28.11.06 – One of boxing’s most accomplished 160-pound fighters returns to action in a middleweight showdown when WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: WINKY WRIGHT VS. IKE QUARTEY AND JEFF LACY VS. VITALI TSYPKO is seen live in HD from the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa SATURDAY, DEC. 2 (9:45 p.m. ET/6:45 p.m. PT/8:45 p.m. CT), exclusively on HBO. The HBO Sports team of Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant and Emanuel Steward will be ringside for the event..
For the past few years, Tampa resident Winky Wright (50-3-1, 25 KOs) has achieved what previously seem to elude him during his productive career – the opportunity to fight the elite boxers in the 154- and 160-pound divisions. Wright’s most recent ring encounter produced a hard-fought 12-round draw with middleweight champion Jermain Taylor last June in Memphis. Now, the slick left-handed vet will showcase his considerable skills against a dangerous foe in front of his hometown fans.
Ike Quartey (37-3-1, 31 KOs) of Accra, Ghana, is well known to boxing fans. Having accepted the biggest challenges presented to him at 147 and 154 pounds, he moves up to 160 pounds to challenge the resourceful Wright in a 12-round battle.
Sharing the stage in Tampa will be super middleweight star Jeff Lacy (21-1, 17 KOs) of nearby St. Petersburg. Lacy last fought Joe Calzaghe in a 168-pound unification fight in Manchester, England last March. The loss was Lacy’s first professional setback; now he looks to reestablish his credentials.
Squaring off with Lacy in the ten-round super middleweight fight will be Vitali Tsypko (17-1, 10 KOs) of Ukraine. Tsypko is a tough, skilled southpaw who first met Lacy in 2004, when their elimination showdown ended with a second round “no-contest” stoppage following an accidental head butt.
More middleweight action will be presented live on HBO a week after the Wright-Quartey showdown in Tampa when middleweight king Jermain Taylor defends his title against Kassim Ouma in Little Rock on Dec. 9.