.” Do you feel that has happened between you and DelaHoya?
Winky Wright: Yeah. Yeah. By DelaHoya not fighting me, he’s not giving me my opportunity to…
East Side Boxing: Or respect?
Winky Wright: Respect? For me…respect from the fans and the fighters (my peers). They respect you. They KNOW whether you can fight or you can’t fight-point blank (from what you’ve been through in your career) so they know I took the long road. I took the tough road. Nobody gave me nothing. Everything I got, I earned! And for DelaHoya not to fight me, when I deserve the opportunity to fight him-I feel is wrong on his behalf. But like I said, I feel he definitely needs to let me fight him and get my chance to make a bunch of money because I deserve it. I fought 13 years. There’s a time that you’re deserving of your reward and DelaHoya’s my reward.
East Side Boxing: What’s been your relationship with Mosley before stepping in the ring with him? Has this been a friendship all along or, what kind of relationship have you had with him in the past?
Winky Wright: I’m friends with every fighter. There ain’t one fighter that I have bad vibes with-even Vargas! I don’t have bad vibes with Vargas! I know Vargas talks a lot of trash, but when I see Vargas in person he doesn’t talk any trash to me. He might say it in the media but when he sees me in person he doesn’t say things. That could be his little selling thing, but to each his own. I like everybody. Like me and Shane, before I seen Shane (before this fight), we were friends and we’re going to be friends after this fight! It’s just our job. Just because we’re fighting each other doesn’t mean I have to hate him. It’s just my job. I’ve got to be the best at what I do and to do that, I have to beat the best like Shane and Oscar!
East Side Boxing: Regardless of what happens in this fight, whom would you like to fight before the years out?
Winky Wright: Oscar DelaHoya. I’ve been fighting a long time as a professional and it gets to the point I’m tired fighting all the other guys. I want to fight the best and when you get close to calling it the end (because you can only do it for so long) without…you get injured. Luckily, I’ve been able to do it and not get hurt. I just want to fight and get these big fights in and evaluate my career and see if I want to keep fighting. I’ve had fun but there’s a time when you’ve got to call it quits.
East Side Boxing: How much longer do you see yourself in the fight game?
Winky Wright: It depends.
East Side Boxing: I don’t think you see yourself like George Foreman right (with his coming back)?
Winky Wright: NO! I just want to make enough money to where I could keep a good living for me and my family. Enjoy life. Life is long and there are a lot of other things besides boxing. There’s a lot of things I would like to do but like I said, I do want to end my career with some career defining fights. A Shane Mosley a DelaHoya and a Bernard Hopkins-what more is out there? That’s it.
East Side Boxing: What are your thoughts of Lennox retiring?
Winky Wright: Well if Lennox retires, that’s Lennox. People shouldn’t bad mouth him because he’s a Champion that fought everybody. There comes a time when you just don’t want to do anymore and you can’t go in the ring if you REALLY don’t want to be there. So if that’s how Lennox feels-then good. Retire before you get hurt or something like that. He fought everybody and he’s the Heavyweight Champion and nobody can take that away from him so enjoy your life I say.
East Side Boxing: Is there really a chance that Hopkins and you will step in the ring?
Winky Wright: Oh yeah! We had talked about that before this fight. It comes down to the money situation (hopefully), but after I beat Mosley, that’s the fight out there. DelaHoya can do something he’s never done before instead of fighting all the fighters and this and that, and fighters he’s already fought and beat, look, you’re fighting for the Undisputed Championship of the World. I’m going to give you (Oscar) a chance to fight for the Undisputed Championship of the World because that’s the biggest fight out there.
East Side Boxing: I asked Dan this but I want to hear what you have to say, is there any chance that you’ll come back to Houston and train?
Winky Wright: It’s been great man! I think I may come back to Houston. It’s been lovely. The people, it’s just been a great environment to get out of Florida and come and work hard and do what I have to do to be successful.
East Side Boxing: This is an “off” question but what is the funniest thing that you’ve encountered since you been in boxing in or out of the ring?
Winky Wright: Oh man, I don’t know because I’m a joker anyway and we do a lot of fun things in our camp. I really can’t put my finger on one thing.
East Side Boxing: Have you done something to someone before?
Winky Wright: Man, we do that all the time. Uh, man, that is an off question, and (laughing) I really don’t have an answer for that right now.
East Side Boxing: I just hear some of the craziest stuff so I had to ask, but good luck on March 13 and thanks a lot for taking time to visit with us.
Winky Wright: Hey I appreciate it-thank you.
Carlos “Stiff-jab” Kalinchuk
Contributing Writer & Photographer