Tito Trinidad still looking good!

His career was over when he couldn't make 154

 

I think Tito looks a bit slow there, but he's not training for an opponent so I guess he's just taking it easy.

 

Except he didn't have his wraps.

 

Regardless if you didn't think he beat Oscar, a win is still a win.

Plus Trinidad would have beaten Mosley. He would have done a worse number on him than did Forrest.

 

I'd disagree with this...after he KO'd Joppy...the previous year he'd beaten Reid and almost decapitated Fernando Vargas...the way he dispatched Joppy had folks thinking he'd beat Roy. Hopkins was merely seen as a stepping stone.

That's when Tito was considered the best fighter in the world.

 

You think that the added weight of "his wraps" would have motivated him to throw more punches?

 

That night was hilarious...I went to Jillians to watch...place was PACKED with Puerto Ricans...loud and obnoxious as hell.

By round five...quiet as a morgue.

:laugh11:

 

No one realistically thought he'd beat Roy. Come on. That was always seen as a mismatch in Roy's favour.

And I don't think it's quite accurate to say that Hopkins was seen as a stepping stone. Hopkins was ALWAYS considered a live underdog in that fight and a true test.

But yes...there is good reason why people considered him the best at that time (I always considered Jones the best at that time though)

 

That was an embarrassing performance. I've neever seen a once dominant champion, still in relative prime, humbled in such a manner before. Tito appeared as though he had never had a fight before in his life.

 

Tito just needs to dedicate himelf and get back with Kevin Rooney ...

oh wait never mind.

 

All sensible folks knew Roy would whup that ass...Tito's fortune they fought much later than they did...his ass whupping would have been worse. the Tito sentiment was everywhere...probably worse than the chatter from FloydIdiots and Pacmongers combined.

Hopkins was a live underdog but just that...an underdog.

 

can;t say it was his prime...he'd been in and out of retirement,

 

No. But the punches he did land on Winky would've counted, opened him up more, and given him the opportunity to assault Winky in a fashion as ruthless and as devastating as his crimes against Vargas and Reid, both of whom were clearly left with nerve damage and who were never the same.

 

:laugh11: cocksucker..

 

Trinidad is still a sucker for the jab..i think it was at 4:33 , the guy holding the pads taps him in the forehead....with a jab...I think he told him "wake up"

 

Felix Trinidad was a fighter who changed continuously throughout his career. For the beginning years, he changed for the better. He has always been underrated as a boxer, and I was always impressed by how he used generally simple head movement, deliberate footwork, and yes, a good jab, to maneuver into position on EXCELLENT fighters and connect with devastating, accurate punches. He was so accurate with longer punches, managing to catch opponents at the apex of the punch's power. That weird long left hook he caught Vargas with early was nuts.

When he was beating Reid, Thiam, Vargas at 154 was when he was just teetering at the peak of his skills. Maybe just before that in the Whitaker fight. Somewhere in that span. He was getting in, throwing jab, left hook, left uppercut sequences, and then getting out against Thiam. You could tell he was working on his speed and punch combinations. And then, he began changing again and little by little he did away with a fight plan, with the deliberate movement, with the jab, combination punching, and with pretty much everything else, and he just figured his left hook would eventually win him any fight.

Add to that the fact that he was either (ultimately) too lazy or too ambitious to remain at his most effective weight. I think it was probably the latter. In that way Pac reminds me of Tito, in that Felix had plans all the way back around Vargas to move up and win the middleweight tourney against Joppy and then of course most likely Hopkins, and then move on to Roy Jones at a yet higher weight. I mean for god's sake, which fighter nowadays save Pac even talks like that let alone actually MEANING it? Move up 3 or 4 divisions and fight what amounted to the p4p best at every single weight? Hall of famers. That is something I really miss nowadays. Back then, it was just a given that Tito was going to plow through every fucking person in his way until he ended up flattened or victorious.

