Felix Tito Trinidad Fansite

Felix Trinidad

A phrase I read more frequently when fighting pundits discuss the career of Oscar de la Hoya is that'he has never defeated a great champion in his prime.' it is a debatable statement to direct at a six division champ who is also the most financially successful non-heavyweight of modern times, having been involved many of the best fights of the last twenty years. I usually find such statements at least a little dubious, not the least as it is commonly the job of a columnist to stir the pot by making an arguable statement. Also, it usually appears that the higher a man rises, the more some people will attempt to deny what he has accomplished. However , the writers who make this claim are as familiar with the main points of de la Hoya's career as I am so I'll not take the path of reviewing de la Hoya's past opponents. Instead, I'll examine the career of one of de la Hoya's former rivals : Felix'Tito' Trinidad. No one denigrates'Tito' by saying he never faced and defeated a great fighter in his prime, so let's take some instruction from his career.

The beginning

Felix Trinidad caught his first welterweight world title in 1993, by knocking out Maurice Blocker in two rounds. He was only 20 years old.
Campas wouldn't win an international title until he moved up to 154lbs, at that time a puny division. Trinidad even toyed with moving up to 154 himself in those days, fighting an eliminator for the WBC belt held by Terry Norris in 1997.

However , by that time, Whittaker was extremely far past his game. His close loss to de le Hoya had been almost 2 years before, and it had been more than a year since his tune-up fight with Andrei Pastraev. He fought only once more, losing by knockout to an unknown in 2001.

The Mega-Fight : Oscar de la Hoya

The huge September 1999 confrontation with Oscar de la Hoya remains questionable to this day, with many commentators who are definitely not de la Hoya partisans saying that'the Golden Boy' was robbedAs for de la Hoya'running,' it was'Tito' who came out of the fight with a busted up face and blood-stained trunks. Other writers simply say the fight was close and hard to score, which is fine, but then it hardly makes for a defining statement in Trinidad's career. At best, he got away with a very close, disputed win over a great fighter in his prime.

Trinidad rode high after the de la Hoya fight. He moved up to 154lbs, and took away the WBA title from former Olympian David Reid. He then met Fernando Vargas, knocking out'El Feroz' in the twelve th and final round in an explosive bout. Before Trinidad, his two opponents of note were fringe contenders Laurent Bouduani and Keith Mullings. Middleweight Waterloo

Don King then set up the unification series for the middleweight title, including Felix Trinidad. That prepared the ground for the clash with long-reigning IBF middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins. Out boxed and roughed up,'Tito' lost by 12 th round knockout.
When Felix Trinidad left the 154lbs division, the pieces were picked up by Ronald'Winky' Wright, who went on to become the undisputed world champion at that weight. The result was Trinidad's second defeat, a shaming call loss.
Felix Trinidad has enjoyed an illustrious career, and merits his reputation and legion of Puerto Rican fans. Nobody disagrees that when the day comes,'Tito' will merit his place in the hall of fame. However , it is beyond question that the only great fighter in his prime that Trinidad ever scored a win over was Oscar de la Hoya, and that win remains controversial and contested to this very day.

For more information on the greates living boxer Felix Trinidad check out felixtrinidad.com or
Felix Tito Trinidad Fansite
Felix Trinidad Boxer News