By Jake Donovan

Former lineal 154 lb. king Winky Wright ended a hiatus of more than three years in returning to the ring Saturday night to face unbeaten Peter Quillin at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

What hasn’t changed is the date of his last win, which came all the way back in Dec. ’06 when the potential future Hall-of-Famer outpointed Ike Quartey. Wright has dropped three straight since then, losing decisions to Bernard Hopkins, Paul Williams and now against Quillin after falling way short in their Showtime-televised co-feature.

The loss to Quillin was far more disheartening than any other for Wright, who saw a rare trip to the canvas after getting drilled by a right hand midway through the fifth round. The 40-year old southpaw was able to recover, but at no point was a threat to turn things around against the unbeaten middleweight contender.

It was an eye-opening defeat, as Wright realized his glory days are long behind him and that it’s an uphill battle to enjoy any success in his latest comeback. The once-stubbornly proud fighter recognizes that inactivity and middle-age are not an ideal combination for a successful boxing future.

“Definitely rust and a little bit of father time,” Wright admitted after falling well short against Quillin. “He did better than I thought. I wasn’t ever hurt at all. He caught me one time with a flash knockdown but I got right back up.”

Prior to the fight, the hypothetical question was raised of how Wright would fare against Quillin had he been able to step into the wayback machine and resurface as a version closer to the era where he roamed the pound-for-pound ranks. To his credit, Wright admitted that all he can do is play the hand that he’s dealt.

“We live in the moment,” Wright acknowledged. “[Quillin] fought a good fight. It was tough for me to get my punches off the way he was leaning and he came back with these wild punches. I can't take nothing away from him. He fought a good fight.”

The obvious question now is whether or not Wright has any more good fights left in his 40-year old body. The iron-chinned Wright was dropped for the first time in nearly two decades and weight-wise could be a man without a country. Saturday’s fight took place at 160, which Wright believes its participants could be a bit out his element.

“We'll see,” Wright said of whether or not he’d consider retirement as a viable option. “He was a little too big for me; I wanted to fight at 154. I fought a good fight fight. I think he won.”

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter: @JakeNDaBox or submit questions/comments via e-mail.