By Johnny Ortiz
Felix “Tito” Trinidad and Robert “Winky” Wright will settle matters this Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, the fight will be telecast on HBO PPV.
The odds are holding in favor of Felix Trinidad at 9-5, Tito should be the betting favorite, after a two year hiatus, where his body healed in every way, Felix is coming off a spectacular KO of Ricardo Mayorga, he is now going into his fifth fight as a middleweight. Winky will be testing the waters for only the first time at the middleweight limit. Felix Trinidad had only one fight at the middleweight level, a 5th round stoppage of William Joppy, before stepping in with “The Executioner” Bernard Hopkins.
A few knowledgeable fight people I know are picking Winky to upset the Puerto Rican Kid…I am not one of them. I will concede that it should be an interesting, competitive fight, Winky is a tremendous defensive fighter, although not considered a big puncher at 154 pounds, (he’s been taken the twelve round distance in his last four fights) Winky will need all the defensive skills he can muster up to hold off the very aggressive, heavy-handed Trinidad.
In recent quotes, Winky speaks of perhaps hurting Tito and then taking him out. This is the same guy who danced twenty-four rounds with Sugar Shane Mosley in his last two fights, if he cannot put away a fighter the size of Shane, how is he going to take out a much bigger guy like Tito Trinidad? Let’s not forget that Felix went into the 12th round with Bernard Hopkins, one of the greatest middleweights of all time, before being stopped. Like it or not…Winky Wright is not Bernard Hopkins.
I like Winky Wright (48 wins - 3 losses - W/25 KO’s), I’ve had him on my radio show a couple of times earlier in his career when hardly any of the local fight fans knew who he was. I found him to be a very personable, engaging young man, he is the kind of fighter I have always liked, no ego, he knows he has a God given talent, and simply goes out and proves it. Although he was the underdog, I picked Winky to beat Shane Mosley. I knew that being a gifted fighter, he had the right style and size to beat Shane…Tito Trinidad (42 wins, 1 loss W/35 KO’s) is a completely different story.
In Tito, Winky will be facing an extremely hard puncher, the likes of which he has never been in with. To win, Winky has to be on the move constantly, he can at no time be a stationary target. Knowing that Tito will be dogging his tracks, he must be in and out in an effort to confuse him. Winky also has to try and conserve his energy early in order to be able to go all out at as each round winds down to an end, hoping to catch the judges eyes by throwing combinations at a fast pace. Doing so, he would try to steal rounds ala Sugar Ray Leonard against Marvin Hagler.
Winky has to fight a near perfect fight; he has to take Tito the distance, thus giving him a chance to have his hand raised. That could prove easier said than done, while Winky, a southpaw, is trying to outsmart a very smart fighter, Tito will be looking to land his patented, lethal bombs behind a well educated left jab.
Felix is not just a banger, he is a complete fighter, his only flaw has to do with his defense, he sometimes gets hit a little more than he should, being such a big puncher, he, at times will allow the other guy to get close enough to land a few, by doing this, he has him in his firing range where he can counter with his power shots.
Otherwise, Tito has learned his trait well, I am not afraid to admit that I was pleasantly surprised as to how terrific he looked in his last fight, the demolition job he did on Mayorga. True, Ricardo’s straight-ahead style was made to order for Tito, but nevertheless, Mayorga remained a dangerous opponent as long as he still possessed his reputed punching power.
I saw something in the Mayorga fight that I wasn’t accustomed to seeing Tito do in his previous fights, besides moving, and physically looking as sleek as a cat, he repeatedly moved his head while moving side to side, and was very patient while looking for openings. There is no trap Winky can set for Tito that he hasn’t seen tried before.
I am picking Tito Trinidad for the same reasons I picked Bernard to not only beat Felix, but to knock him out. I felt that Bernard, having fought his whole career at middleweight, was the bigger, stronger, more experienced guy, opposed to Trinidad, who would be coming into their fight will only one middleweight fight to his credit. To me, picking Bernard was a no-brainer. So, in this fight, I will again start with size, at fight time they will appear to be about the same size, it’s just that Tito, who as I pointed out earlier, will be going into his fifth fight at 160 pounds, because of this, he should be more comfortable at the given weight, Felix has already grown into a natural middleweight. Therefore, having been in with the bigger guys, he has to be considered the bigger man with the much bigger punch.
When you complete in the middleweight division, you had better be able to pack your mud with the big boys. Tito is not only an enormous puncher; he is also a very good boxer. I do not think Winky can show him anything he hasn’t seen before.
