Rhetoric gets more intense

Thursday, May 12, 2005 | 9:28 a.m.

Pay close attention to the expression on Felix Trinidad's boyish face after Round 1 of Saturday night's big middleweight fight, Winky Wright said.

The eyes have it.

"The first round is gonna determine everything," Wright said. "I can't wait to see the look in his eyes when he feels my punches."

"Once you see that look, you know you got him. It's just a matter of time."

Wright (48-3, 25 knockouts) has projected an air of cool confidence in the days leading to Saturday's showdown against Trinidad (42-1, 35 KOs), a three-time world champion, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

"I'd never take anything away from (Trinidad's) skills, but he's overmatched," Wright said. "He's gotta be worried about my jab, about my movement, about me out-thinking him. ...

"If you see me come back smiling (after the first round), you know it's gonna be a great night."

With both men ranked among the best fighters in the sport, pound-for-pound, Trinidad-Wright shapes up as one of the most significant bouts of 2005.

The fighters on the card, which will be available on HBO Pay-Per-View, and promoter Don King met with reporters Wednesday for the final prefight news conference at the MGM.

"I am telling you face to face and I am telling you seriously, you still have time to walk away from this fight," Trinidad said Wednesday, addressing Wright. "I am ready to punish you. I hope your corner will not allow me to hit you a lot. You are going to get out of the ring hurt. I am here to win and nothing else."

Since the bout was announced, it has been played up as a classic matchup between a powerful puncher, Trinidad, and a slick trickster, Wright.

Yet Wright, a 33-year-old southpaw, said as he has matured in the course of his professional career, he has perfected a full range of skills and become a complete fighter.

"My style has changed dramatically -- 360, no 380, 390 degrees," Wright, of St. Petersburg, Fla., said. "Before I was (just) a slick boxer who danced around the whole fight. I've changed and become more comfortable as an inside fighter.

"That's the thing about me -- I'm not one-dimensional. I can go forward, I can go backward, I can dance, I can box, I can punch. I can fight inside or outside; I can hit or not get hit."

Trinidad, 32, known as "Tito" throughout his long and splendid career, has relied on crisp left hooks and straight rights in forging a reputation as perhaps the premier knockout artist of his time.

Wright shrugged aside queries about Trinidad's signature punches.

"I ain't worried about nothin'," Wright said. "I know Tito throws good punches, but I've fought a lot of hard punchers. You've got to get hit by it, and I'm not gonna stand there and let him hit me.

"I'm only concerned about what Winky's gonna do. If I worry about what Tito's gonna do, then I already lost."

Trinidad, who stopped Ricardo Mayorga last October in his return to boxing after a 29-month "temporary retirement," said he has prepared in training camp for Wright's unorthodox style, his sharp jab and his quick movement.

In his two previous biggest fights against southpaws, Trinidad won unanimous decisions against Pernell Whitaker in 1999 and Hector Camacho in 1994.

"I know how to beat southpaws," said Trinidad, a national hero in his native Puerto Rico. "I already beat six southpaws. I will have no problem with Winky."

Dan Birmingham, who has trained Wright since he began boxing as a teenager, said he studied tapes of Trinidad's lone defeat, to Bernard Hopkins in 2001, and his victory against Oscar De La Hoya in 1999 to develop a strategy to take out Tito.

"Winky always -- always -- rises to the level of his competition," Birmingham said.

No championship belt is at stake Saturday, though a fight against Hopkins, the longtime middleweight king, could loom for the winner. Wright is stepping up to 160 pounds after establishing dominance at 154 with two victories against "Sugar" Shane Mosley last year.

Trinidad's contract with King calls for him to make $10 million for Saturday's fight, Trinidad said. Neither Wright nor members of his camp would reveal his payday, but it's believed to be less than half of Trinidad's take.

A victory by Wright would trigger a rematch clause in the fight contract, likely for bigger money for Wright.

"The only worry I have is that a loss will send Tito back into retirement," Wright said. "Please Tito, after the loss, una mas (one more)."

Wright took a long and winding road to the top, fighting in out-of-the-way venues in France, Germany, Luxembourg and Argentina early in his career to make a name for himself.

Wright surveyed the scene this week -- TV cameras, microphones, posh digs on the Strip and all the trappings of a major Las Vegas fight -- and he liked what he saw.

"This is exactly what I want, right here," he said. "I've been ready for this for 10 years. ...

"Good things come to those who wait."

In Saturday's featured undercard bout, world welterweight champion Zab Judah (33-2, 24 KOs) puts his title on the line against IBF mandatory challenger Cosme Rivera (28-7-2, 20 KOs).

It's Judah's first fight at the MGM since his 2001 loss to Kostya Tszyu, when Judah accosted referee Jay Nady at the end of the fight. Judah was fined and suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

"I want to apologize for my behavior in the Kostya Tszyu fight," Judah said Wednesday. "I've apologized many times, and I want to show I'm a great fighter and a gentleman."