Sam Soliman WINS over Winky Wright Dec. 10

People are acting like Soliman is some bum of the street. People don't really know much about him, but he could potentially make this an interesting fight. Will he beat Winky? Likely not. Does he have a chance? Damn right he does. This is a guy who presents an akward style in the ring and has a great fight IQ. He grew up throwing fists and he's as tough as they come, and he's been waiting for his chance for a long time now. That could be a dangerous recipe if Winky isn't on his A game. And let's be completely honest here. Winky doesn't exaclty strike fear into the minds of his opponents. He's a very mechanical fighter and what you see is what you get. He's not going to surprise anyone who's seen him before. So if Solimon possibly finds something to exploit and Winky doesn't adjust quickly enough, anything could happen.

http://www.fightbiz.com/kingsam/

If Winky loses I'm going to die laughing.

thats a pretty cool article really, im looking foreward to a good fight

Harpers Gym isn’t where you expect to find a boxing ring. Situated in the up-market beachside suburb of Brighton in Melbourne, Australia, it is your prototypical body building gym designed for affluent locals to preen and pose and occasionally work up a sweat. Dozens of personal trainers mingle amongst the state-of-the-art weight machines gently encouraging their clients to do “one more rep”. Tucked away at the rear of the gym is a medium sized boxing ring flanked by rows of exercise bikes. The canvas is emblazoned with the Festival Hall logo that was made famous when the North Melbourne venue hosted regular boxing cards in the 70’s and 80’s that were frequently televised on Ron Casey’s seminal Australian boxing program TV Ringside. The rich history of the old ‘House of Stoush’ canvas seems lost on the locals. I arrived at the gym at 7am on a Thursday to find Sam Soliman shadowboxing in centre ring. Looking lean and fit, he pivots, dips, pivots again, all the while keeping his hands flowing in fluid motion. While many prizefighters scowl their way through their workouts, Soliman wears the smile of a man who loves his work. He winks at me when he sees me watching. Trainer Dave Hedgcock in leaning on the ring apron, keeping a sharp eye on Soliman and barking instructions. “Double the jab, pivot and throw the right hand. That’s it, that’s it. You’ve got thirty seconds. Go hard until the bell.” Soliman responds to every command with speed and precision. After his warm up Soliman dons his gloves and headgear to begin his sparring with southpaws Anton Solopov and Jamie Pittman. As the action starts personal trainers who aren’t busy begin drifting over, watching in awe and admiration as Soliman juke, jives, dips and slips his way through six fast paced rounds. It’s a little over three weeks until the biggest fight of Soliman’s life when he faces arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world in Ronald ‘Winky’ Wright, 49-3 (25). Long overlooked by the boxing establishment and fight fans alike due to his technically brilliant but largely uninspiring style, Wright established himself as one of the premier fighters in the game by twice defeating Oscar De La Hoya conqueror ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley in 2004 to become the undisputed light middleweight champion of the world before moving up to middleweight earlier this year to dominate living legend in Felix ‘Tito’ Trinidad. Soliman has no illusions about what he will be up against when he enters the ring at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut on Saturday night, but says that he is more concerned about instituting his own gameplan than what Wright will be doing. “I’m going to be in there doing my stuff,” said Soliman, 31-7 (12). “I know that Winky is going to have that hometown advantage, but I’m not going to let that overawe me because I’ve had many fights like that before in many countries around the world, so this won’t be any different. Been there, done that, so there won’t be any shellshock.” Fitness has long been the key to Soliman’s success and Hedgcock confirms that a relentless workrate is essential if Soliman wants to come away with the win on Saturday night. “Winky has never been forced into making mistakes or fighting any other way than how he wants to fight,” explained Hedgcock. “It’s not so much that we’re looking at Winky’s style, it’s that we’re looking at doing our own thing and creating angles and creating gaps in his armour. Regardless of what they say, they really haven’t sparred or fought anyone like Sam Soliman. We feel they’ll get a little bit frustrated and I think that Winky will find it’s a completely different fight to what he expects.” With his tight defence and piercing jab it was always going to be difficult to find sparring partners who could accurately emulate Wright’s unique style – particularly as the St Petersburg native is a southpaw. But Hedgcock is confident that he has found the right blend in styles with Kostya Tszyu protégé Solopov, an aggressive welterweight with good technical skills, and Jamie Pittman, a rangy super middleweight who represented Australia at the Athens