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It was supposed to be nothing more than a keep-busy fight, a supposed foregone conclusion long before the opening bell.

Few, if any, boxing experts expected Sam Soliman to pose any problems whatsoever for pound-for-pound great Ronald “Winky” Wright. But Soliman’s awe-inspiring work rate and awkward attack made the IBF title eliminator a dog fight for both men.

Nevertheless, Wright’s clean, accurate punching proved to be the difference for the judges, as they awarded the former undisputed 154-pound champion a unanimous decision.

“I knew it was going to be a tough fight because he’s so awkward and he was coming to fight,” a bruised, swollen Wright said after the bout. “I’m happy to get this out of the way so we can look forward to Jermain (Taylor) or whatever. I’ve never fought anybody like him. He throws punches from crazy angles.”

“King” Soliman (31-8, 12 KOs) certainly did throw shots from crazy angles. The IBF No. 1 rated middleweight came out throwing non-stop punches right from the opening bell, outworking Wright (50-3, 25 KOs) 96 to 47 in terms of total punches thrown.

The problem, however, was that most of his shots were harmless arm punches. Wright, on the other hand, remained calm during the whirlwind attack and fired off the more accurate, damaging blows.

Nevertheless, Soliman never stopped punching. Almost every round leading up to the tenth was a carbon copy of its predecessor with Soliman firing away like a Tasmanian devil with three- and four-punch combinations flung wide from his hips or fired over the top. Wright caught the vast majority on his forearms, elbows and gloves. But an alarming number found their mark, causing Wright’s left eye to swell terribly by the fourth round.

Wright, however, refused to wilt under the intense pressure. In fact, he kept coming forward the entire fight, countering his opponent’s flailing with sharp, damaging blows.

But the formula made for a very sloppy fight and a real scoring nightmare. And the sparse crowd at the Mogehan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut seemed restless and somewhat uninterested through the first nine rounds.

In the tenth, Wright, who weighed in at 159.5 pounds, but added 10.5 pounds by fight time, finally turned up the heat against his much smaller opponent, much to the pleasure of the fans in attendance. He hurt Soliman, who actually lost a pound between the official weigh-ins and fight time, badly with a straight left hand in the middle of the round. The blow sent him reeling into the ropes. Wright pressed hard for the knockout, sitting down on power punch after power punch. But the brave Australian refused to go down, surviving the 30-second onslaught before winning the final 30-plus seconds of the round.

The ringside doctor decided to examine Soliman between the rounds, but he let the fight continue. Interestingly enough, Wright, though not hurt, appeared thoroughly exhausted after the round.

Soliman came out in the eleventh with both hands pumping once again. Wright did almost nothing through the first half of the round, while the IBF No. 1 pounded away on his forearms, body and, occasionally, Wright’s head.

Soliman ended the round with his hands in the air celebrating as if the fight was over. Although it’s unknown how the official judges scored the eleventh, this writer certainly gave it to Soliman, 10-9.

King Soliman’s corner pleaded with him to win the final round, demanding that their fighter increase his already-frantic work rate. He did just that in the first round.