The St. Petersburg fighter takes on Shane Mosley on March 13.
By JOHN C. COTEY
Published December 25, 2003
Winky Wright got the best Christmas present of his life Wednesday: the blockbuster, career-defining fight he has chased his entire professional career.
Wright, the IBF junior middleweight champion, meets WBA and WBC champion Shane Mosley at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on March 13 to unify the 154-pound division for the first time in 29 years, Gary Shaw Productions and Pound-for-Pound Promotions announced.
Wright (46-3, 25 knockouts) of St. Petersburg had chased a fight with Bernard Hopkins, but the middleweight champ has backed off promises to fight Wright. In Mosley, Wright gets one of the game's best and the only fighter to beat Oscar De La Hoya twice.
In a prepared statement Shaw said, "The minute Sugar Shane won the world super welterweight title, Team Mosley said they would only seek out the biggest fights.
"Mosley-Wright is the biggest fight in their division. Everyone has had an excuse for not fighting Sugar Shane or Winky. But when the opportunity presented itself to fight for the undisputed title, Sugar Shane and Winky offered not excuses but pens to sign their contracts."
This year Mosley (39-2, 35 knockouts) told Wright if he beat De La Hoya, he would offer him the next fight.
"Shane Mosley and I will make boxing history and personal history on March 13," Wright said. "Shane and I are the only two people in this division man enough to risk it all to become the undisputed world champion. I have offered the same opportunity to De La Hoya and Vargas over and over and over again. Now they are on the sidelines, where they belong. March 13 is reserved for the big boys."