Olympics last year. “Great sparring partners, the best you can get without a doubt,” said Hedgcock. “They both have contrasting styles: one is a stand up guy and the other one is a guy who wants to move around and use his range and jab, so Sam is getting the best of both worlds and he’s been able to mix it up by combining his sparring. “Basically it’s just been Jamie and Anton, that’s it. It’s very hard to get quality southpaws and when we saw the way these two boys were sparring with Sammy we didn’t need to go anyone else. This was as good as we were going to get anywhere in the world.” The complexion of the middleweight division is currently going through a stage of change. After a decade of dominance Bernard Hopkins has lost his stranglehold on the division after losing close back-to-back decisions to reigning 160-pound kingpin Jermain Taylor this year. Soliman, who became the IBF number one contender by pitching a virtual shutout over Dutchman Raymond Joval in July 2004, appeared to be in the box seat to fight Taylor since his mandatory challenge was long overdue. But rather than force the IBF to strip Taylor for not facing him immediately after the first Hopkins fight, Soliman did the noble thing by agreeing to wait a little longer for his chance to challenge the undisputed champion. But instead of sitting on the sidelines Soliman’s team opted to take on a top rated contender to consolidate their position at the top of the rankings. With the often avoided Wright sitting pretty atop the WBC and WBA ratings he was the obvious choice for the fight. Almost immediately after the Soliman vs. Wright fight was announced Taylor revealed that he was abdicating the IBF portion of his championship. And this is where things get messy. According to the IBF’s rules, if a fight is signed prior to a title becoming vacant it cannot be sanctioned for that title as both boxers are deemed ‘unavailable’. As a result the next two available contenders – in this case Kingsley Ikeke and Arthur Abraham, who are fighting on the same night as Soliman and Wright in Germany – are offered the opportunity to fight for the title. “We’ve always taken on the best and we think Winky is the best in the world,” said Hedgcock. “Winky is the most in-form fighter in the world today. I think the winner of this fight will definitely be the next middleweight champion of the world.” Despite his ordinary looking record on paper, the story of Soliman’s career is one of triumph over adversity. As a self-managed fighter for much of his early career, Soliman jumped divisions and racked up frequent flyer points as he took on all comers, epitomizing the ‘anyone, anywhere, anytime’ ethic. In 2001 businessman Stuart Duncan took Soliman under his wing and along with Hedgcock the three of them began plotting a path towards the world title. Racking up a 19-0 record with 8 KOs since 2002, Soliman has systematically worked his was up the world rankings by maintaining a hectic fight schedule. According to Hedgcock the key to victory against Wright is to disrupt his rhythm by keeping up a high workrate and using angles to diffuse his jab. “We’re going to explore and make him make mistakes,” said Hedgcock. “Winky is a very competent fighter, very calculated in the way he does it, but so is Sam Soliman. I think it’s going to be the best fight we’ll have this year. Without doubt it’s going to be a slugfest. Both fighters throw a lot of punches, both fighters have got good moves, both fighters are fit and both fighters are capable of hurting each other. I just think that Sammy is going to take him into uncharted waters and take him to places he hasn’t been with other fighters.” Both Hedgcock and Soliman appreciate the fact that Wright is currently rated amongst the best fighters in the world in any division, but rather than being apprehensive about the task at hand they are relishing the opportunity to prove that Soliman belongs amongst the very elite of the sport. “We’ve taken the challenge up too,” said Hedgcock. “We could’ve got other fights but with Sam Soliman he always wants to fight the best. He’s an occasion fighter, he loves a big occasion. We’re going over there to fight in Winky Wright’s hometown on his promoter’s card and we hope we get a good fair showing there. If we do I think we’ll be bringing it home.” For Soliman the opportunity to fight Wright is the realization of a childhood dream. “I’ve been looking forward to it for eighteen years,” laughed Soliman. “So to say that I’m looking forward to it in three weeks time is an understatement really. “It’s an honour and a privilege to be fighting one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. People have got to take into account why this is such a good fight to watch because we’re both fit fighters who will fight for twelve rounds. After winning eleven of the twelve rounds we’ll both come out for the twelfth to win it as if we’re behind on the scorecards. That’s the attitude that Winky’s got and it’s the attitude that I’ve got. I’m fighting the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world in Winky Wright and the hardest fighter in the middleweight division at the moment. I can’t wait.”

