by James Slater – There is a chance he will change his mind in the future, but for the time being, 37-year-old Winky Wright, fresh off his 12-round pounding at the hands of the superb Paul Williams, says he will not retire. Coming back as he did after a near two year layoff to face the freakishly tall “Punisher” hurt Wright, and he says that now he will make sure he gets back in the ring and that he stays active. Judging by these comments by the veteran southpaw, Winky plans to have a few more fights before he’s through..
Though he was soundly beaten by the fighter many other top men have allegedly chosen to avoid in Williams, Wright at least had the nerve to get in there with the 6’1″ (some say Paul is even taller) potential superstar. Also, though he barely won a round, Wright was able to last the full 12 rounds and his heart and guts, as he proved on Saturday, remain intact. Maybe, just maybe, now that he’s got back in the ring and gotten rid of the rust he’d picked up while being inactive since losing to the much bigger Bernard Hopkins in July of 2007, Wright will be able to beat one or two top names at middleweight.
In fighting on, if he does indeed stick to his game-plan of not quitting, Wright will almost certainly stay at 160. His light-middleweight days of dominance are a long time gone, and, as we saw when he fought “B-Hop,” any higher than 160 for Winky is no good. Now 51-5-1(25), who are the upper echelon middleweights Winky can beat with what he’s got left today?
There may be a few 160-pounders Wright’s still slick southpaw skills would confuse and ultimately defeat, but a real problem for the former two-time conqueror of “Sugar” Shane Mosley, may be getting these guys to risk things by taking him on. After all, what would a 2009 win over Wright do for a Kelly Pavlik, an Arthur Abraham or a Felix Sturm? I’m not saying Winky would beat either of these three fighters, but it’s more than possible that he would, even now. Never a really marketable fighter even when he had a world title around his waist, Wright will be even less of an appealing foe for the top talent now, though.
But, should he carry on with his career, who else is Wright going to want to fight but the top men? Maybe a graceful retirement would be the best option for the former light-middleweight king. A definite Hall of Famer of the future, Wright really has nothing more to prove. He met the best whenever the best were willing to fight him, and in his prime he rarely went home without a win.
Winky may never have been a fighter who endeared himself to all boxing fans – some deciding early on that his particular style of fighting was not for them – but no-one would relish seeing the former great struggling on with a career loaded with frustration, and/or further past-his-best defeats.