Félix Trinidad
Carlos Ruiz | |
|---|---|
| File:Deportes-20040302-09.jpg | |
| Born | Carlos Ruiz August 31, 1991 |
| Nationality | Puerto Rican |
| Other names | Chucho |
| Statistics | |
| Weight(s) | Light Middleweight |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 42 |
| Wins | 38 |
| Wins by KO | 30 |
| Losses | 4 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
Félix 'Tito' Trinidad, Jr. (born January 10, 1973) is a boxer from Cupey Alto in Cupey , Puerto Rico and a former multi-division champion of the International Boxing Federation and the World Boxing Council. Trinidad has an impressive record of 42 wins and 2 losses, with 35 wins by knockout, and is considered one of the best Puerto Rican boxers in history, along the likes of Wilfred Benitez, Wilfredo Gómez, and Hector Camacho.
Trinidad's father, Felix Trinidad, Sr. is a former Puerto Rico Featherweight champion who once fought the legendary Salvador Sanchez, lasting 5 rounds in San Antonio, Texas.
Professional career
Early Years
When Trinidad Sr. announced his decision to turn his son into a professional boxer rather than wait for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, he was met with skepticism and criticism from Puerto Rico's top boxing experts.
Winning & Defending The World Title
In 1993, Trinidad traveled to San Diego, California and defeated the crafty defending IBF welterweight champion Maurice Blocker in 2 rounds, in a fight televised by Showtime. Don King's exclusive relationship to stage fights for the cable premium channel meant that Trinidad would be showcased regularly on Showtime Championship Boxing.
Trinidad defended his title for the next three years against the top welterweight opponents, solidifying his stature as a rising star in the welterweight division. His most notable opponents were 'Yori Boy' Campas who knocked Trinidad down, before the Puerto Rican star rallied for the knockout. He also rose from the canvas to stop undefeated Detroit contender Oba Carr in round eight.
After his contract with Don King expired in the fall of 1995, Main Events the promoter of WBC welterweight champion Pernell Whitaker won a purse bid to promote Trinidad's defense against Larry Barnes. Main Events overpaid Trinidad in the hope of luring the young champion into a superfight against the Pound for Pound king. After co-headlining the HBO card, alongside Whitaker, Trinidad re-signed with King, foregoing an HBO contract and a multi-million dollar payday against Whitaker.
Trinidad spent the next four years defending his title against a litany of non-descript fighters. There were a plethora of fighters who refused to entertain a fight against the young champion. These fights were often sold to Showtime as main events, but just as often the young superstar was buried on the undercard of pay-per-views featuring Mike Tyson. In 1997, Trinidad was on the verge of moving up in weight for a shot at WBC/IBF junior middleweight champion Terry Norris, before Norris left Don King for Bob Arum and a potential superfight against Oscar de la Hoya. The following year Main Events offered Trinidad yet another major payday, this time in a unification fight against WBA welterweight champion Ike Quartey, but Ike Quartey declined the fight at the last moment.
Finally, on February 20th, 1999, Trinidad would finally face the aging Whitaker, besting him with a 12-round unanimous decision. It was Trinidad's 13th successful title defense, and probably his most notable victory by that point of his career.
Trinidad vs. de la Hoya
In the spring of 1999, Trinidad's patience finally paid off when his promoter, Don King, and Oscar de la Hoya's promoter, Bob Arum, agreed to co-promote a mega-fight for the WBC and IBF Welterweight Championships on September 18, 1999 at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas. The historic contest was deemed Fight of the Millennium, but despite the anticipation of a classic battle, the fight itself was non-descript. de la Hoya quickly established technical superiority in what was laregly a tactical bout. He outboxed Trinidad for most of the first nine rounds. Believing, as did many boxing critics, that he had an insurmountable lead, de la Hoya ceded the final three rounds to Trinidad, who still struggled to land any telling blows on de la Hoya. After 12 rounds, Trinidad was awarded a majority decision. After the fight, Trinidad was given an historic welcome at Puerto Rico's Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport.
Moving To Junior Middleweight
In 2000, after De la Hoya declined a lucrative rematch, Trinidad vacated the WBC and IBF welterweight championships, moving up in weight to challenge 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist and WBA junior middleweight champion David Reid. After enduring Reid's fast start, which included a 3rd round knockdown, Trinidad rallied, using his experience and punching power to deliver a brutal beating. Reid would hit the canvas 5 times over the course of the fight, which culminated in a unanimous decision for Trinidad. Reid, who before the fight had been considered one of boxing's brightest prospects, never recovered from the fight and retired shortly thereafter.
Trinidad vs. Vargas
Later that same year, Trinidad signed for yet another unification fight, this time against the IBF junior middleweight champion Fernando Vargas, the young superstar from Oxnard, California. The fight would live up to its billing, as the two world champions tore into each other with reckless abandon typical of the many classic Puerto Rico vs. Mexico battles. Trinidad started fast, dropping the "Aztec Warrior" twice in the 1st round. Vargas would recover and slowly began to work his way back into the fight. By the 4th round, with the fight drawing even, Vargas exploded, knocking Trinidad to the canvas. Trinidad, still dazed from the knockdown, proceeded to hit Vargas with two blatant low blows. Vargas was hurt, but after the allotted recovery time the fight was allowed to continue. The brutal fight remained close entering the 12th round, when Trinidad's clean punching finally wore down the young champion, who fell to the canvas 3 times before the referee stopped the fight.