i never seen soliman fight ima watch the fight today tho so i cant say who is gonna win....but with winky......shit he gonna clamp up so i say winky by UD....unless he switches his game plan (Which i seriously doubt) and starts to slug with soliman...that would be nice tho

http://espn-att.starwave.com/media/box/2005/1018/photo/g_soliman_275.jpg Boston detective Richard Flaherty will referee Sunday's world middleweight title eliminator between Australia's Sam Soliman and American Winky Wright in Connecticut. And as well as an American ref, three American judges have been assigned to score the battle between Soliman, the No.1 ranked IBF middleweight and Wright, the No.1 WBC contender and former world junior-middleweight champ. The judges are Melvina Latham, Duane Ford and Tom Kaczmarek. Soliman says he has no qualms about all three officials being countrymen of the hometown star in one of the biggest fights in America this year. "I know I have the fitness and the determination to outwork Winky," Soliman said yesterday. "He is a great boxer and one of the world's best fighters pound for pound, but I know he has never met anyone with the consistent workrate I bring into the ring for 12 rounds non-stop." Soliman took the fight with Wright instead of a shot at the vacant IBF world title because he wants to face Jermain Taylor, who holds the WBC, WBA and WBO titles. :boxing:

150%, there's no such thing man. When are people gonna start realising this shit?

When Soliman said "I know that anything less than 150% against Winky won’t be enough." That to me means that he doesn't even believe that he can win.

maussa to ko hatton pemberton to ko lacy what more needs to be said?

Winky Wright was feeling under the weather at Thursday's final news conference at the Mohegan Sun Arena, trying to shake off a cold he caught earlier in the week as he prepares for Saturday's fight with Sam Soliman. Wright sounded noticeably congested, but said the fight will go on. "People wanted me to pull out," Wright (49-3 with 25 knockouts) said. "I'm already only fighting once every seven months, so if I pull out I won't get another fight for seven months? "I'm fighting, trying to get it out of my system. I don't know what it is. It's just a cold. Got a stuffed up chest, stuffed nose, but hey, I'm here. It don't matter what it is, I'm here and I'm fighting." Promoter Gary Shaw said Wright went to a doctor in St. Petersburg Monday for chest X-rays before leaving for Uncasville, which has had overnight temperatures in the teens all week. He said he has cleared all of Wright's medications with the boxing commission to avoid any potential problems with the postfight drug test.

