Taylor, Wright gear up for title fight

Little Rock:

Jermain Taylor and Winky Wright have adopted a respectful tone heading into their WBC middleweight title fight, and Taylor seems to prefer it that way. "I go in the ring, I do what I do," said Taylor, a Little Rock native. "I'm not going to embarrass my state by going in there talking about I want to kill somebody, hurt somebody," he added. Taylor and Wright participated separately in a conference call on Wednesday, less than two weeks before their June 17 fight in Memphis, Tennessee. Taylor beat Bernard Hopkins in a split decision last July to win the middleweight championship, then beat him again in December in a unanimous decision. Before the rematch, Hopkins insisted Taylor hadn't deserved the first fight. Taylor responded by saying he was tired of Hopkins' complaining - and on and on it went. There's been little verbal sparring this time around. Taylor expects an entertaining bout against Wright. "He comes to fight," the 27-year-old Taylor said. "Hopkins comes to maul you, brawl you. He tries to do everything just to get you out of the game plan. Winky Wright comes to all-out box. He's a fighter," he added. Wright, a 34-year-old left-hander, has an impressive record of victories against top-level fighters, including Shane Mosely and Felix Trinidad. He beat Sam Soliman in December. (AP)