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Taylor, Wright ready to fight
08/06/2006 09:20 - (SA)
Little Rock - Jermain Taylor and Winky Wright have adopted a respectful tone heading into their WBC middleweight title fight - and Taylor seems to prefer it that way.
"I go in the ring, I do what I do," said Taylor, a Little Rock native. "I'm not a big trash talker. I'm not going to embarrass my state by going in there talking about I want to kill somebody, hurt somebody. That ain't something that I do."
Taylor and Wright participated separately in a conference call on Wednesday, less than two weeks before their June 17 fight in Memphis, Tennessee.
Taylor beat Bernard Hopkins in a split decision last July to win the middleweight championship, then beat him again in December in a unanimous decision.
Before the rematch, Hopkins insisted Taylor hadn't deserved the first fight. Taylor responded by saying he was tired of Hopkins' complaining - and on and on it went.
There's been little verbal sparring this time around. Taylor expects an entertaining bout against Wright.
"He comes to fight," the 27-year-old Taylor said. "Hopkins, he comes to maul you, brawl you. He tries to do everything just to get you out of the game plan. I think Winky Wright, he comes to all-out box. He don't got time to be running and holding - all that. He's a fighter. I'm just looking forward to the fight."
Taylor did say Wright is "crazy" if he thinks he can outjab him. Wright, from Florida, dismissed the comment.
"I think they are underestimating my skills or they're trying to play psychological games," Wright said. "They think that because they're saying that, that's going to make me not throw my jab, which is not so. If he feels his jab is better than mine, we'll see June 17."
That was about as contentious as it got, even though the two camps went through a difficult negotiation to make the fight a reality. After his second win over Hopkins, the WBC ordered Taylor (25-0) to fight Wright (50-3). But it wasn't until February that the two camps announced when the fight would take place.
Taylor moved his training camp from Miami to Detroit and began working with widely respected trainer Emanuel Steward - an indication of just how seriously his camp is taking this next challenge.
Wright, a 34-year-old left-hander, has an impressive record of victories against top-level fighters, including Shane Mosely and Felix Trinidad. He beat Sam Soliman in December.
- AP
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