Winky Wright, co-promoter of last night's Wednesday Night Fights (main evented by Yusaf Mack beating Daniel Judah), spoke with Teddy Atlas about his future during the telecast.
Wright says he wants to come back in September, and he's looking for a fight with Kelly Pavlik or Oscar de la Hoya.
I like Winky Wright, and I certainly respect him as a fighter. He's a hell of a defensive specialist and while some find him boring, I find it exciting to watch anyone that good at anything. That said, Wright is kidding himself. The sport has moved on in his absence, and as good as he is, it's not like he's been terribly missed.
Bob Arum and Top Rank are working on getting Kelly Pavlik a major money showdown with Joe Calzaghe at 168 pounds, looking to make Pavlik a three-division legitimate champion (160, 168, 175) in the process. That would be a significant fight.
Oscar? Jeez, Wink, stop chasing it. Oscar will make ten or fifteen times the amount to fight Floyd again that he would to fight Wright. Of course Winky wants to fight de la Hoya. Who doesn't? But it's a pipe dream.
It's good to know Wink plans to get back in the ring in September, though. What about legitimately possible opponents?
He could take on Brian Vera, who is riding high post-upset over Andy Lee. Vera's still one of the rumors for Jermain Taylor, but if Taylor can land a fight with friend Jeff Lacy, I think that would be preferable to him. It's winnable and a bigger name. Vera is best off at middleweight, and one assumes Wright will most likely want to return to 160. Vera would be a tune-up for someone as good as Wright, and he might never be more marketable than he is right now.
Andrey Tsurkan could try to move up and fight Wright. That'd be attractive to me, but that might only be me. Truth is, Winky's going to find a good opponent hard to come by. I don't at all doubt his claims that there aren't many guys wanting to fight him, because that's always been the case.
We'll have to wait and see. For now, I'm content to hear from Winky and glad to know he'll be back in the ring before too much longer.