Tweet
Originally posted by -Kev-
View Post
After Wright had knocked out Santana for his 16th victory, Birmingham knew he had an undefeated slick 5-10 l/2-foot tall southpaw that was flying under every major promoter's radar screen. He called Don King. He called Bob Arum. He called Lou Duva. He called every major player he could think of. He called all of them twice, some of them three and four times. Nobody called him back. Then he got lucky.
He called Art Mayorga, who had trained him as an amateur back in Ohio. Mayorga said he knew some people in France and would he and Wink consider talking with them. A few weeks later, Wright and Birmingham were on a plane to France to meet with the Arcaries brothers. A deal was struck; for his European debut, Wright would exchange the warm climate of Florida for the cold wintery season of Luxembourg.
The first trip was a bitterly frigid nightmare. Birmingham and Wright flew to France, then rode a hard-benched train for six hours to Luxembourg. From there, it was another hour by car through the mountains in a snow storm to reach their lodgings in Differdange. Their rooms were inexpensive and Spartan. That's where they spent Christmas and New Year's Eve. A few days before the Lattimore fight, Wright came down with the flu.
The late Arye Fain, who had signed on as Wright's agent, suggested a remembered remedy of honey and onions.
"You take a whole cup of honey and a whole onion and you leave the onion in the honey for a whole day," said Birmingham. "An hour before the fight you remove the onion and drink all of the honey. I'll tell you, it really works. It only lasts for an hour or an hour and a half, but while it is working, it dries up and makes you feel great."
Wright dropped Lattimore three times, stopped him in the first round. It was better than onions and honey.
Still fighting six- and eight-rounders, Wright went on a tear, ripping off eight straight victories in places like Levallois, France; Philipshalle, Dusseldorf, Germany; and a sporting club in Monte Carlo; with a brief stop (KO 1) in Punta Gorda, Florida. He was undefeated in 25 fights; his highest purse had been $5,000. There still were no calls from King, Arum or Duva.
Looking back, Wright has to laugh. "I was fighting in places I had never heard of; that I could not even pronounce."
Then the Acaries brothers offered him $50,000 to fight WBA super welterweight champion Julio Cesar Vasquez on Aug. 21, 1994, in another place Wright could not pronounce, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, France. The undefeated Wright had yet to fight a main event, had not gone more than eight rounds, and that far only twice. He had never even been in a scheduled 10-rounder. Vasquez was 50-1 and had fought just five less championship rounds (74) than Wright had fought in his whole career.
"Where do we sign?" asked Wright.
"In France they do not have screens for the windows," said Birmingham. "It was hot and the mosquitoes feasted on Winky. The food was bad; the training facility was terrible. I kept wondering what else could go wrong."
Vasquez knocked Winky down in the second, seventh, ninth and twice in the last round, or so claimed Enzo Montero, one of the WBA's more-favored referees.
"The first three were slips," said Birmingham. "Winky was wearing new shoes and he was slipping all over the place."
"The first knockdown in the last round was legitimate," said Wright. "He caught me good. The last knockdown was a push; I was so tired my daughter could have pushed me down."
Despite the controversial knockdowns, Vasquez won by just three points on one card (Marcial Vargas 113-110), by four on one (Ove Ovesen 114-110) and by five on the third (Marcos A Torres 115-110).
Undaunted, Wright went back into some of boxing's more unheralded trenches: Tucuman, Argentina; Beziers, France; thrice to Levallois, France; St. Jean de Luz, France; Le Cannet, France. with brief appearances in the States in Inglewood and Norfolk. All were victories, raising his record to 34-1.
His 35th fight, against Andrew Council in Norfolk in March of 1996, was on the USA Network's "Tuesday Night Fights" series. Six months earlier, Council had gained prominence with a decisive victory over former WBC welterweight champion Buddy McGirt. That was McGirt, this was Wright; Council (25-3-3) had no chance; Wright barely broke a sweat as he swept all three cards 118-109, 116-111, 116-112 in his second defense of the NABF super welterweight title. (His first two North American Boxing Federation championship happened in France. He took the title from Tony Marshall in February of 1995 in Beziers, and defended it against Anthony Ivory three months later in Levallois, a mere three metro stops from Paris.)
