by David P. Greisman
As the bell clanged to end the eighth round of his bout with Sam Soliman, Winky Wright gave his opponent a tap on the rear end and a few words of competitive encouragement.
And as the bells jingle to signify the upcoming Christmas holiday, Wright should send Soliman a token of gratitude – a card, a gift, even a fruitcake – as appreciation for the after effects of the Floridian’s fiftieth win, a unanimous decision over the unorthodox Aussie.
If Winky should opt to pal-around at a pub, purchasing a pint of Foster’s – Soliman is, after all, Australian for awkward – he can get punch drunk with celebration, worshiping King Sam for doing what Tito Trinidad could not, and making a Wright fight entertaining, an affair beyond the typical one-sided, dominating performance.
When Wright made his middleweight debut in May against Trinidad, he was too effective, shutting out the former three-division champion, punishing him with a stiff jab, strong left crosses and hard hooks, wiping out the Puerto Rican and sending him, tail between his legs, back into retirement.
It was a magnificent showing, the kind of displaying of talent against a high-quality foe that pay-per-views should be limited to, a great night on a grand stage, a unique event that unfortunately led to more of the same for the veteran Wright.
Winky was perceived as too good, a high-risk, low-reward proposition, just like during his lengthy stay at junior middleweight, years when so-called champions chose cashing checks over conquering challenges. Despite headlining the top-selling pay-per-view of 2006, it was back to being avoided, back to the sidelines and the periphery as Bernard Hopkins and Jermain Taylor spent twenty-four rounds on two other, quite successful PPV shows. Taylor would win both, gaining paydays, titles, momentum and a fan base.
So on the tenth of December, the same day that fellow middleweights Kingsley Ikeke and Arthur Abraham would meet for Taylor’s vacated IBF belt, Wright was scheduled to face off against Soliman in what was generally perceived to be a mismatch, a televised keep-busy fight necessary for Winky to amass leverage via mandatory rankings, as well as to keep off ring rust while awaiting a shot at Taylor, the man recognized as the middleweight champion.
Enter Soliman, a man who, like Wright, is a boxer with baggage, a pugilist who has been forced to find paydays in eight countries, on four continents. Since beginning his career with an unimpressive 12-7 streak, Soliman had rattled off nineteen straight victories in the span of four years, wins that, despite coming against largely anonymous opposition, earned him an appearance on a televised main event in America, against a highly-regarded challenger, through whom a possible title shot awaited as a reward.
Unlike junior lightweight Robbie Peden, an Aussie who, in September, froze under the headlights and settled into sparring partner mode against Marco Antonio Barrera, Soliman would attempt to seize the opportunity, launching over one hundred punches per round, an unceasing buzzsaw whirring around the ring, firing at all angles like a larger, pillow-fisted Naseem Hamed.
Soliman made the fight close on two of the three judges’ scorecards, a feat rather unexpected, a conclusion that begs the question of how a man with similar style and stamina, but better pop – say, Kassim Ouma – would fare against Wright.
These hypothetical ponderings are precisely what Wright should be thankful for, a sign of vulnerability that could produce future rewards. Whether or not Winky was suffering from the flu or just had an off night, Jermain Taylor may now be brimming with confidence, living under the assumption that, despite less than five thousand fans paying to see the card at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, the time may soon be right to build toward a pay-per-view show that will clarify the rightful heir to the middleweight throne left available following Bernard Hopkins’ ousting.
While Taylor’s promoter, Lou DiBella, told another site that he was underwhelmed by Wright-Soliman, and that “four thousand people in a ten-thousand seat arena … booing at the end … doesn’t do anything to build anticipation for a fight,” his comments shouldn’t be taken as a sign that Taylor-Wright won’t occur soon.
Rather, DiBella is right about Wright, in that he needs to be matched against an opponent that he can defeat in such fashion that people will be buzzing about a Taylor-Wright pay-per-view. Where once DiBella was apparently protecting the physical interests of Taylor by seemingly delaying the title defense that pundits were clamoring for, now he is cognizant of little but fiscal interests.
Due to Taylor’s fighting Hopkins just one week prior to Wright-Soliman, as well as the champ’s likely taking a tune-up early next year as a homecoming, the scheduling could work out perfectly. Wright could find a fight on the same card or near the date of Taylor’s tune-up – which is rumored, at the moment, to be against either Felix Sturm or 154-lb. titlist Roman Karmazin – take care of business and then begin promoting a summer showdown that will put tails in the seats, cash in the coffers and, most importantly, answer questions about the future of the middleweight division.
As the ball drops to ring in the new year, fans can cheer while looking forward to January’s cruiserweights, February’s lightweights, March’s super middleweights and, hopefully, summer’s middleweights.
Now that’s something to raise a pint of Foster’s to.
