"I think that me and Pavlik need to hurry up and make that fight because there's no names in the middleweight division and the only way he's going to make some good money is to get a fight with me or maybe Paul, but after seeing Paul fight, they not going to give no big money fight to anyone. That Martinez kid is real good, but other than that, he's got to go fight the fights that mean something. Like I said, I hope Bob, after this fight...I just hope something happens and we can make the fight happen in some kind of way...We just gonna stay in shape and stay ready, so when they come calling, we gonna be ready," stated former jr. middleweight champion Winky Wright as he talked about last weekend's clash between Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez and his strong desire to step in the ring with Kelly Pavlik to prove he's still got a lot more left in the tank than what people may believe. Check it out!
BT: What's up Wink? We were talking the other day about the difficulties that certain fighters have getting fights. How frustrating is it for you to be affiliated with Golden Boy Promotions and yet, it's just as difficult for you to get a fight now as it was 5 years ago? I mean, you've never been stopped, never been knocked out, never quit, and yet, you're forced to sit idle while guys like Victor Ortiz, Chris Arreola and Kermit Cintron have no problems whatsoever getting dates on HBO.
WW: A lot of it ain't Golden Boy, it's HBO! They trying to move the new in, so they trying to get the old out by any means necessary and by doing that, it's just showing that they're biased. They're supposed to be putting on the best fights, not the ones they want to see. They thinking we want too much money, we the older fighters, we been through a lot, so these fighters going to want too much money, so let's give it to the young fighters who don't want that much money and we can just put them on and use them. But they not proven; fans ain't really behind them. It's really hurtin the network.
BT: Not only is it hurting the network, it's hurting the sport. The last time I spoke to you, I think you said it best when you said you can't make new stars if they're not fighting past stars. I think that's the problem with...
WW: (Cutting in) Another thing about boxing is judging. You just watched the fight with Paul Williams and that other guy. You know, it was a good fight, but obviously everybody thought the other guy won the fight and they just gave it to Paul like that, so that's going to hurt boxing right there.
BT: What did you think of that fight between Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez?
WW: Hey man, Martinez fought a great fight. He looked good. I'm not knocking Paul, but like I said, Paul is a busy fighter, he's an awkward fighter, but dude just stayed nice and relaxed. His timing was on. Every time he threw something, he was catching Paul, he was catching Paul. Really, what Paul should have did when they talked to him is he should have manned up and said, "Look, I feel like I didn't win the fight, but, you know, they gave it to me. I want to do it again." That right there, the fans would have been like, "Yo, that's real. He's real. He's letting us know really how he felt." Like I said after the Williams fight, you know, I said, "No, he fought a great fight. He beat me. I got no excuse. I take my hat off to him." A real fighter, if you lose, you lose; that's part of the game, but you want to come back and win. By being biased and phony with the crowds, people are going to shy away from that. If you just step up and admit, "I lost that fight, but I'm gonna come back," your fans are going to stay behind you. They'll be like, "You know what? My dude did lose that, but he'll get it back."
BT: Other than that 119-110 scorecard, one other thing about that card that was a little suspect was the fact that Chris Arreola was fighting on the undercard against Brian Minto, who's basically an ESPN fighter at best. I don't understand how Arreola can get dominated by Vitali Klitschko and still come back with a date on HBO against a guy of Minto's caliber. I was unaware that the network was now showcasing tune-up bouts on HBO World Championship Boxing.
WW: Dominated! Dominated! You said it! When I fight, they want me to fight the number one dude. I don't care how long I've been out or who I just fought. It's like, "If you can't fight these dudes, then you can't get on the network." I'm like, "God damn!" And then the dudes, when they don't want to fight me, then they still won't put me on the network. They didn't do like, "We'll give you an easy fight like Arreola and them." It's just biased and real fucked up. That's why the game is lacking. I watched that UFC fight this weekend. Both of them was on at the same time and shoot, I was watching the UFC fight until it was over because it was more exciting.
BT: (Laughing) I was actually watching both fights myself. Kimbo and Houston Alexander almost put me to sleep.
WW: (Laughing) Yeah, that was crazy, wasn't it?
BT: Yeah, I would have never guessed that Kimbo and Houston Alexander would go the distance. That made no sense to me, but you know...
WW: (Cutting in) None man! They was swinging too man; that was crazy, but it's all good.
BT: So you know Kelly Pavlik has this "big" fight coming up in Youngstown. Are you going to have your eye on that fight?
WW: Really, I don't care. I may tune in to see what happens, but until they start saying that they want to fight me or Bob starts trying to push that fight, it really doesn't make me any wiser to watch it because no matter who he fights, if he ain't going to fight me, it ain't going to do me no good.
BT: Well it wasn't too long ago when Kelly Pavlik was extremely interested in getting a fight done with you. I know your name was definitely being considered as a possible opponent by Team Pavlik prior to all the nonsense they pulled with Williams. I mean, there aren't very many other big names in or around the division to begin with, especially with the Super Six tournament locking down all those other guys. Do you think maybe they've had a change of heart?
WW: Exactly! That's the problem. That's what I'm saying. I think that me and Pavlik need to hurry up and make that fight because there's no names in the middleweight division and the only way he's going to make some good money is to get a fight with me or maybe Paul, but after seeing Paul fight, they not going to give no big money fights to anyone. That Martinez kid is real good, but other than that, he's got to go fight the fights that mean something. Like I said, I hope Bob, after this fight...Bob wants to get him a fight that gets him back in the ring, which I want to get back in the ring too. I'd like to get a fight before that, but if I can't, I'll just have to go in just like this.
BT: Yeah, there aren't too many other middleweight names out there. I mean, there's you, Pavlik, Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez, but other than that, the only other name I can think of off the top of my head is Felix Sturm.
WW: That's definitely a fight I would like.
BT: Who's that? Sturm?
WW: Yeah!
BT: Well, in my opinion, I think a better fight at middleweight would be Kelly Pavlik vs. Winky Wright. Both of you guys have common opponents in Jermain Taylor and Bernard Hopkins. Personally, I would love to see you guys square off simply because I feel like it's the middleweight fight that never happened. It's kind of like how Toney and Roy fought, Hops and Roy fought, but Toney and Hops never fought.
WW: Well I just hope something happens and we can make the fight happen in some kind of way.
BT: In the past, when they talk about making a fight with Winky Wright, they always say you price yourself out of fights. I take it that's not really true, is it?
WW: Let me tell you about that. All of that is lies. Whenever there's a big fight and Winky Wright is involved, I'm the one who always takes the short end of the stick just to make the fight happen. When people go back and say I want too much, that's just other people not wanting to fight me. That's just what they say to get out of the fight. Any big fight I had, I always took the short end of the stick; Tito, Shane Mosley twice, you know what I'm saying? I did that because I had to make the fight, but other than that, if I wouldn't have did that, those fights wouldn't have happened.
BT: I just wanted to make it clear that the reason why you're not getting fights isn't because you're pricing yourself out of them. You're simply not getting fights because nobody, other than Paul Williams earlier this year, wants to fight you. You're still a marquee name, you've never been stopped, never been knocked out and you're still a credible name and a viable opponent for anyone in and around the division.
WW: Exactly! Exactly! Like I said, I came out of a 2-year layoff and fought Paul. They threw his name out there and I immediately said okay. That's just a true champion; you supposed to want to fight. I mean, okay, he got the win, but nobody still don't know Paul Williams. Right now, if you say "Paul Williams", people don't even know him. We just gonna stay in shape and stay ready, so when they come calling, we gonna be ready.
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