SHANE, WINKY IN HISTORIC TITLE BOUT IN VEGAS

Sugar Shane Mosley and Winky Wright are world champions who view each other with deep respect and that’s reason enough to expect a barnburner when they vie Saturday to crown the WBO’s first undisputed junior middleweight ruler in 29 years at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Nevada oddsmakers have Mosley, the WBC/WBA
154-pound champion, as a minus $3.00 favorite but Wright, the IBF incumbent, is getting a two-for-one deal as a plus $2.50 underdog in this 12-round showdown which HBO pay-per-view TV presents at 9:30 p.m. ET.

In a sense, this is ring history backing up since Mosley, making his first start since his repeat win over Oscar De La Hoya, was considering a spring bout against then WBC/WBA welter kingpin Ricardo Mayorga but that idea went down the tubes when IBF boss Cory Spinks scored an upset Dec.13 to become the complete 147-pound champion.

Wright, long overdue, got the break of his career when Mosley, still determined to fight in March, tabbed him to complete the unique unification that is not a gimme for anybody.

Mosley, with his 39-2.,1NC, 35 KOs resume, isn’t looking past Wright from any aspect, and was particularly irritated when promoter Don King talked in New York about the Pomona, Ca., power puncher facing comebacking Felix “Tito” Trinidad this summer providing he disposed of the ambitious Wright.

Mosley wisely told his management team to cool all the hype on negotiations about fighting Trinidad, who had announced he was ending his two-year retirement.

“Winky Wright is the only thing on my mind and I don’t want the public to get an idea I might be looking past him. No way. After getting in with Winky, I’ll definitely be fighting Trinidad. But for that to happen, I have to take care of this business at the Mandalay Bay,” the two-time world champion advised.

Wright, out of St. Petersburg, Fla., with 46-3,25 KOs credentials, wasn’t ruffled when he heard about King’s deal with Trinidad.

“Mosley is too smart a fighter and he knows I’ve been waiting a long time for this chance. However, I think it would be a bad call if he were looking past me. Anyway, I don’t see how Shane Mosley beats me. Sure, he’s a great fighter and quick, but I really don’t see what he can do to beat me,” said Wright, who first won the WBO 154-pound title from Bronco McKart in 1996.

“’I’ve looked at this fight every way you can, and i can’t figure out how I can lose. He’s a big marquee name because he got a couple of breaks I didn’t get. Those kind of fights with De La Hoya puts you out there with the public. I’m going to change all that Saturday.”

Few American-born boxers have covered more mileage overseas to enhance his career than the 32-year-old southpaw, many friends once thinking he was managed by a travel agency.

Three years after turning pro in 1990, Wright’s visa read like on-going tourist with only one of 23 fights in
America from 1993-98.

“I guess you can say I played the hand dealt me. I
fought in countries like South Africa, Germany, France, Luxembourg, Argentina, England, and Monaco. Last fight before coming home was August,1998 when I risked my WBO junior middleweight title against local Harry Simon in Hammanskaal, South Africa. The fight was called a draw but there was an error in the scoring. The judges rechecked the tabs and Simon won on a majority decision. I didn’t think the atmosphere down there would bother me but it did. The altitude bothered me in the middle rounds of the fight but I thought I won.”

Mosley and Wright agree it’s a special moment in
boxing that they fight to create an rare undisputed champion.

“There should be more divisions doing this. I know what it is like to be in Winky’s shoes and wanting to be the No.1 guy. I also want to be the best and that’s why I always wanted to fight the best. I want to give my very best in every fight I have. If I’m not the best, I don’t want to be champion. I know I beat De La Hoya fair and square,” said Mosley who made a sensational come- back after those double title losses to Vernon
Forrest in 2002.

“I didn’t have to fight Winky now and could have waited for Trinidad to come back but Wright is a fighter who has paid his dues and deserves this opportunity, which will give him a chance to become even bigger in boxing. Winning that third belt would be good, but I don’t know how long I would keep them, having to fight those mandatory challengers. Before stepping down, I’d like to fight Trinidad, Bernard Hopkins, and De La Hoya if he doesn’t retire.”

There is nothing Mosley takes for granted about Wright, giving what might be a left-handed compliment in saying Winky sometimes fights to the level of his competition. The perfect illustration was Nov.8 in the IBF champion’s last start at Mandalay Bay where he won a unanimous but non-spectacular 12-round decision over Angel Hernandez.

Mosley and promoter Gary Show were on the same page that Wright “was simply bored by his recent competition.”

Winky doesn’t deny that insinuation. “That won’t happen with Shane but a quality fighter needs to be facing a fighter who will make him reach down deep for that extra effort that is so important. You need to be fighting great fighters to take that extra step. People criticized my fight with Hernandez and a year ago March against J.C. Candelo. They weren’t exciting but that was because of the opponents I was given.”

Mosley, with all the respect he has for the other champion, feels Wright is in for a surprise.

“Winky being a southpaw isn’t an issue, but I feel I am faster and a much harder puncher, the latter should surprise him. I don’t think he is as strong or hard to beat as Oscar. And remember I beat De La Hoya twice.”

Wright, on the eve of the super fight he often thought
would never happen, is confident without doing an ego act.

“I know De La Hoya and Trinidad really didn’t want to fight me and that’s all right when you look where I am now. I know I can punch with anybody. I may not knock everybody out, but that’s just a matter of timing with your punches,” said Wright.

“I felt Shane looked good against De La Hoya and that makes our fight even more exciting. Mosley is a good guy, we are friends and I have nothing against him. But he can’t hurt me. He has shown power at 140 or 147, but he hasn’t been knocking anybody out at 154. He’s only fought twice in that class. This will be Winky Wright’s coming out party.”

Prediction:....Winky’s road game is working inside
with body shots but if that becomes a problem, Shane the swift should begin to dominate in the later rounds for a hard-earned decision.

(Jack Welsh is a syndicated columnist headquartered in Las Vegas and a regular contributor to Ringsports.com and other sports publications).