WRIGHT PATH LEADS TO QUARTEY.

Byline: ROBERT MORALES BOXING

As far as Winky Wright has come in his career the past 2 1/2 years, or since he beat ``Sugar'' Shane Mosley the first time in March 2004, he would be taking several giant steps backward should he lose to comebacking Ike Quartey tonight.

Wright, one of the top three pound-for-pound fighters in the world, and Quartey will tangle in the middleweight main event at St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla. HBO will televise.

Prior to to beating Mosley in consecutive junior middleweight championship fights, Wright had a 9-3 record in title fights but he was still not a well-known commodity.

The victories over Mosley followed by a dominant victory over Felix Trinidad Jr. thrust Wright into the limelight, where he deserved to be a long time ago.

Even a draw in his last fight against Jermain Taylor last June for the middleweight championship did nothing to slow down Wright's charge to the upper half of every respected pound-for-pound poll. More experts thought Wright won that fight than those who did not.

But while he awaits his next megafight -- perhaps against Oscar De La Hoya, perhaps a rematch with Taylor -- Wright must fight. And since the southpaw, who is a defensive genius, has difficulty getting other superstars to fight him, he had to settle for Quartey, a former welterweight champion.

Quartey (37-3-1, 31 KOs) once was an outstanding fighter. And he's not too shabby now. However, he is 37. He also took nearly fiveyears off after losing to Fernando Vargas in April 2000 in a battle for the International Boxing Federation junior middleweight belt.

Quartey, of Ghana, began his comeback in January 2005. He beat Clint McNeil, Verno Phillips and Carlos Bojorquez before losing a controversial decision to former welterweight champion Vernon Forrest last August at Madison Square Garden. McNeil and Bojorquez have never been more than club fighters. Phillips and Forrest are former champions, but they have seen their best days.

Then again, Wright (50-3-1, 25KOs) has never been stupid. He is taking Quartey, whose moniker is ``Bazooka'' because of his tremendous jab, seriously.

``It is hard to get up for a fight like this because you're used to fighting Jermain Taylor, Felix Trinidad, people that are at the top of their game and the people who are pound-for-pound some of the best fighters out there,'' Wright said during a recent workout in Las Vegas. ``So, I'm just going to stay focused. I got Dan (Birmingham) staying in my head constantly about training hard, doing this, doing that. There is no such thing as an easy fight.''

Birmingham, one of the best in boxing, is Wright's trainer. He is tough on his fighters and it is doubtful he will have Wright in anything other than prime condition -- mentally and physically.

If you ask him, Quartey is still a force to be reckoned with.

``I think he has a lot left,'' Birmingham said. ``He showed that in the Vernon Forrest fight.''

As for Wright's future, both De La Hoya -- who recently changed his mind about retiring and said he will continue fighting after he takes on Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 5 -- and a rematch with Taylor are possibilities. However, Wright, of St. Petersburg, Fla., said that the only fighter he would agree to fight for less than a 50-50 split is De La Hoya.

If that's the case, we may never see Taylor-Wright II. Taylor, of Little Rock, Ark., will defend his two middleweight belts against Kassim Ouma next Saturday in North Little Rock. During a conference call Thursday, Taylor said he will never agree to a 50-50 split with Wright.

Taylor's promoter, Lou DiBella, was blunt about it.

``If he wants to come to the table, his people know my number,'' DiBella said of Wright. ``If he wants the fight, the fight was always there. He turned down $5 million (for a rematch). If they call and want to make a deal on terms that are favorable to the middleweight champion, then there is something to talk about. Otherwise, we are past him. ... Then good-bye, Winky.

``When he starts selling tickets in his hometown and demands public attention, then he can start demanding 50-50. When he wins the middleweight title, he can start talking about 50-50. It's wonderul to say you want to fight, and then you price yourself out of it.'' Countrymen Cotto, Quintana to meet Felix Trinidad Jr. for years was the pride of Puerto Rico. But he is now retired, and Miguel Cotto has taken advantage and gone about making himself the love of that land.

He won the World Boxing Organization junior welterweight belt in September 2004 with a sixth-round technical knockout of Kelson Pinto and made six successful defenses, five by knockout.

Shades of Trinidad, indeed.

Cotto, 26, makes a move up in weight tonight when he squares off with countryman Carlos Quintana for the vacant World Boxing Association welterweight title. Showtime will televise it, and Antonio Margarito's defense of his WBO welterweight belt against Joshua Clottey.

All four will get it on at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.

Although Quintana, at 30, is four years older than Cotto, he is the new kid on the block as far as Puerto Rican fans are concerned. And he knows it.

``Everybody has their own legacy and their own trail to walk,'' Quintana said. ``There is no question that Cotto has his own path in Puerto Rico and he was probably the No. 1 boxer for a long time.

``But now I am in his way and if I win this fight, then I will have to walk my own path and stand my own way in Puerto Rico.''

With the fight only 100 miles from New York City, which has a large Puerto Rican population, there figures to be a sizeable contingent of fans on hand who share Cotto's and Quintana's nationality. The question is, how big a share of the support will each receive?

Sure, Cotto is the star, but from a regional standpoint, Quintana is bound to have his rooters. Cotto is from Caguas, Quintana from Moca.

``People are used to seeing me fight and seeing me in great fights,'' Cotto said. ``They will always get a great fight from me. I expect the crowd to be interested, no matter who they are rooting for.''

Cotto is 27-0 with 22 knockouts. Quintana, a southpaw, is 23-0 with 18knockouts.

In the undercard, Margarito (33-4, 24KOs) of Tijuana will be trying to defend his title for the seventh time against Ghana's Clottey (29-1, 18 KOs).

Margarito was asked if he would use this fight to further showcase his talents in such a way that people will understand exactly why Floyd Mayweather Jr. turned down $8million to fight him.

``I think Floyd has seen enough of me in the ring to know how good I am,'' Margarito said. ``I think I have proven myself more than once in the ring. As always, I am going to try to do the best I can, but I think Floyd does not want to fight me and I am through asking him to fight me.

``I am done with that. I am moving forward. If he ever decides to fight me, fine. If he does not, that is fine with me. I am still proving in the ring who the best guy is.''

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(1 -- 2) Ike Quartey, left, tonight battles Winky Wright, who also has his eyes set on fighting Oscar De La Hoya or a rematch with Jermain Taylor.Photo left: Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images; Photo right: Al Bello/Getty Images

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