People remember Trinidad-Reid as a terrible beating for Reid which probably ruined him... but for about 5 or 6 rounds it was actually a very impressive performance from Reid, until Tito finally managed to catch him with a big shot that completely turned the fight around. When Winky beat Tito, people weren't so shocked to see Tito get dominated (Hopkins had already done that, after all) as they were to see someone beat Tito by standing in front of him and even backing him up, something they had previously thought impossible. Roy used a similar strategy as Winky to beat Tito, using a tight peek-a-boo defense and boxing aggressively. In both fights (particularly against Winky), Tito seemed at a loss to break through the peek-a-boo defense and was reduced to simply looping punches into their arms and gloves, with no effect. David Reid had used a similar strategy in the early rounds against Tito as well, keeping a tight guard and boxing aggressively, especially with his right hand (which had been a key punch for both Winky and Roy as well). Somewhere around the 5th or 6th round (I forget which, I haven't watched the fight in about a year), Reid began to back off, allowing Tito to wail away to his arms and body. In another round or so, Tito finally managed to score with that big bomb, and Reid never recovered from it. I remember thinking as I watched that fight at the time, that perhaps if Reid had had more experience and been more aggressive to keep Tito tentative (maybe mixed in some more jabs along with his right hand, for example), the result might have been different. Regardless, Reid was always fighter with questionable chin and stamina, both before and after the Tito fight. It seems to me that both Winky and Roy took Reid's strategy for success against Roy and basically perfected it... and being that Wink was a much tougher and sturdier fighter than Reid, and Roy was a bigger, stronger man, they were both able to keep up that strategy longer and more consistently. So, is it possible David Reid was ruined by Tito, but at the same time, he indirectly ruined Tito by exposing his limitations for others to see? :dunno: Thoughts?
Well Roy and Reid had some striking similarities, both had very fast hands, extensive amateur backgrounds, adequate though-not-brilliant power, great reflexes and solid fundamentals. Tito has always had difficulty with Speed and flash knockdowns, so I would say its more a case of Reid having the necessary style to beat him, as opposed to laying any actual framework. I am quite sure a lot of guys knew to jab tito and look to drop in a big shot, but were too small, too technically inept to do it...remember that Yory Boy and Kevin Lueshing had his ass down too.
Hopkins expanded on DLH's game plan versus Trinidad. I haven't seen the Reid fight in quite some time, but going by Cuban's description, Winky and Roy sort of expanded on Reid's game plans. They all had the straight right hands down the middle in common against Tito.
Yep. But Winky's/Roy's gameplans always looked significantly different from DLH's/Hopkins' IMO. DLH and Hopkins made the most of their footwork and make Tito chase them for most of the fight, whereas Winky and Roy were much more aggressive, used a peek-a-boo type defense, and looked to impose their strength and back Tito up.
I find it hard to swallow that the gameplan for beating Tito like that, was laid out 5 years and a two year retirement, prior to it's eventual practice. Winky beat Trinidad the way Winky fights, not the way David Reid fought.
Hopkins didn't expand on anything. If he had fought Tito first, he would have beat Tito first before Reid or DLH fought him.
These are interesting comparisons but no, De la Hoya didn't lay the 'blueprint' for Hopkins and Reid didn't lay the 'blueprint' for Wright & Jones. Tito has been beaten by four men and they were the four men he's faced with A class boxing skills. And to the extent Reid was able to muster something approaching an A class performance (ie for 6 rounds or so before his stamina and chin let him down) he was able to beat Tito too. Hopkins didn't need to be taught anything from Oscar or Wright from Reid, they were just HOF quality fighters who did their thing which was always gonna be more than 1-d Tito could handle.
Winky beat Tito with his style Roy beat Tito with HIS style Reid was proven to not really have it.. he looked "OK" for the early part then got Destroyed<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
Thank you. David Reid and Oscar De La Hoya showed us two different ways to lose against Tito, that's about it. Basically, they weren't good enough to win. In Oscar's case, he decided to run inside a squared circle. Reid got caught. Hopkins, Wright and Jones are not only bigger than Reid, Oscar AND Tito, they're also better - although in Winky's case it's debatable he could've done it to a prime Felix. Bernard Hopkins successfully boxed and brawled Tito; he could've stuck with one and beat the sh*t out of him either way. He was just better. David Reid didn't do anything most of Trinidad's other opponents hadn't already done: Have success boxing before getting caught and folding.
