Winky Wright Fights Sam Soliman at Mohegan Sun

UNCASVILLE, CT (November 8, 2005) – Mohegan Sun, in association with Gary Shaw Productions, will host a sensational night of boxing action on Saturday, December 10th as the WBC/WBA No. 1 middleweight contender Ronald “Winky” Wright (49-3, 25 KOs) from St. Petersburg, Florida battles #8 contender Sam “The King” Soliman (31-7, 12 KOs) from Melbourne, Australia in a 12-round IBF middleweight title eliminator. The undercard is highlighted by local favorite and undefeated super middleweight contender Chad Dawson (19-0, 13KOs) from New Haven, Connecticut.

Winky Wright, the former undisputed junior middleweight champion (the only three-belt world champion in division history) and mandatory challenger, recently defeated Felix Trinidad from Puerto Rico in May. (Trinidad subsequently retired a second time after his fight with Wright.) That pay-per-view fight, which was purchased by 500,000 viewers – the biggest boxing PPV in 2005 – proved to be Wright's best performance thus far. Most ringside media, and one judge, had him winning all 12 rounds, while the two remaining judges gave him 11 of the 12. 

Sam Soliman, who despite being an unknown in the United States, has established himself as legitimate top 10 middleweight contender. He is ranked No. 1 by the IBF, and has won 19 consecutive fights since dropping a split decision in a super middleweight bout in 2001 against countryman Anthony Mundine.

The action begins at 7:30pm live from the Mohegan Sun Arena and will be broadcast on HBO. Tickets go on sale Wednesday, November 9th for $150.00, $90.00, and $50.00 and are available through Ticketmaster. Customers can log onto ticketmaster.com; call any Ticketmaster phone number; or visit any Ticketmaster outlet. Tickets will be available at the Mohegan Sun Arena Box Office on Thursday, November 10th.