The 10 Count
1. As referred to above, Kingsley Ikeke and Arthur Abraham met in Germany for the vacant IBF middleweight belt, with Abraham stopping the 6’4” Nigerian in the fifth to move to 19-0, with 17 wins via knockout. It is a big splash for Abraham, who turned pro just over two years ago, and who at age 25 still has time to improve. Abraham should look into coming to America so as to receive further notice, and in order to prevent becoming known as just “the other champion” in his division. In the meantime, Ikeke may want to consider a move up to super middleweight, especially with reports that he had major difficulty making the 160-lb. limit, a nasty challenge considering his lengthy frame.
2. If Ikeke had too little weight on his body, then heavyweight Danny Williams, as usual, had too much, tipping the scales at 272 pounds against Audley Harrison, yet still pulling off a split decision victory. Harrison, the 2000 Olympic gold medalist, was sent to the canvas in the tenth, and in a fight that had initially proceeded as cautiously as Harrison’s career to date, he did little to counteract the denigration of detractors that had referred to him not-so-lovingly as Fraudley. It is difficult to tell where the careers of both go from here, especially with Williams, whose performances are as up-and-down as his poundage.
3. Speaking of heavyweights whose masses fluctuate, Hasim Rahman’s bankruptcy proceedings saw his contract with promoter Don King invalidated, paving the way for a three-year deal with Bob Arum and Top Rank. It is good news for Arum, who lost a payday when his Vitali Klitschko-Rahman pay-per-view was cancelled, and a nice belated birthday present for the promoter, who turned 74 this past week.
4. It’s the courts and not the rings for the aforementioned King, who has multiple cases in front of robed authority figures. King currently has a multibillion-dollar defamation lawsuit pending against ESPN and its parent companies, in regards to a SportsCentury broadcast that upset the famously coifed promoter. Simultaneously, King is litigating against Chris Byrd, claiming breach of contract and interfering with the planned heavyweight unification tournament. Something tells me that the mood in the air is not right for me to say anything negative, so allow me to move on to the fifth spot on The 10 Count.
5. Allow me, instead, to compliment King for sticking by Zab Judah over the years, placing him on undercards against pushovers, giving him short money, but ultimately staying true to his Brooklyn bomber. Although King quickly forgot about Judah during the post-fight interview following Zab’s stoppage of Cosme Rivera on the May undercard of Wright-Trinidad, stealing the spotlight and leaving Judah standing nearby, smiling awkwardly, Judah may finally be receiving the benefits of his loyalty. Judah’s January defense against Carlos Baldomir, originally scheduled to come before the Jean-Marc Mormeck-O’Neil Bell cruiserweight unification, is now the main event, thanks in part to the bouts being held in New York City’s Madison Square Garden. Hopefully headlining will increase Judah’s payday, and perhaps the momentum will carry forth, and Judah will sign to line his wallet with the proceeds of a mega-match with Floyd Mayweather Jr.
6. HBO is broadcasting “Boxing’s Best: Top 3 Fights of 2005” on Dec. 26-28, showing as its selections Arturo Gatti-Floyd Mayweather, Winky Wright-Tito Trinidad and Bernard Hopkins-Jermain Taylor I. Great, one-sided, one-sided and drearily controversial, respectively. I don’t expect HBO to purchase the rights to Diego Corrales-Jose Luis Castillo I, but they could have at least selected the three best fights, and not three of their pay-per-view events. My selections of HBO’s 2005 fights would have been Erik Morales-Manny Pacquiao, Jorge Arce-Hussein Hussein and Miguel Cotto-Ricardo Torres.
7. The second Taylor-Hopkins pay-per-view, by the way, had a buy rate of 410,000, showing that boxing, if marketed properly, can be successful. Considering how poorly the Corrales-Castillo rematch did on PPV, compared to expectations, when the first fight was one of the greatest ever, it says plenty about the advertising and publicity campaigns that made the second go-around for Taylor and Hopkins –a follow-up to a match that was less than aesthetically pleasing – a success.
8. Speaking of less than aesthetically pleasing, John Ruiz will fight Nicolay Valuev this coming weekend. Give it to Ruiz, he’s fought, since 2000, Evander Holyfield (thrice), Kirk Johnson, Roy Jones, Hasim Rahman, Fres Oquendo, Andrew Golota and James Toney. He doesn’t duck anyone, but, well, he doesn’t appeal to anyone either. Lamon Brewster went into hostile territory in Germany in September to knock out Luan Krasniqi, but can Ruiz out-wrestle the seven-foot Russian Bear?
9. Vitali Klitschko is reportedly running for office in his native Ukraine. Now taking wagers on what sort of reason he’ll use for dropping out of the race should he run into any stiff competition.
10. A Quick Correction: In last week’s column, I mistakenly slaughtered my brain cells and referred to the result of the first Bernard Hopkins-Jermain Taylor fight as a unanimous decision. It was a split decision. My apologies to readers, as well as my brain cells.
