BERT SUGAR'S PRE-FIGHT ANALYSIS

by Bert Sugar with Steve Small

STRENGTHS OF BOTH FIGHTERS

FELIX TRINIDAD

- Trinidad is a tall, stand-up boxer-hyphen-puncher with power in both hands.

- Trinidad's signature punch is a left hook which he uses effectively to both the head and body, especially as a counterpunch.

- Felix applies constant pressure, making his opponent fight every minute of every round.

- A very good offensive fighter, Trinidad throws fast, effective combinations to the head and body. ROY JONES, JR.

- Jones is a bigger, stronger fighter when fighting at his natural weight, which is in the 170 range.

- He possesses the fastest hands and feet north of the welterweight division.

- Jones's style of moving in and out, right and left, and using his speed will give Trinidad problems.

- In a match-up of styles, Trinidad's style is the perfect style for Jones.

WEAKNESSES OF BOTH FIGHTERS

TRINIDAD

- "Tito" has fought with all the frequency of Halley's Comet--only four times in the last six years and only twice in the last five--and his most recent layoff may cause that condition known as "ring rust."

- Trinidad is, at best, a fair defensive fighter, standing up too tall and walking straight in on his opponent.

- Trinidad has always had problems with fighters who move laterally (De La Hoya, Hopkins, Wright). He tends to shuffle his feet as he moves forward and is slow to get set in front of his opponent, needing one or two extra steps to set up to throw punches.

- Fighting at an unusual heavier weight than Jones, he may be slower in his movements than he has been in the past.

JONES

- The bigger questions about Jones are: how much his two knockout losses (to Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson) have taken out of him; and how much desire does he possess to really fight.

- Jones has always fought with his chin up and his back straight, relying on his incredible foot speed to carry him out of trouble. But in recent matches his foot speed has not been what it was in his prime and may not be able to carry him out of the same sort of trouble now.

- Roy has developed a bad habit of backing straight up to the ropes instead of circling opponents, something he did against Glen Johnson, to his ultimate regret.

- Never a great volume puncher, Jones has been throwing fewer and fewer punches in his recent fights.

WHAT EACH MUST DO TO WIN

TRINIDAD

- Trinidad is a tremendous fighter on the inside and a vicious body puncher. He should hook Jones to the body early and often to slow him down--especially on the ropes where Jones doesn't protect his body.

- He must back Jones up, trying to muscle him into the ropes, taking away Jones's superior movement.

- "Tito" must pace himself in the early going, working off the ring "rust" and not letting Jones dictate the action and take the fight away from him.

JONES

- Jones needs to throw his left more, especially his jab, and land combinations rather than throwing one punch at a time.

- Jones cannot back straight up--especially to the ropes. He needs to take one step or two backward, then move to his left or right and not get trapped on the ropes by Trinidad.

- Jones must make this fight about speed, his greatest advantage. He will need to move in and out and use his jab, which he sometimes forgets, and throw combos, then move away before Trinidad can set himself up to throw one of his bombs.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

- Jones's right-hand leads, Hopkins hit Tito all night long with right-hand leads and so will Jones. - When Jones is on the ropes he tends to lean back so his head is as far away from his opponent as possible thus exposing his body to Tito's hooks.

- Jones has forgotten his jab. Whenever Roy is moving backwards he leads with his left hook and when he is moving forward he throws right-hand leads.

- Rough fighting and fouls. Trinidad is use to roughhousing and does well in rough fights. Jones, on the other hand, has seldom been in tough, physical brawls and doesn't do well when he has been--for references, see his fight against Glen Johnson.

Bert Sugar is the co-author, with Angelo Dundee, of "My View from the Corner," now on sale at bookstores everywhere.