Once Trinidad decided for whatever crappy reason to stay at 160 and above, he was done IMO. Having lost or discarded a lot of what I thought allowed him to land those devastating punches, and then looking physically a bit rounded and even chubby at 160, refusing to go back down to 154, he was done. Sure, he could still blitz out Cherifi and Mayorga who didn't even know how to avoid a punch - but it was obvious to me watching Tito batter Mayorga that he had slowed way down, and was still far too reliant on simply waiting, waiting, waiting to land that fight-ending punch. He probably just couldn't physically do any better anymore. This is why I think it is sort of unfair to criticize Tito for the Wright or Jones fights, other than to say he probably shouldn't have taken them at all. He did what he had been doing ever since the Hopkins fight in 2001, it didn't work then, and it wasn't working now.

All in all though, as a fan, I am happier that Tito did move up and take on greater challengers as opposed to staying at 154 and cleaning up some more good, but not great fighters. As far as legacy goes, though, I suppose he would be better regarded had he just beat the next 3 or 4 guys in line at 154, maybe made a Mosley fight which I think he most likely would have won, and then retired undefeated. But that's not the way he saw things, and I am glad.

 

:laughing:

 

Very good post! :Thumbs:

 

Great post.

What memories that brought back.

Karl

 

I'll always be a fan. I don't give a fuck about his flaws, I don't root for a fighter for his successes. I root for a fighter because he brings me excitement and great fights. Tito did that a lot for boxing.

Great post Outlander.

 

Good post. But you don't address Tito's hand-wraps. Ocum's razor states the simplest explanation is the correct one.

Trinidad, at 160, and "chubby" as you put it, decimated Joppy, a guy, who if nothing else, had proven himself resilient and durable.

Suddenly, his power doesn't mean shit in the Hopkins fight. And he gets no respect from Hopkins (or any subsequent opponent for that matter).

Yours is a a rational explanation for the trajectory of Trinidad's career. But it's not evident it's the correct one. In fact, hand-wraps is a simpler explanation and just as rational.

 

You know I went back & forth whether to wrtie "great" or "fantastic".
I am pretty comfortable with "Great" based on what you brought up..
He had great heart, & always wanted to challenge himself. He dared to try & prove his greatness, which is more than I can say for some more talented fighters.

 

people were wrong and no one was jabbing and moving

oh, and he was beating David Reid, Vargas, Thiam and Joppy

I never thought he was anywhere near the best fighter in the world

 

why because he doesnt agree with you?

who gets personal around here again?

 

Not to Karl:

all of us were alive 15 years ago, we all watched Trinidad's career

first off, his "victory" over DLH was horseshit... O scar got ripped off in that fight even with giving away the last few rounds

secondly, his victory over Whitaker was virtually meaningless as Whitaker was COMPLETELY shot

and yes, SOME VERY STUPID PEOPLE spoke of him in those glowing terms, but a lot of people (myself included) NEVER DID

there was never a time when Trinidad was truly the best fighter in the world, he was just the most hyped by The RING

 

no he wasnt

he was a terrific puncher and exciting, and good enough to beat most fighters

but I could name 25 welterweights that would beat him

 

Bullshit! And I'm not even a Tito fan.

 

here goes, assuming prime vs. prime:

Leonard
Hearns
Whitaker
DLH
Curry
Starling
Griffith
Napoles
Duran
Rodriguez
Don Jordan
Gavilan
Mayweather
Robinson
Basilio
Benitez

Thats 16 I would pick every time, and it took me all of 3 minutes to think of them

 

Tito would have fucked up Basillo BADLY! And I'm not too sure the welter Floyd beats Tito.

The rest I agree with, but I think thats about it.

 

Bullshit!

Basilio was WAAAAAY more durable... he went brutally toe to toe with Ray Robinson, who was 10 times the fighter Trinidad was, did EVERYTHING better and you know who won? BASILIO

Carmen was a GREAT fighter, incredible chin, and a fanastic hook to both head and body

His resume shits all over Tito's