Trinidad, Wright meet in middleweight clash

LAS VEGAS -- Felix Trinidad doesn't see much difference between the fighter he was before he retired and the fighter he is today.

Trinidad's rabid fans didn't either when they watched their hero knock out Ricardo Mayorga last October in his first fight back after nearly 2 1/2 years out of the ring.

"I'm the same fighter I was before," Trinidad said. "I didn't retire to rest."

Trinidad didn't come back to take on patsies, either.

After stopping former welterweight champion Mayorga in his first fight, Trinidad is being asked to do something quite different tonight when he'll be forced to match wits and skills with slick southpaw Winky Wright.

Any other fighter in Trinidad's position might view it as a risky fight, one that could derail his goal of avenging his only defeat with a rematch against Bernard Hopkins.

But Trinidad is hardly any other fighter.

"Winky challenged me, and I accept every challenge," Trinidad said. "Winky is one of the few fighters out there who really wants to fight me."

Wright gets that chance when the two meet at the MGM Grand hotel-casino in a middleweight showdown that promises to be a classic matchup of boxer versus slugger. There's no title at stake, but there's no doubt both Trinidad and Wright are among the best fighters in the world.

Both, though, will have some questions to answer in the scheduled 12-round fight. Wright, after 15 years at 154 pounds, is fighting as a middleweight for the first time while Trinidad needs to show he can deal with a far different kind of opponent than he has seen in recent years.

Both fighters weighed in Friday at the class limit of 160 pounds.

"No matter what he brings to the ring I'm prepared to handle him," said Trinidad, who sparred 260 rounds for the fight. "I'm mentally prepared to win the fight whether by knockout or decision. I know I hit hard with both hands."

Wright, though, said Trinidad's power won't help if he can't land the punches.

"I've never been afraid to be hit by one punch because I see punches to pick them off," Wright said. "I'm not worried about Tito's power. He's got to worry about my jab, my outthinking him."

Both fighters could put themselves in a position to fight Hopkins, who defends his title July 16 against unbeaten Jermain Taylor, by winning what shapes up as a crossroads bout for both.

Wright would like to cash in on his recent success by meeting Hopkins, but for Trinidad it's far more personal.

Hopkins handed Trinidad (42-1, 35 knockouts) his only loss in their September 2001 middleweight unification fight, stopping him in the 12th round of a bruising fight.