Félix Trinidad
Félix Trinidad, Jr. | |
|---|---|
| File:FelixTrinidad.png | |
| Born | Félix Juan Trinidad January 10, 1973 Cupey Alto, Puerto Rico |
| Nationality |  Puerto Rican |
| Other names | Tito |
| Statistics | |
| Weight(s) | Middleweight |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 44 |
| Wins | 42 |
| Wins by KO | 35 |
| Losses | 2 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
Félix 'Tito' Trinidad, Jr. (born January 10, 1973) is a boxer from Cupey Alto, Puerto Rico and a former multi-division champion of the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Association 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 with Wilfred Benitez, Wilfredo Gómez, and Hector Camacho.
Personal life
Trinidad is married to Sharon Santiago. During her youth Santiago was a resident of Cupey and her friend and neighboor was a clasmate of Trinidad, she used to spend a significant ammount of time in her neigboor's house where she met him. Early in their relationship Santiago's mother though that Trinidad was related to her friend but she noticed the situation on one ocassion where Trinidad displayed a nervous behavior. Upon meeting her Trinidad pursued a relationship with her, wich included him trying to impress her by exhibiting a Mustang that he possed at the time. The couple was formed after Trinidad continued insisting with the help of Santiago's neighboor.
Professional career
Early Years
Felix Trinidad began boxing at the age of twelve after receiving training by his father, Felix Trinidad Sr., who was a former Puerto Rican featherweight champion.[1] Over the course of his amateur career, Trinidad compiled a record of fifty-one wins and six losses with twelve knockout victories.[1] During this period he won five Puerto Rican National Amateur Championships, in five different weight divisions (100, 112, 119, 126 and 132 pounds).[1]
Following disagreements with the president of the Puerto Rican boxing federation, Trinidad Sr. announced that he decided to turn his son into a professional boxer rather than wait for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.[1]
Winning & defending the world title
In 1993, Trinidad traveled to San Diego, California and defeated the defending IBF welterweight champion Maurice Blocker in two 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 several opponents, solidifying his stature as a rising star in the Welterweight division. His most notable opponents were Hector 'Macho' Camacho, in a fight that lasted twelve rounds, Freddie Pendleton and an undefeated 'Yori Boy' Campas; who was responsible for a knock down, before Trinidad rallied for the knockout. He also rose from the canvas to stop undefeated Detroit contender Oba Carr in the eighth round.
After his contract with Don King expired in the fall of 1995, Main Event the promoter of WBC welterweight champion Pernell Whitaker won a purse bid to promote Trinidad's defense against Larry Barnes. Main Event 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 numerous fighters, in bouts televised on Showtime.[2]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 a unification fight against WBA welterweight champion Ike Quartey, Trinidad declined opting instead to remain with King.
On February 20, 1999, Trinidad would face Whitaker, winning the fight by unanimous decision. It was Trinidad's thirteenth successful title defense.[3]
In the spring of 1999, 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. After twelve rounds, Trinidad was awarded a majority decision.[4] After the fight, Trinidad was given an historic welcome at Puerto Rico's Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport.
Moving to junior middleweight
In 2000,Trinidad moved in weight to challenge 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist and WBA junior middleweight champion David Reid. After enduring Reid's fast start, which included a third round knockdown, Trinidad rallied, using his experience and punching power to deliver a brutal beating. Reid would hit the canvas five 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.
After Trinidad's victory over David Reid for the WBA Superwelterweight championship, he vacated the WBC and IBF welterweight championships,[5]
Later that year, Trinidad signed for another unification fight, this time against the IBF junior middleweight champion Fernando Vargas from Oxnard, California. Trinidad scored two knockdowns in the first round. Vargas would recover and worked his way back into the fight. Vargas picked a knockdown on Trinidad on the fourth round. The fight ended on a technical knockout victory for Trinidad in the twelveth round after the referee stopped the fight following three consecutive knockdowns on Vargas.[6]
Moving to middleweight
Following his fight with Vargas, Trinidad moved up in weight – this time to participate in Don King's Middleweight unification tournament featuring IBF champion Bernard Hopkins, WBA champion William Joppy, and WBC champion Keith Holmes. Trinidad was matched with Joppy, who he defeated with a fifth-round knockout.[7]
The middleweight unification fight between Hopkins and Trinidad was originally scheduled for September 15, 2001 at the Madison Square Garden. 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. Hopkins won the fight and led the score over the course of the card.[8] In the 12th round Hopkins knocked Trinidad down with a "neck-snapping right cross".[8] His father came into the ring [9] and the referee stopped the fight in the twelfth round.
