Everything But Poker

Nov. 25 is the day most Americans scramble to prep turkeys and brace themselves for an invasion of in-laws. But even though tomorrow is also his 39th birthday, Winky Wright was hanging out with his son in Florida today peacefully enjoying the day before Thanksgiving and the final week and a half before his fight against Grady Brewer. When we spoke this morning, giggles of his son’s watching cartoons echoed in the background and his lethargic cadence gave the impression that Wright is taking advantage of these last relaxing moments before heading down to Puerto Rico, where he will attempt to take down Brewer, the winner of the second season of “The Contender” reality show, on Dec. 11.

The fight will only be Wright’s second time in the ring since July 2007, and the first since losing to Paul Williams last April. Wright, whose grandmother called him Winky as an infant for obvious reasons, said that the toughest part about stepping back into the ring was getting the timing on his punches back.

“Being off for that long a time and then getting in the ring with Paul, there’s things I wanted to do and that I just couldn’t do,” he said. “You see where and when you want to punch, but when you throw the punch, it’s a second too late. Times that I wanted to throw counterpunches, I would say to myself, ‘Throw it now,’ but I wouldn’t throw it now, I’d throw it a second later. You know, it was just off.”

Much of his frustration he compared to Michael Jordan’s, who retired from basketball for two years in the 1990’s and found that his game was not the same upon his return. If it was Jordan’s jumpshot that fell off during the two-year hiatus, then it’s Wright’s timing that is missing now – a skill that he says won’t come back just from sparring sessions. “That’s all good, but that isn’t going to take the place of fighting,” he said. “So I still got to get back in the ring and fight and let the sharpness come back like that.”

There was never a doubt about returning to the ring after the loss to Williams, either. Because he knew he was physically overmatched in his last fight – Williams had two and a half inches on Wright, plus ten more in reach, or as Wright put it, “It was just a tough night fighting a dude that’s 6-2 with Superman-long arms” – Winky took time to speak during the post-fight press conference for the first time in his career. At that moment, he says he felt good, wasn’t hurt and just wanted to congratulate Williams on the victory. And he knew that was not the last fight of his career.

“I definitely wanted to get back in and fight,” Wright said this morning. “I just couldn’t do what I wanted to do [that night] and my reactions and timing were off. I was just missing. But I had fun in the ring, it was good to get back in there and give the fans something to cheer for. I was sad that I lost, but I’m definitely coming back to set things straight.”

So the living legend, who many believe is a lock for induction into the Hall of Fame, will attempt to do so next month at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan, a site that Wright and long-time friend Felix ”Tito” Trinidad decided would be the best for this match because of the island’s appreciation for boxing and Wright’s desire to stay away from Las Vegas, the site of his last two losses. His opponent this time will be more evenly matched in the tale of the tape, but Wright feels the similarities end there.

“I think we’re pretty much the same size,” he said. “But I think I’m faster, I know I’m stronger and I know I’m a better fighter. I just don’t think he can beat me.” The motivation for each fighter is the only remaining question: “I think it’s going to be exciting because I’m coming off a loss and he wants to make his big name and I’m here to stop him. I’m here to show him that that loss [to Williams] was a fluke and I’m coming back to take over the game.”

Wright has been in this sport a long time, and the dominating defeat that Williams handed him clearly incited a desire to reestablish himself as one of the top middleweight fighters ever. Whether he still has some post-retirement rust to shake off remains to be seen, but as he said, the only way to get back in top form is to step into the ring and take on a real contender. Grady “Bad Boy” Brewer is exactly that.