Winky Wright pulls out of fight against Matthew Macklin

Matthew Macklin's choice to swerve a European title clash against Darren Barker in favour of a match against legend Winky Wright has backfired.

The Floridian's return to the ring after a two-year layoff will be delayed because of a hand injury.

Wright was scheduled to face European middleweight champion Macklin on April 9th on the HBO PPV card headlined by the Erik Morales-Marcos Maidana light-welterweight fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

"I hurt my hand sparring, so I'm not going to be able to fight," Wright told Dan Rafael of ESPN. Wright said he injured his left hand during a sparring session with welterweight prospect Keith Thurman on Thursday.

"I hit him on top of the head or on his elbow and I hurt the hand, but I kept working with it," Wright said. "And then I did it again and I had to shake it off. My hand swelled up a little bit. I went to get it checked out (yesterday). It ain't fractured, but it's pretty sore and swollen and the doctor said wait about a week and then we'll see.

"But I'm near the end of my career. I can't go into the fight not at 100 percent. I can't be going in there with a hurt hand and half-trained. I want to go in there and show people I can be a champion and look good.

"If I lose a week, that's a problem. So I figured let's call it now and at least give Golden Boy a chance to get another fight.

"I know if I am out a week or two, I won't be ready for the fight. The important thing is to be healthy when I get in the ring. I was looking forward to a good fight.

"This is a little setback, but this ain't gonna stop me. This train is going to keep on moving."