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Here's the story from the local paper...
A couple of interesting quotes here...I know he's promoting the fight, but "knock down, drag out war"?!? Also, news of the Hopkins-Trinidad fight getting signed and actually taking place 4 and a half years ago must have been overlooked...oh, and Hopkins-Taylor happened last year...TWICE.
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Taylor to defend belts here
Fight against Wright at Forum nearly done deal
By Gary Parrish
March 2, 2006
Jermain Taylor will defend his middleweight belts against Winky Wright at FedExForum on June 17 barring an unexpected breakdown in negotiations, sources familiar with the situation told The Commercial Appeal late Wednesday.
No contract has been signed, but according to the sources it's only a matter of a few details being handled, and a formal announcement should come by the end of the week. When it does, Prize Fight Boxing will have officially secured a marquee event for Memphis for the fifth straight year, dating to when the Southaven-based company brought Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson to The Pyramid in June 2002.
"It's going to be the biggest middleweight fight since Marvin Hagler-Ray Leonard (in 1987), and the Fight of the Year in 2006," said Prize Fight's Brian Young. "It's going to be a knockdown, drag-out war."
Aware that in boxing anything is possible, both Young and Lou DiBella -- Taylor's promoter and the man whose company, DiBella Entertainment, will promote the event -- stopped short of calling this a done deal Wednesday. But each described Memphis as a "strong front-runner" ahead of Las Vegas, and it's worth noting Young said a portion of the floor seats at FedExForum have already been reserved for what he labeled as "A-list" celebrities who have, through agents, inundated the Prize Fight office with phone calls the past 48 hours.
"It's been crazy," Young said. "It's going to be similar to Lewis-Tyson, and you're talking about a $15 to $20 million economic boom for the city of Memphis, and an untold amount of exposure. It's just going to be huge."
Huge for Memphis.
Huge for Little Rock.
In addition to this city's track record for hosting big-time boxing events, it appears the other determining factor in the decision is Memphis's proximity to Little Rock, Taylor's hometown. Arkansas has embraced its 27 year-old former Olympian, and residents traveled by the thousands to Las Vegas last December to watch Taylor (25-0) defeat future Hall of Famer Bernard Hopkins for the second time in five months while 'calling the Hogs' every round.
Put another way, though Wright (50-3) is regarded as one of the top three boxers in the world regardless of weight class and thus listed as the slight favorite over Taylor, it's doubtful he'll hear any cheers in this fight that is expected to approach a sellout.
"We are," DiBella said, "already getting hounded by our Little Rock people."
A couple of interesting quotes here...I know he's promoting the fight, but "knock down, drag out war"?!? Also, news of the Hopkins-Trinidad fight getting signed and actually taking place 4 and a half years ago must have been overlooked...oh, and Hopkins-Taylor happened last year...TWICE.
________________________________________
Taylor to defend belts here
Fight against Wright at Forum nearly done deal
By Gary Parrish
March 2, 2006
Jermain Taylor will defend his middleweight belts against Winky Wright at FedExForum on June 17 barring an unexpected breakdown in negotiations, sources familiar with the situation told The Commercial Appeal late Wednesday.
No contract has been signed, but according to the sources it's only a matter of a few details being handled, and a formal announcement should come by the end of the week. When it does, Prize Fight Boxing will have officially secured a marquee event for Memphis for the fifth straight year, dating to when the Southaven-based company brought Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson to The Pyramid in June 2002.
"It's going to be the biggest middleweight fight since Marvin Hagler-Ray Leonard (in 1987), and the Fight of the Year in 2006," said Prize Fight's Brian Young. "It's going to be a knockdown, drag-out war."
Aware that in boxing anything is possible, both Young and Lou DiBella -- Taylor's promoter and the man whose company, DiBella Entertainment, will promote the event -- stopped short of calling this a done deal Wednesday. But each described Memphis as a "strong front-runner" ahead of Las Vegas, and it's worth noting Young said a portion of the floor seats at FedExForum have already been reserved for what he labeled as "A-list" celebrities who have, through agents, inundated the Prize Fight office with phone calls the past 48 hours.
"It's been crazy," Young said. "It's going to be similar to Lewis-Tyson, and you're talking about a $15 to $20 million economic boom for the city of Memphis, and an untold amount of exposure. It's just going to be huge."
Huge for Memphis.
Huge for Little Rock.
In addition to this city's track record for hosting big-time boxing events, it appears the other determining factor in the decision is Memphis's proximity to Little Rock, Taylor's hometown. Arkansas has embraced its 27 year-old former Olympian, and residents traveled by the thousands to Las Vegas last December to watch Taylor (25-0) defeat future Hall of Famer Bernard Hopkins for the second time in five months while 'calling the Hogs' every round.
Put another way, though Wright (50-3) is regarded as one of the top three boxers in the world regardless of weight class and thus listed as the slight favorite over Taylor, it's doubtful he'll hear any cheers in this fight that is expected to approach a sellout.
"We are," DiBella said, "already getting hounded by our Little Rock people."
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