Winky turns a blind eye toward stars

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Nov. 6, 2003 | 10:32 a.m.

Winky Wright has spent months -- and seemingly years -- calling out Oscar De La Hoya and Shane Mosley for fights without ever really getting their attention. De La Hoya and Mosley have their own, sometimes intertwined, agendas and a fight with Wright has never been on their radar screen.

Wednesday, Wright said he, too, has found the constant badgering tiresome and that he'll no longer do it.

"I'd love to fight De La Hoya or Mosley but that's the business of boxing," he said at Mandalay Bay, where he'll defend his International Boxing Federation junior middleweight championship Saturday night. "I'm definitely tired of doing and saying things directed toward them. I'm going to stop doing it. They know me and they know where I am if they want to fight."

Taking the high road, Wright will concentrate on his immediate opponent, Angel Hernandez, and leave the campaigning for more lucrative bouts to someone else.

"I'm satisfied," he said of fighting Hernandez, the IBF's sixth-ranked contender at 154 pounds. "I'm here to stay busy and stay sharp and keep my name out there.

"I'd like a knockout but I'm not overlooking him and if it goes 12 rounds, that's OK. He's a good little fighter."

Wright did, however, get one last jab in toward De La Hoya and Mosley, saying "I'm still chasing the pretenders." But he let it go at that.

Wright, 31, is 45-3 with 25 knockouts and has been the IBF champion for two years. Hernandez, 28, is 26-4 with 16 KOs but has had trouble with top competition.

Recent reports have revealed that Marco Antonio Barrera, who is fighting Manny Pacquiao Nov. 15 in San Antonio, had an undisclosed surgery in which a plate was inserted in his head. It took place in 1997 in Mexico and Barrera had an abnormal vein removed and a metal plate was inserted. He has had 15 fights since. Barrera's medical condition will become an issue with the Nevada State Athletic Commission if he chooses to fight here again.