by James Slater – As his fans almost surely knew, Winky Wright was all set to get back in action this coming December 11th in Puerto Rico. Scheduled to face former “Contender” Grady Brewer at middleweight, the talented southpaw who is now aged 38 and has not fought since his April 2009 points loss to Paul Williams, is reportedly in great shape, after having worked hard in the gym. But Winky’s efforts were of no avail, because the fight has been called off.
As reported by Dan Rafael of ESPN.com, the Puerto Rican promoter of the would-be show – which would also have featured heavyweight contender Fres Oquendo in action – suddenly, and with no given reason, decided to pull the plug..
Wright advisor, Damian Ramirez, informed ESPN.com about the foul mood his fighter is now in as a result of what’s happened.
“Winky isn’t happy right now,” Ramirez said. “He’s at 162 right now. He’s been working his ass off. He wanted to make a statement and stop Brewer.”
Wright, 51-5-1(25) will now reportedly look for another tune-up type fight, but ultimately the future Hall of Famer, who has wins over “Sugar” Shane Mosley, Felix Trinidad and Ike Quartey, hopes to land a title fight with middleweight ruler Kelly Pavlik.
Suffering from inactivity, Wright has not won a fight since his December 2006 decision over Quartey. Wanting very much to get back to winning ways – the Brewer fight being planned as his first step – Wright remains full of desire and has goals he still hopes to achieve. A fight between he and Pavlik looked a pretty remote possibility before, but now that Wright will have to waste further time looking for a replacement comeback opponent, the fight he wants looks even more doubtful to happen.
The loss Winky suffered at the hands of “The Punisher” was the most one-sided defeat of his entire career, and Wright partially blamed the UD loss on inactivity. Wright made it clear after the April fight how he would not embark on as long a layoff again, and that he would get back into contention as a middleweight. Now, through no fault of his own, the man who has been a pro since October of 1990 and who has never been stopped in a fight, will have to sit it out until some time in 2010.
No doubt 38-year-old Brewer, 26-11(15), is feeling less than great right now also.