FanHouse Ike Quartey

LAS VEGAS -- When former world champion Winky Wright enters the ring in San Juan's Coliseo de Puerto Rico on Dec. 11, it will be with the short-range goals of acheiving past glory.

Wright (51-5-1, 25 knockouts), a southpaw who turns 38 on Nov. 26, will end an eight-month layoff when he meets Brewer, who will turn 39 on Dec. 22. Brewer (26-11, 15 KOs) has won eight consecutive fights, inlcluding first- and, second-round knockouts of his past two opponents in May and August.

Wright twice defeated current world champion, Shane Mosley, as a junior middleweight (154 pounds) in 2004, and then followed that up with a rise to middleweight (160) for a one-sided, May, 2005, unanimous decision over former world champion and Puerto Rican great, Felix Trinidad.

Among the motivations for Joseph Agbeko entering Saturday night's defense of his IBF, 118-pound title against Yonnhy Perez is his desire to achieve the greatness of two of his African predecessors.

Like Agbeko, a 29-year-old bantamweight titlist, Ghaninan legends such as three-time champion Azumah Nelson and former belt-holder Ike Quartey, hail from the city of Accra. Nelson excelled as a featherweight (126) and super featherweight (130), and Quartey, as a welterweight (147).

Nelson and Quartey have made appearances at Agbeko's training sessions, encouraging him during his quest to be considered among the sport's best fighters, pound-for-pound.