I thoroughly respect Winky Wright as a boxer, I keep reading where a lot of fight people are under the impression that he is going to box the ears off of Trinidad…has it been so long ago that some people have forgotten that Felix has been in with the master boxer of his day…Bernard Hopkins. After the Executioner…no boxer can surprise Tito Trinidad.
I have always felt that the 160-pound division is pound for pound the toughest division in boxing. The elite of the middleweights can usually box and punch hard, we will see Saturday night if Winky can hang with a guy who can do both extremely well. It is not so much that he is going up six pounds; I have always maintained that jr. middleweights are middleweights; it helps if they can punch. As middleweight champion, Sugar Ray Robinson fought most of his fights at around 154-155 pounds, as did a lot of the old-timers, the only difference is that back then, the majority of them could knock your socks off.
I would like to have seen Winky get comfortable at the new weight by having one or two fights before taking on a steamroller who has only lost once, and that was at the hands of an all-time great. If Winky can pull it off, my hat is off to him. Tito Trinidad is not my idea of the kind of fighter who I would want to fight my first time out as a middleweight.
When asked what he thought about Winky recently saying that he doesn’t think Tito can take his punch, and while Felix did very well against Mayorga, Winky believes he will destroy him, Tito had this to say: “I challenge Winky to test my chin. If he believes that I have a weakness, I hope he tries to find it. Maybe that would open up the fight.” On Winky moving up in weight, Felix replied: He is a solid 154-pound champion. He has proven himself. It is easy to move up in weight, but it’s not easy to win world title fights when you move up. Only a few boxers are able to do that and I am one of them.” When Tito was given the question if he thought Winky was making a mistake moving up in weight, Felix countered with: “I have power in both hands and I would like to knock Winky out. I will not go in the ring to play games and Winky knows it. I know he is ready for a fight, but he is not ready to fight me. I’m a different fighter than any other he has faced before.”
Winky’s best chance of winning their fight is to outpoint Tito over the twelve round limit. I cannot see Winky stopping Felix, in his last ten fights as a jr. middleweight, eight have gone the distance, the other two finished on their feet. Bronco McKart, after having gone the twelve round distance with Winky twice, was disqualified for low blows in their third fight. A not so famous Jason Papillion was TKO’d in the fifth round of their IBF title fight. If Winky cannot flatten any of these guys, how is he going to KO a guy who has been hit and has been in with the very best?
The bottom line is that when a puncher is in with someone with limited punching power, he will take chances by taking the fight to them in order to land his power punches. It is my contention that when Winky feels Tito’s power, he will be forced to go into somewhat of a defensive mode, therefore making it harder to mount an offensive when he is moving backwards. There is always the chance that Winky could land the perfect punch, some fighters who were not known for punching power, have scored great KO’s when they landed right on the button. A few that come to mind are former middleweight champion Michael Nunn, not regarded as a puncher, Michael knocked out former WBA Middleweight Champion Sumbu Kalambay in the first round with a single shot, the same Kalambay who won back to back fights against three division champion Iran Barkley (UD 15) and three division champion Mike McCallum (UD 12).
Kalambay was stripped of his WBA crown before the bout with Nunn.
Another light punching champ was former four-division champion Pernell Whitaker, who only had 17 KO’s in a total of 46 fights. In defending his WBC and IBF lightweight titles, Pernell scored a first round, one punch knockout of WBA Lightweight Champion Juan Nazario. Juan was a very good lightweight champion who once scored a TKO over another great champion…Edwin Rosario. There are more, but I think you get the idea…anything is possible in boxing.
The recipe for a Trinidad win is for Tito to fight his fight, that consists of applying constant pressure and not letting up, take some of the starch out of Winky’s legs by backing him up every minute of every round. Everything comes off the jab, Tito has to keep it in Winky’s face at all times, being that he is sometimes open to be hit, Tito has to keep his hands high and be prepared to pick off Winky’s own, very proficient right jab. He has to be quick, whenever he spots an opening; he has to let it fly. Winky’s southpaw stance should not present a problem for a seasoned fighter such as Felix Trinidad; he is 6-0 against fighters from the portside. They are included in his record of 42-1 against all comers. It is hard to believe he has lost only one fight in his great career, and that loss coming against an all-time great…Bernard Hopkins.
I am analyzing this bout according to how Tito and Winky fared in their last fight. Winky won the first fight against Shane Mosley rather handily, the second time around, Shane was better prepared, it turned out to be a majority win for Winky. That means that two judges had identical scores of 115-113 for Winky, the other had the fight even at 114-114. Winky Wright had a close call. We all know the destruction Tito laid on Mayorga, Winky won his last fight by two points twice…Tito registered a blowout in his.