After defeating former Middleweight world champion Hacine Cherifi of France by technical knockout in 4 rounds in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Trinidad announced his retirement, leaving the sport of boxing with a record of 41 wins, one defeat, and thirty-four wins by knockout.[10]
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.[11]
On May 14, 2005. Trinidad challenged Winky Wright. In a fight where the winner would become the WBC's number one Middleweight challenger. Wright won the fight by decision, getting scores of 120-107 and 119-108 twice by the judges.[12] Following this fight, Trinidad retired temporally.
Trinidad, a former three-division champion, will be coming out of his second retirement for the fight against Roy Jones, a former four-division champion on January 19, 2008. According to the contract, it will be at a catch weight of 170lbs and will be broadcast live on HBO Pay-Per-View. The card will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York city. [13]
Hand taping controversy
The day of the Felix Trinidad-Bernard Hopkins fight, members of Hopkins' team visited the Trinidad dressing room in normal boxing custom to watch the taping of Trinidad's hands before his gloves were placed on. The Hopkins camp, including trainer Bouie Fisher, noticed that Trinidad's hands were wrapped in an incorrect fashion, and threatened to cancel the fight unless they were wrapped correctly.[14] The Chief Inspector of the NYSAC forced Trinidad's camp to re-wrap his hands in a correct fashion, which was not done correctly until it was attempted a third time.[15]
Before his bout with Trinidad, Fernando Vargas was forewarned to check Trinidad's hand wraps, and William Joppy was also warned of possible illegal taping by heavyweight boxer Hasim Rahman.[15] During his prefight press conference with Jermain Taylor, Joppy said Trinidad was not deserving of Boxing Hall of Fame induction, claiming that Tito "brought a bat to a fist fight".[16] The Hopkins hand wrapping incident would later lead to an investigative story by Max Boxing. Boxing trainers and opponents of Trinidad later claimed that the fashion of hand wrapping in Trinidad's hands gave the boxer the equivalent of brass knuckles.[15]
Professional championships
Additional accomplishments
References
- ^ a b c d "Félix Trinidad's biography". Latino Sports Legends. 2004. Retrieved 2007-05-22.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Luis Escobar (1998-04-03). "Trinidad Crushes Zulu". The Boxing Times. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Luis Escobar (1999-02-20). "Trinidad Outduels The Master". The Boxing Times. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Luis Escobar (1999-09-18). ""Tito" Triumphs". The Boxing Times. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ John Gregg (2000-03-03). "Felix Pounds Out Win Over Reid". The Boxing Times. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Luis Escobar (2000-12-02). "Relentless Trinidad KO's Vargas in Twelve". The Boxing Times. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ John Gregg (2001-05-12). "Trinidad Triumphs TKO's Joppy". The Boxing Times. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b Bert Sugar (2001- 09-30). "Trinidad-Hopkings post fight analysys". HBO Boxing. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Steve Gregg (2001-09-29). "Destiny Denied Hopkins Humbles Trinidad". The Boxing Times. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ John Gregg (2002-05-11). "Trinidad Returns TKO's Cherifi". The Boxing Times. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Luis Escobar (2004-10-02). "Trinidad Returns To KO Mayorga". The Boxing Times. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ John Gregg (2005-05-14). "All Wright All Night Over Trinidad". The Boxing Times. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Fight against Roy Jones Jr". ESPN. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Ike Enwereuzor. "The Man Who Trains Bernard Hopkins: Interview With Bouie Fisher". Eastside Boxing. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
- ^ a b c Orlando Rios, JR. (2004-01-28). "Tito the Great or Tito the Cheater?". Doghouse Boxing. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) Cite error: The named reference "doghouse" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page). - ^ Paul Upham. "Joppy calls Trinidad a "cheat"". Seconds Out. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
See also
External links
- Boxing record for Félix Trinidad from BoxRec (registration required)