Moving To Middleweight
Trinidad once again moved up in weight, this time to participate in Don King's Middleweight unification tournament featuring IBF champ Bernard Hopkins, WBA champ William Joppy, and WBC champ Keith Holmes. Trinidad was matched with Joppy, who he defeated in dominating fashion with a 5th round knockout, and Hopkins defeated Holmes by decision to soldify a September meeting between the two champions.
Trinidad vs. Hopkins
The middleweight unifaction fight between Hopkins and Trinidad was originally scheduled for September 15, 2001 at the Madison Square Garden. During the publicity tour in the weeks leading up to the fight, both camps grew more contemptuous of the other. Tensions finally boiled over when during a stop in San Juan, Hopkins threw a Puerto Rican flag on the ground in front of several hundred Trinidad suporters. Hopkins later apologized, but the anticipation for the fight had reached a fever pitch, with both Trinidad and Hopkins impatient to prove their dominance in the middleweight division.
Then on the morning of September 11, terrorists attacked the World Trade Center. The fight was postponed indefinitely out of respect for a city in mourning. After receiving assurances from Madison Square Garden officials and the City of New York, Don King rescheduled the fight for September 29. Felix Trinidad, perhaps filled with great confidence, refused to obey Trinidad Sr. as he asked his son to cancel the fight until the situation in New York City settled down. The younger Trinidad had spent the days following the attacks offering rescue workers food and water for plenty of hours. With nowhere to train, and his mind not focused on fighting, the belief was to cancel the fight until a later date. Unfortunately, Madison Square Garden did not have a Saturday night to offer until 2002. Felix wanted to fight, despite the protests of Team Trinidad.
Hopkins and Trinidad spent the early rounds jabbing and feeling one another out. During the middle rounds, Hopkins was expertly frustrating Trinidad with effective counterpunching and deft movement. And although Felix Trinidad was being outpointed, Trinidad was none the worse for wear to the naked eye. Towards the end of the fight, Trinidad attempted to KO Hopkins, and Hopkins showed great experience weathering the storm. Trinidad was exhausted for the first time in his career and could not withstand the counterpunching Bernard Hopkins. Team Trinidad, Bernard Hopkins and Don King all acknowledge that the September 11th attacks might have had an effect on Felix Trinidad. Where Hopkins was able to return to Philly to continue his training, Felix Trinidad was not allowed to return to Puerto Rico to continue his. Unfortunately, Bernard Hopkins could not come to an agreement with Don King and Team Trinidad on rematch terms and an out of court settlement between Hopkins and King was reached.
Bouncing Back After Hopkins
- After beating former Middleweight world champ Hassine Cherifi of France by knockout in 4 rounds in San Juan, Trinidad shockingly announced his retirement, leaving the sport of boxing with a record of 41 wins, only 1 defeat, and 34 wins by knockout.
- He reconciled with his wife Sharon, after a scandal broke out where it was discovered he had a baby girl with a TV model that he had an affair with. He has committed to pay the child's support and help raise her along with his 2 other daughters with Sharon.
- This retirement lasted two years.
Coming Out Of Retirement
Trinidad announced a comeback on March 2, 2004. On October 2 of that same year, he recovered from a third round knockdown to drop the former world champion, Ricardo Mayorga, three times in the eighth, knocking Mayorga out. (See Trinidad versus Mayorga) On May 14, 2005. Trinidad challenged Winky Wright. The winner would become the WBC's number one Middleweight challenger, but Trinidad was dominated over twelve rounds by Wright by scores of 120-107 once, and 119-108 twice. After which, Trinidad finally retired. He is considered by many the best Puerto Rican boxer to this day. Trinidad currently holds a record of 42 wins and two losses, with 35 wins by knockout.
On September 13, 2006 the Puerto Rican news stated that Trinidad will come out of retirement for an anticipated rematch against Oscar de la Hoya. However, talks collapsed by the end of the month because of disputes over both money distribution and what weight the fight would be fought at.
Hand Taping Controversy
After stopping William Joppy in five rounds previous to his title unification bout with Bernard Hopkins there was a controversy regarding how Felix Trinidad has wrapped his hands before his fight with joppy. Before the fight between Hopkins and Trinidad, the Bernard Hopkins camp were purposely late for Trinidad's wrapping of his fists. Rules obligate each fighter have a member of the opponent witness the wrappings before the State Commission and Boxing Council witnesses. The Hopkins camp, in gamesmanship form, arrived late. They demanded an immediate re-wrapping. Team Trinidad, up to the task of gamesmanship, said if he had to re-wrap his hands, he would call off the fight. Immediately after the fight, Maxboxing created a fictitious story claiming Felix Trinidad cheated by illegally wrapping his hands. The story was laughed at by those in the boxing circles as nothing but unprofessional journalism and the work of one inept, overly patriotic member of Maxboxing.com. After the Hopkins fight, Trinidad went on to hospitalize his next two opponents, removing them from the ring via fight ending KO's. These punishing victories over Hacine Cherifi and Ricardo Mayorga put an end to the illegal handwraps story.
Additional Accomplishments
- Named Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year for 2000.
References