When I think of the second Mosley fight, I remember Winky doing the unthinkable, he gave Shane a free shot at his chin, Shane gladly obliged and staggered Winky. Wright quickly recouped and ended that foolishness. Never, under any circumstances, give the other guy a freebie. Mayorga did the same idiotic thing against Tito and paid a dear price, Felix damn near took his head off with a thunderous left hook. I really do not think Winky will be foolish enough to give Tito a free pass to his jaw, if he does…he can kiss the fight and the night goodbye.
And last, but not least, having been in boxing nearly all of my life as a former fighter and trainer, I cannot stop thinking of all the valuable lessons Tito must have learned in his fight with the great Bernard Hopkins. Maybe that’s why I saw such a different Felix Trinidad in his fight with Ricardo Mayorga. Going nearly twelve rounds with a boxer who will one day be mentioned in the same breath as Sugar Ray Robinson, Henry Armstrong, Joe Louis and all the other past greats, Tito Trinidad seems to have benefited from their fight. When you fight the best…you learn from the best.
There you have it…the fight seen through my eyes. It will be a great fight; they are both worthy champions, if Winky were to win…the sky’s the limit. A Tito Trinidad victory could open the door to one of the biggest mega fights possible...a very lucrative rematch with…“The Executioner”!
ZAB “SUPER” JUDAH VS. COSME “CHINO” RIVERA
The fight that will precede Trinidad-Wright is a great addition to the PPV card. Undisputed world welterweight champion Zab Judah will put his WBC, WBA and IBF belts on the line when he goes head to head with his IBF mandatory challenger, Cosme Rivera. At 27 years of age, Judah (33-2-1NC W/24 KO’s) is right where he has always wanted to be…the undisputed ruler of the welterweight division. The young man has extremely fast hands, pretty good power and terrific boxing instincts.
Cosme Rivera (28-7-2 W/20 KO’s) became the #1 contender when on September 4, 2004; he KO’d a very good fighter in Hercules Kyvelos in the fourth round of an IBF elimination bout in Las Vegas. Judah has opened as a big favorite, knowing this, Rivera had this to say: “All of those boxing insiders who think this is going to be one-sided fight haven’t followed my career, I can’t wait. Judah is wearing my belts. He’s never fought anybody with my heart and determination. I’m a Mexican and we’re all about heart. Nobody’s ever knocked me down. I’ve been waiting my whole career for this opportunity. I’m going to bring the fight to him.”
Sorry Cosme, when you say that Zab has never fought anyone with your heart and determination, are you forgetting a guy by the name of Kostya Tszyu? Maybe you think heart and determination were not required in his destruction of Judah on November 3, 2001. Checking your record I see that you are undefeated in your last seven fights, you haven’t been beaten since you lost a unanimous decision to someone by the name of Arturo Morua on October 19, 2001. As the mandatory, I guess Cosme is entitled to fight for the title, but I cannot see him beating Zab Judah, who appears to finally be at the top of his game. Of course, there is always the chance that Cosme, who has 20 KO’s in his 28 wins, could conceivably land a big one on the chin of Judah. All it takes is that one big shot.
I think that Zab Judah is an extremely talented champion; it’s just that I cannot get the KO Kostya hung on him out of my mind. Zab went down twice from one punch, if Jay Nady, the referee, hadn’t caught Zab in his arms after the two knockdowns, Zab would have gone down for the third time from the same punch. Kostya taught Zab how to do “The Funky Judah”, but then again, not many fighters the size of Kostya, hit as hard as he does.
Zab, who destroyed Cory Spinks in winning the belts, appears to have come all the way back, but the fact remains, when your chin takes the kind of shot he received at the hands of Kostya, it could still be a little fragile.
In order for Cosme to get a good shot, Zab would have to lose concentration and that is not likely to happen. Zab is too smart, too slick for Rivera. Not ever having seen Cosme fight, it is hard for me to make a proper assessment, but looking over his record, I have no doubt that Zab will win impressively.
Zab has issued a challenge to the “Golden Boy” Oscar De La Hoya; just the thought of the fight stirs the imagination. Undisputed welterweight champion Judah putting all three belts up against Oscar, who intends to resume his career as a welterweight, would be a great fight; Oscar would like nothing better than to reclaim the titles that once belonged to him.
De La Hoya-Judah would go through the roof. With such a huge fight a possibility; look for Zab Judah to put icing on the cake by putting on a spectacular performance Saturday night.
If Oscar-Zab does indeed come to pass, I would pick Oscar to bring back…“The Funky Judah”.
UNTIL THE NEXT ROUND…PEACE AND GOD BLESS!