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By Robert Brown
05/18/05 -After a devastating defeat at the hands of Winky Wright on Saturday night, Felix Trinidad has allegedly retired again. He has been known as one of the most devastating pound for pound fighters in the world, but looked completely outclassed against the boxing technician Winky Wright. Wright has now asserted himself as one of the dominating forces in boxing, joining Bernard Hopkins as the only two men to defeat and quite possibly retire Felix Trinidad. All night Wright kept Trinidad at the end of his jab and kept him completely off-balance. Trinidad looked old and if Winky had really wanted to, he could have really damaged Trinidad and knocked him out. But after such being dominated and basically routed in his last fight the question can be asked, should Tito retire?
At first glance one might say yes. He looked terrible against Winky and could have gotten seriously hurt had Winky really tried to knock him out. There was no head movement, no footwork and he didn’t even do what he does best and that’s throw punches. I remember a Trinidad who would hit whatever was in front of him including throwing a couple of low blows if he needed to. Winky Wright is not easy to hit because of his defense. He keeps his guard up while at the same time keeping his elbows pinned in against his body to protect from bodyshots. No one can convince me that a fighter with Trinidad’s power could not drastically change the fight if he just pounded away at Wright’s elbows. Especially the right, in the later rounds that would have made it difficult and painful for Wright to even jab, it might have opened up the body and numerous opportunities.
I also remember a Trinidad who sometimes would do his impersonation of the Ali shuffle. It had been widely stated that one of the reasons Trinidad came back was for his fans and to avenge his loss to Hopkins, in fact it had been said that the reason he retired in the first place is because he couldn’t get a rematch with Bernard. Whether that’s true or not we may never know. But one thing is for sure, no matter how good he looked against Ricardo Mayorga, Tito would once again fail miserably against Hopkins. Winky pressured Tito and beat him to the punch all night making it look easy. In fact it didn’t seem that he had to work as hard as Hopkins did for the win. Trinidad just couldn’t hit Wright and when he did he was unable to do any damage. When he fought Hopkins he hit him and he didn’t go anywhere. Wright and Hopkins are two of the most dominant fighters in the game today, the have many similarities and also many differences. One difference is that had that been Hopkins in the ring against Trinidad Saturday night, we probably would have seen a devastating knockout, even earlier than the first fight. If Trinidad’s reflexes, meaning his balance and timing have diminished that much he does need to retire. I also understand that his father is retiring and that Tito will not continue without his father has manager and trainer.
Personally I feel that Tito should not retire just yet. If continuing without his father is a problem, then I feel his father can step back as a trainer a maybe just manage his son. Or maybe even work the corner as a cut man and assistant. The influence would still be there and another trainer might be able to see what wrong and get Trinidad to make minor adjustments, not change, but make minor adjustments that would help. Trinidad’s had an outstanding career and has taken on the toughest challenges out there. What I saw Saturday night was what many expected to happen times ten. I’m not so sure that Trinidad would have beaten Wright when he was fighting at 154. But either way unless Trinidad saw something that made him feel that he has nothing left at all, I don’t feel he should retire after just his second loss. It doesn’t say much about a fighter if he retires every time he loses. There are many fights to be made out there including a rematch with Wright. And of course it’s not a given that Hopkins walks thru Taylor, if Hopkins were to lose, a fight between Trinidad and Hopkins would still do well, much like Ali-Frazier even after they had lost.
Winky Wright just looked like the bigger man Saturday and even though they said that Trinidad was a middleweight, his record at 160 is 2-2. The two middleweights he beat, Joppy and Mayorga, were small. Joppy was always an undersized middleweight and Mayorga was a blown up welterweight. Maybe middleweight is really not the weight for Trinidad. There’s no doubt in my mind that he can make 154 and there are big fights to be made there. A fight with Ouma, which would exciting and action packed. Santos, Simms and Spinks are all controlled by Don King. A rematch with Fernando Vargas or Ricardo Mayorga at 154 would be big also. The biggest fight of course would be a rematch with Oscar De la Hoya. This fight would probably give Trinidad a purse of between 15- 25 million and would do amazing numbers for PPV. The first fight had controversy and this one would be big. You have to think that a fighter like Trinidad would not want to retire with his last fight being a loss. Also he has never fought in the new stadium in Puerto Rico where he’s an icon. A farewell bout there would be big for him and his fans who have loyally supported him. Imagine a farewell fight Puerto Rico featuring Felix Trinidad vs. Oscar De la Hoya. That might be the biggest fight of the decade. Oscar has said before that he would like to fight in Puerto Rico and Mexico before he retires and has also been stating that a rematch with Trinidad would happen if they fought at 154-156. Trinidad should look to do a farewell fight with the biggest name in boxing and then call it quits if anything.
As Winky Wright said boxing needs a fighter like Trinidad because of what he brings to the sport. If he truly saw something that tells him he can no longer fight again, then it’s only right that he calls it quits. If he still has that hunger then he needs to just regroup and go at it again. Either way for now Trinidad is retired and his father has stated that they haven’t formally spoken with Don King. Maybe Don can persuade them to reconsider but if not we can say he made the sport exciting and will be missed. Let’s just hope he decides to at least fight a farewell fight in Puerto Rico.