He called Art Mayorga, who had trained him as an amateur back in Ohio. Mayorga said he knew some people in France and would he and Wink consider talking with them. A few weeks later, Wright and Birmingham were on a plane to France to meet with the Arcaries brothers. A deal was struck; for his European debut, Wright would exchange the warm climate of Florida for the cold wintery season of Luxembourg.
The first trip was a bitterly frigid nightmare. Birmingham and Wright flew to France, then rode a hard-benched train for six hours to Luxembourg. From there, it was another hour by car through the mountains in a snow storm to reach their lodgings in Differdange. Their rooms were inexpensive and Spartan. That's where they spent Christmas and New Year's Eve. A few days before the Lattimore fight, Wright came down with the flu.
The late Arye Fain, who had signed on as Wright's agent, suggested a remembered remedy of honey and onions.
"You take a whole cup of honey and a whole onion and you leave the onion in the honey for a whole day," said Birmingham. "An hour before the fight you remove the onion and drink all of the honey. I'll tell you, it really works. It only lasts for an hour or an hour and a half, but while it is working, it dries up and makes you feel great."
Wright dropped Lattimore three times, stopped him in the first round. It was better than onions and honey.
Still fighting six- and eight-rounders, Wright went on a tear, ripping off eight straight victories in places like Levallois, France; Philipshalle, Dusseldorf, Germany; and a sporting club in Monte Carlo; with a brief stop (KO 1) in Punta Gorda, Florida. He was undefeated in 25 fights; his highest purse had been $5,000. There still were no calls from King, Arum or Duva.
Looking back, Wright has to laugh. "I was fighting in places I had never heard of; that I could not even pronounce."
Then the Acaries brothers offered him $50,000 to fight WBA super welterweight champion Julio Cesar Vasquez on Aug. 21, 1994, in another place Wright could not pronounce, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, France. The undefeated Wright had yet to fight a main event, had not gone more than eight rounds, and that far only twice. He had never even been in a scheduled 10-rounder. Vasquez was 50-1 and had fought just five less championship rounds (74) than Wright had fought in his whole career.
"Where do we sign?" asked Wright.
"In France they do not have screens for the windows," said Birmingham. "It was hot and the mosquitoes feasted on Winky. The food was bad; the training facility was terrible. I kept wondering what else could go wrong."
Vasquez knocked Winky down in the second, seventh, ninth and twice in the last round, or so claimed Enzo Montero, one of the WBA's more-favored referees.
"The first three were slips," said Birmingham. "Winky was wearing new shoes and he was slipping all over the place."
"The first knockdown in the last round was legitimate," said Wright. "He caught me good. The last knockdown was a push; I was so tired my daughter could have pushed me down."
Despite the controversial knockdowns, Vasquez won by just three points on one card (Marcial Vargas 113-110), by four on one (Ove Ovesen 114-110) and by five on the third (Marcos A Torres 115-110).
Undaunted, Wright went back into some of boxing's more unheralded trenches: Tucuman, Argentina; Beziers, France; thrice to Levallois, France; St. Jean de Luz, France; Le Cannet, France. with brief appearances in the States in Inglewood and Norfolk. All were victories, raising his record to 34-1.
His 35th fight, against Andrew Council in Norfolk in March of 1996, was on the USA Network's "Tuesday Night Fights" series. Six months earlier, Council had gained prominence with a decisive victory over former WBC welterweight champion Buddy McGirt. That was McGirt, this was Wright; Council (25-3-3) had no chance; Wright barely broke a sweat as he swept all three cards 118-109, 116-111, 116-112 in his second defense of the NABF super welterweight title. (His first two North American Boxing Federation championship happened in France. He took the title from Tony Marshall in February of 1995 in Beziers, and defended it against Anthony Ivory three months later in Levallois, a mere three metro stops from Paris.)
Comment