The World According to Wright

After an almost two year hiatus, Winky Wright finally returns to the ring in April when he will face Paul Williams at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

Ronald 'Winky' Wright just turned 37 years old, hasn't won a fight in over two years, is returning from a sound thrashing at the hands of Bernard Hopkins and is now sporting braces on his teeth.

While a lot has changed with Wright there is still one thing that hasn't - he's still singing the same old song about being the most avoided man in the sport of boxing.

Wright is preparing to face Paul Williams on April 11th in Las Vegas in a fight being televised by HBO and he is eager to get back in the mix at 160 pounds. Looking very fit and very trim the slimmed down Wright, who has an affinity for Krispy Kreme donuts, says April 11th can't come soon enough.

"I've been training and I'm hungry to get back in the ring," says Wright. "I've been away too long and it's time to come back so the fans can see why I think I'm the best fighter there is. Even though I've been away for almost two years I just want to get back and get one of these guys and destroy them."

Wright says he's been using the last few months wisely and when his Dec. 4th fight against Michi Munoz fell through because of an injury to his left hand, Wright said he didn't stray too far away from the gym. And it's a good thing because he's facing a difficult opponent in long, tall southpaw Paul Williams who is ranked by some as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world.

"I've been training seriously, and I have to, because Paul Williams is young and tall and awkward," explains Wright. "I have to make sure I'm prepared for him and I will be prepared for him so I can go out there and do what I gotta' do."


Wright has been a prizefighter for nearly two decades and has fought all over the world. In all that time, only Bernard Hopkins has beaten him decisively.

To hear Wright tell it, he says a large part of why he has been out of the ring for the past couple of years is because he is still being avoided by the top fighters. Many criticize Wright for pricing himself out of fights - but he says that's not the case at all.

"Look man, it's not me," he says. "They all keep avoiding me! The other fighters are scared to fight! Seriously! I've been trying to fight all the best fighters for so long. There's a half a dozen top guys out there that we approached to fight and we were going to pay them good money to fight me - but they wouldn't take the fight. None of these fighters want to fight me. I'm telling you man, it ain't my fault - it's their fault."

According to Wright - the boxing world is all wrong. And in his view, he believes that once he beats Paul Williams that it will only get worse for him from an opponent standpoint.

"Man, once I beat Williams, there definitely ain't none of them that will want to fight me."


February 2009