http://youngvictorboxing.com/sam_soliman.jpg AUSTRALIA'S Sam Soliman says hunger will drive him to a shock victory over American great Ronald "Winky" Wright in the US this weekend. Soliman has been written off by bookmakers and US boxing writers ahead of his International Boxing Federation middleweight title eliminator at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut on Sunday (AEDT), but that is not a surprise to the Melbourne fighter. Wright, the Florida-based southpaw, is considered one of the top two boxers of any weight division and with recent wins over Felix Trinidad and Shane Mosley is one of the biggest names in the sport. "I'm not upset about it at all," Soliman said today. "The only thing I'd get upset about is if I lose this fight. "It would be nice to have some recognition, but I'm not thinking negative about anything." US and British bookmakers do not give 32-year-old Soliman a chance, with Wright at the slim odds of 2-17. Soliman has received little respect, with outsider odds of 15-2. "I'm fighting one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world," Soliman, again refusing to be upset by the lack of respect, said. "That's all I've ever wanted. "Now I've got the chance, I'm going to make the most of it." Soliman has a professional record of 31 wins (12 knockouts) and seven losses, but the significant statistic is he has won his last 19 fights. The wins have made him one of the top-ranked middleweights, but despite being the IBF's number one contender for more than a year, the former king of the division Bernard Hopkins refused to fight him. The years of frustration will lead Soliman to victory, he believes. "I'm the hungriest boxer in the middleweight division," Soliman said. Wright, 34, has a 49 win (25 KOs) three loss professional record. http://www.blaster.com.au/tn_sam.jpg Soliman's Wright of passage MELBOURNE'S Sam Soliman faces boxing's Mt Everest at the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, Connecticut, on Sunday when he faces Ronald "Winky" Wright in an elimination bout for the IBF middleweight title. Southpaw Wright, of the US, is regarded as one of the most complete boxers in the world, the real deal in one of the glamour divisions. At age 34 "Winky" boasts a 49-3 record, with two losses being by split decision in world title fights against Harry Simon and Fernando Vargas. What appears to be the only time he was clearly beaten was a unanimous decision way back in 1994 against legendary Mexican Julio Cesar Vasquez, whose record at the time was 50-1. That fight was also for a world title. Soliman has been the IBF No. 1 contender for 18 months, since beating IBO champ Raymond Joval in the US. He is long overdue for his shot at the title, after posting 19 straight wins since losing a disputed split decision to former WBA super-middleweight champion Anthony Mundine in 2001. Soliman has done it the hard way, taking fights in Japan, Fiji, England, Scotland, Germany and the US. Soliman will be a huge underdog against Wright with the American bookmakers. Wright boxed rings around Felix Trinidad in his last fight and twice beat multiple world champ "Sugar" Shane Mosley before that. Trinidad was so clearly beaten, he immediately retired after the fight. Wright showed why he is so highly regarded, counter-punching while exhibiting an almost-impenetrable defence. How will Soliman attempt to upset the apple cart? Speaking to him before he left for the US, Soliman said he could spring a huge upset with his own unique style. Soliman now fights three minutes of every round in that he throws a lot of punches from many different angles while continually moving. Wright is a great technician, but he has never fought anybody with a style resembling Sam's. How will it pan out? I don't think "Winky" is a dangerous enough puncher to worry Soliman, who will still be throwing punches non-stop in the dying seconds of the last round. Will it be enough to upset the brilliant boxing skill that Wright possesses? Kostya Tszyu says Soliman has a great chance after many sparring sessions together. I have no doubt Sam will be there at the finish, but it is going to be hard to get a decision in Winky's home country. I see a tough, close fight, and whichever way it goes, I desperately hope Soliman ends up with his overdue shot at the title.

As to summerize it for you Manny the long interview earlier. Soliman says he'll beat every middleweight out there....logic and common sense tell you other wise but who ever needed those anyway? quite contrary to sam solimans insight, ronald wright will win the fight

As to summerize it for you Manny the long interview earlier. Soliman says he'll beat every middleweight out there....logic and common sense tell you other wise but who ever needed those anyway?

It would be great for boxing in general. Soliman has a much more dynamic style, is a much more charismatic interviewee, he's just a better bet for boxing all around. I would looove to see "The King" win this Saturday. Yea...I agree. The guy is very charismatic and has an exciting style and recently been getting some knockouts. I'm definitely rooting for Soliman.

how many losses does this guy have? oh wait, isnt it 7 losses? and whats this guys biggest win? over raymond joval? the same guy who couldnt even beat fernando vargas? in 38 fights, this guy has how many knockouts? 12? have you noticed there are more questions about this guy than quality opponents he beat? Have you noticed that He has been fighting all over the world because no one will give him a shot, thus He can be prone to BAD hometown decisions. Calderon, Spinks, Soliman have bad KO ratios. This doesn't make them bad fighters. Look at the bigger picture. Quit looking through those rose coloured glasses. It doesn't get you ANYWHERE.

how many losses does this guy have? oh wait, isnt it 7 losses? and whats this guys biggest win? over raymond joval? the same guy who couldnt even beat fernando vargas? in 38 fights, this guy has how many knockouts? 12? have you noticed there are more questions about this guy than quality opponents he beat?

This guy is an idiot, I can't wait to see Winky destroy him.

you have little to zero boxing knowledge you predicted pem to ko lacy, and muassa to ko hatton the list of your foolish predictions goes on hes just going for the underdog so he can say he told everyone.

Just so we're clear, Mosley got his ass whooped 9 rounds to 3 in the second fight if you give Mosley the close ones.