HBO World Championship Boxing starts live at 10pm ET, and we'll be here with live, round-by-round coverage, scoring, analysis and BS for both fights. We hope you'll join us for the return of Winky Wright, and Paul Williams' first real test at 160 pounds!
Dan Rafael sums up what most of us probably expected out of this fight, plopped down in Vegas despite the fact that neither fighter has much of a following (despite both being great fighters):
Matt (Minneapolis): What is the atmosphere like out there? Will the fight draw 5,000? Kind of a weird fight from a fan standpoint since neither guy has a big following.
Dan Rafael: Atmosphere? There is none. It's dead dude.
Both photos by Will Hart at HBO.
PAUL WILLIAMS | WINKY WRIGHT | |
36-1 | Record | 51-4-1 |
27 | KO | 25 |
Augusta, GA | Hometown | Saint Petersburg, FL |
27 | Age | 37 |
6'1" | Height | 5'10 1/2" |
82" | Reach | 72" |
Verno Phillips (TKO-8) Carlos Quintana (TKO-1) Antonio Margarito (UD-12) |
Notable Wins | Ike Quartey (UD-12) Felix Trinidad (UD-12) Shane Mosley (UD-12, MD-12) |
Carlos Quintana (UD-12) | Notable Losses | Bernard Hopkins (UD-12) Fernando Vargas (MD-12) Harry Simon (MD-12) |
CHRIS ARREOLA | JAMEEL MCCLINE | |
26-0 | Record | 39-9-3 |
23 | KO | 23 |
Riverside, CA | Hometown | Harlem, NY |
28 | Age | 38 |
6'4" | Height | 6'6" |
77" | Reach | 82" |
Travis Walker (TKO-3) Chazz Witherspoon (DQ-3) Thomas Hayes (KO-3) |
Notable Wins | Mike Mollo (UD-12) Terry Smith (UD-10) Rob Calloway (UD-10) |
Notable Losses | John Ruiz (UD-12) Samuel Peter (UD-12) Nikolai Valuev (RTD-3) |