King's pull may not be enough to do justice for Wright
By JOHN C. COTEY
Published April 27, 2004
After a tumultuous week, Winky Wright signed with Don King. Despite the promoter's controversial reputation, there was a sliver of hope his deep pockets might bail Wright out of a rematch with Shane Mosley that no one wants ... except Mosley.
But there apparently is no buying off Mosley, whose list of options has dwindled. And there's no waiting by Felix Trinidad. It has been announced that while Wright gets ready for Mosley, the guy he really wants will be pocketing more than $10-million for taking on Ricardo Mayorga in July on Pay Per View.
Wright-Mosley II will happen this fall, whether there's a good catch for that fight or not. Last time, it was the unification of the junior middleweight division.
This time, no titles, as Wright will be stripped of all his belts by the rematch. Mosley's stature isn't what it used to be. The two don't even dislike each other, and Wright severely outclassed Mosley in the first meeting.
"The catch will be Shane avenging his defeat," promoter Gary Shaw said. "He believes he was the better fighter. He wants revenge."
That's not enough to make this the blockbuster Wright has dreamed of his whole life. That will require beating Mosley again, then hoping King gets him in the ring with Trinidad.
But remember, it was King who signed Wright after his disputed loss against Fernando Vargas, and never got him a fight. Wright dropped him for Bob Arum.
So don't hold your breath, just because Wright is now with King. Sure, the fight with Trinidad should happen. But don't think for a minute if Oscar De La Hoya decides he wants Trinidad, or Trinidad decides he wants to avenge his only loss against Bernard Hopkins, that Wright won't be wronged.
In the end, Wright may be able to blame it all on Mosley, who is getting in the way of his lifelong dream by insisting on a rematch.
Maybe that's the catch.
MINUS ONE: The heavyweight picture no longer will include Corrie Sanders after the South African was crushed by Vitali Klitschko Saturday. Bloodied and unable to continue in the eighth round, Sanders told the Los Angeles Times, "I think I'm going to take a shot at the Senior (PGA) Tour." Sanders (39-3, 29 KOs) is a scratch golfer who has long flirted with giving up boxing for the links.
THE REAL DEAL: There's no mistaking who fans at fightnews.com think is the real heavyweight champ among the four belt-holders: 81 percent chose WBC champion Klitschko. Chris Byrd got 13 percent of the vote, John Ruiz 4 and Lamon Brewster 3.
ROLLING: Former St. Petersburg College basketball player James McGirt Jr. is 3-0 as a pro after knocking out Eric Brown in the first round Saturday at Club Med in Port St. Lucie. The son of former world champion Buddy, James did suffer a bit of misfortune in his victory: An accidental head-butt required three stitches and forced him to pull out of a May 7 fight that would have been televised on ESPN's Friday Night Fights.
LOCAL: Edner Cherry, who won his last five fights at Tampa's A La Carte Pavilion, ventured farther south to capture the EBC Caribbean Boxing Federation lightweight title with an eight-round knockout of Juan Gomez Trinidad in Carolina, Puerto Rico. It was Cherry's most impressive win. After starting his career with three wins in his first seven fights, Cherry (15-2-2) has won 12 in a row.
UP NEXT: Featherweight Manny Pacquiao (38-2-1) defends his IBF and WBA belts against Juan Manuel Marquez (42-2) on May 8. Dade City native Antwun Echols, part of trainer Dan Birmingham's St. Petersburg stable, will fight on the undercard.
- Information from other news organizations was used in the report.