05/18/05 -After a devastating defeat at the hands of Winky Wright on Saturday night, Felix Trinidad has allegedly retired again. He has been known as one of the most devastating pound for pound fighters in the world, but looked completely outclassed against the boxing technician Winky Wright. Wright has now asserted himself as one of the dominating forces in boxing, joining Bernard Hopkins as the only two men to defeat and quite possibly retire Felix Trinidad. All night Wright kept Trinidad at the end of his jab and kept him completely off-balance. Trinidad looked old and if Winky had really wanted to, he could have really damaged Trinidad and knocked him out. But after such being dominated and basically routed in his last fight the question can be asked, should Tito retire?
At first glance one might say yes. He looked terrible against Winky and could have gotten seriously hurt had Winky really tried to knock him out. There was no head movement, no footwork and he didn’t even do what he does best and that’s throw punches. I remember a Trinidad who would hit whatever was in front of him including throwing a couple of low blows if he needed to. Winky Wright is not easy to hit because of his defense. He keeps his guard up while at the same time keeping his elbows pinned in against his body to protect from bodyshots. No one can convince me that a fighter with Trinidad’s power could not drastically change the fight if he just pounded away at Wright’s elbows. Especially the right, in the later rounds that would have made it difficult and painful for Wright to even jab, it might have opened up the body and numerous opportunities.
I also remember a Trinidad who sometimes would do his impersonation of the Ali shuffle. It had been widely stated that one of the reasons Trinidad came back was for his fans and to avenge his loss to Hopkins, in fact it had been said that the reason he retired in the first place is because he couldn’t get a rematch with Bernard. Whether that’s true or not we may never know. But one thing is for sure, no matter how good he looked against Ricardo Mayorga, Tito would once again fail miserably against Hopkins. Winky pressured Tito and beat him to the punch all night making it look easy. In fact it didn’t seem that he had to work as hard as Hopkins did for the win. Trinidad just couldn’t hit Wright and when he did he was unable to do any damage. When he fought Hopkins he hit him and he didn’t go anywhere. Wright and Hopkins are two of the most dominant fighters in the game today, the have many similarities and also many differences. One difference is that had that been Hopkins in the ring against Trinidad Saturday night, we probably would have seen a devastating knockout, even earlier than the first fight. If Trinidad’s reflexes, meaning his balance and timing have diminished that much he does need to retire. I also understand that his father is retiring and that Tito will not continue without his father has manager and trainer.
Personally I feel that Tito should not retire just yet. If continuing without his father is a problem, then I feel his father can step back as a trainer a maybe just manage his son. Or maybe even work the corner as a cut man and assistant. The influence would still be there and another trainer might be able to see what wrong and get Trinidad to make minor adjustments, not change, but make minor adjustments that would help. Trinidad’s had an outstanding career and has taken on the toughest challenges out there. What I saw Saturday night was what many expected to happen times ten. I’m not so sure that Trinidad would have beaten Wright when he was fighting at 154. But either way unless Trinidad saw something that made him feel that he has nothing left at all, I don’t feel he should retire after just his second loss. It doesn’t say much about a fighter if he retires every time he loses. There are many fights to be made out there including a rematch with Wright. And of course it’s not a given that Hopkins walks thru Taylor, if Hopkins were to lose, a fight between Trinidad and Hopkins would still do well, much like Ali-Frazier even after they had lost.
Winky Wright just looked like the bigger man Saturday and even though they said that Trinidad was a middleweight, his record at 160 is 2-2. The two middleweights he beat, Joppy and Mayorga, were small. Joppy was always an undersized middleweight and Mayorga was a blown up welterweight. Maybe middleweight is really not the weight for Trinidad. There’s no doubt in my mind that he can make 154 and there are big fights to be made there. A fight with Ouma, which would exciting and action packed. Santos, Simms and Spinks are all controlled by Don King. A rematch with Fernando Vargas or Ricardo Mayorga at 154 would be big also. The biggest fight of course would be a rematch with Oscar De la Hoya. This fight would probably give Trinidad a purse of between 15- 25 million and would do amazing numbers for PPV. The first fight had controversy and this one would be big. You have to think that a fighter like Trinidad would not want to retire with his last fight being a loss. Also he has never fought in the new stadium in Puerto Rico where he’s an icon. A farewell bout there would be big for him and his fans who have loyally supported him. Imagine a farewell fight Puerto Rico featuring Felix Trinidad vs. Oscar De la Hoya. That might be the biggest fight of the decade. Oscar has said before that he would like to fight in Puerto Rico and Mexico before he retires and has also been stating that a rematch with Trinidad would happen if they fought at 154-156. Trinidad should look to do a farewell fight with the biggest name in boxing and then call it quits if anything.
As Winky Wright said boxing needs a fighter like Trinidad because of what he brings to the sport. If he truly saw something that tells him he can no longer fight again, then it’s only right that he calls it quits. If he still has that hunger then he needs to just regroup and go at it again. Either way for now Trinidad is retired and his father has stated that they haven’t formally spoken with Don King. Maybe Don can persuade them to reconsider but if not we can say he made the sport exciting and will be missed. Let’s just hope he decides to at least fight a farewell fight in Puerto Rico.
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