Pavlik - Wright ? (at 160)

Wisdom once again from UGTBK!

I have to hand it to you..we always "e-fight"...but I have to say you do know the game.

 

it's a shame this fight wasn't made instead of Hopkins

Wright would have had a very good chance to win, and even have been the underdog

i still want to see it happen :bears: Winky's age would make it interesting

 

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the same can be said of the much greater overrating of kelly pavlik

 

I think I'd still pick Pavlik. Winky hasnt fought in god knows how long, and has been in decline for years. Plus... Winky is no Hopkins.

I think the Wright that beat Tito would beat Pavlik, but right now my money would be on Kelly.

 

You guys are crazy. Have you seen Winky fight in the past few years? He plods forward and is a stationary target. He is NOT elusive what so ever and his handspeed is just about as slow as Pavliks. Winky pressures, he doesn't box anymore. He's a volume puncher with a high guard. He eats more shots now than he ever has in his career. You need to watch some Winky fights my friend.

I've been a Winky fan since the Vargas fight, and I'm telling you he doesn't beat Kelly Pavlik. I'll sig bet you if this fight ever comes off without hesitation.

 

wright looked really fat in his last fight at 170 and he himself admitted that he's not going to look sharp in his first comeback fight whenever that may be.

if he opts to fight pavlik (if it ever gets offered) without a tune up, he would definitely lose.

 

you call Winky overrated but Pavlik isn't?

Winky has never been dominated for 12 rounds like Pavlik was against a 44 year old Hopkins.

hell Winky fought Hopkins to a close decision recently.

Pavlik is supposed to be this monster that destroys everyone he touches and was outclassed by an old man. It wasn't just the style he was outclassed.

I still think Winky is a tough fight for Pavlik which is why Arum refused to make this since last year.

 

You seriously don't think it has anything to do with how much Winky wants for the fight? Being a long time Winky fan, I can tell you he has a history of being hard to negotiate with and always wants at least parity.

 

arum never liked wright and knew better not to put oscar in there against him when wright was challenging him back in 2003. actually, come to think of it, when was the last time wright fought one of arum's fighters?

 

Maybe not since they split...which was brought on by the failed Mosley negotiations - with him turning down the offer - if I remember correctly.

 

when was wright ever promoted by arum?

 

actually, i do recall wright being managed by james prince prior to fighting under roy jones' square ring promotions on roy's undercards.

who was promoting him when he came back from europe and when he fought on that shitty KO nation series? i know that he was with gary shaw for a few years.

 

I thought he was briefly promoted by Arum and that he negotiated a fight with Mosley, for something like $1.3 million. Wright turned it down. Arum let him go to Square Ring.

I don't know, it was years ago.

Jake probably has a better recollection and may be able to correct me if I'm wrong.

 

he may have been. i'm not sure either. i do know that he was managed by james prince, who was also managing floyd at the time.

 

He was only with Gary for three fights. It seemed like longer because of the two Shane fights, but Shane was actually the GSP fighter in those bouts. The first Shane fight was Wink's last w/ Square Ring; he was a free agent for the rematch although by that point you might as well have called him a Shaw fighter.

He was with Acri for the two KO NAtion fights, then went to Top Rank. I think he only had one fight w/ them - the one where he won the belt on ESPN2 (forget who he beat, though).

They overpaid for that, believing they'd make up the difference for a fight w/ Shane, but as Mitchell said, Wink balked at the offer (though I don't remember it being as high as $1.3 million, or even seven figures), prompting Top Rank to give him up to any promoter willing to take him on... at which point Roy grabbed him for five or so fights.

And the history of Wink in the 21st Century is now complete.

 

I thought it was over $1 million, but I'm not sure if it was as high as $1.3 or not.

I remember reading about some of the specifics of the Winky/Top Rank/Square Ring situation in the St. Pete Times, which I believe is where I'm recalling that number from.

 

i guess he was w/ top rank when he fought robert frazier. i know that wright was w/ shaw for the sam soliman fight because i was there and i think he was w/ him for the jermain taylor fight as well.

in a lot of ways, the way his career was handled was similar to that of hopkins except he had some exposure in europe and didn't get any fame until late in his career.

 

Yeah he was with Shaw for Trinidad, Soliman and Taylor. Though with Soliman, he had already started Winky Promotions, with every intention of kicking Shaw out of the bus even before that fight. He tried to do it once the Taylor was signed, but HBO said they wouldn't proceed with the purse offers for that fight w/o Shaw involved, since he - and not Winky himself - was the one with whom they negotiated.

You are correct on Frazier, that's who I was thinking of but couldnt remember his name. but that was the fight for Tito's old title on ESPN2 that I mentioned.

 

You might be right. I think he made $850,000 or so for the first Shane fight in March '04 and I thought I remember on a pre-fight conference call, his saying that he turned down a similar amount for their proposed fight in Jan '02, because he believed that since Shane was fighting for his title and for the prestige of winning belts in three weight classes, that a greater reward should've been offered.

When asked why he'd then accept a similar amount two years and four more wins later, he justified it by pointing out that Shane had two belts, they were both fighting for the undisputed title, and that Shane had the greater drawing power of the two.

 

So Jake, who would you pick between Pavlik and Wright if they fought right now.

 

As in, who would I root for? Or who I'd honestly believe would win?

 

i doubt this fight will happen anytime soon, but i'd rather see wright in a tune-up before taking on pavlik.

 

agREED, on both accounts.

I'd have a hard time picking Wright if he fought Pavlik coming off of a two-year layoff, which would be the case even if he had next after Pavlik-Rubio.

But supposedly he's fighting in the first quarter of 2009 - perhaps HBO "forces" Wright-Abraham, which would fit Top Rank's goal of not having Kelly face both of them.

 

Who you honestly believe would win.

I'm as big a wright fan as anyone, and this version of Winky just doesn't have what it takes IMO. He's too stationary and he's just eating too many punches lately. Even in the Soliman fight, which was quite a while ago Winky ate way too many shots. His defense isn't what it used to be. He's walking guys down forcing the action which is leaving him wide open. Winky sure as hell isn't going to back Pavlik up, and he doesn't have the pop to keep Pavlik off him. I just think it's a harrible match up fro Winky at this stage in his career.

 

Oh ok. I'd pick Pavlik, liking his chances more if Wink fights him cold than with the benefit of a tune-up, but still taking Kelly.

I wouldn't root either way, though. I still like both fighters, and wouldn't want to choose between them. But I agree with you, unless Wink can find a way to turn back the clock, it's not thje greatest of styles matchups (though I do think it'd be a very entertaining fight)