FELIX TRINIDAD

updated January 23, 2008

After winning world titles in three divisions and defeating three Olympic gold medalists, Trinidad decided he had had enough, until 2004 when he decided to return to the ring against a dangerous middleweight opponent:: former World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council welterweight champion Ricardo "El Matador" Mayorga, from Manauga, Nicaragua. The scene in Madison Square Garden was electrifying on Oct. 2, 2004, when the partisan Puerto Rican crowd raucously welcomed their hero back to the ring. In what was later called the "Latino Hagler-Hearns" by journalist Thomas Gerbasi, Mayorga, who has a penchant for smoking and drinking whether in training or not, got Trinidad's attention after the first bell by winging bombs, some of which landed, while trying to score a knockout. Trinidad weathered the barrage and landed his patented left hooks, and a host of right hands, that delivered on promoter Don King's pre-fight promise of this being a "fight fans fight" for the ages.

With under a minute to go in the third round, Mayorga caught Trinidad with a wild right that forced Trinidad to touch the canvas with his left glove resulting in an unpopular knockdown call. Mayorga tried to do the same in the fourth round, but Trinidad made him pay with whipping shots to the head that sent sweat spraying into ringside seats.

In the fifth round, Trinidad and Mayorga continued their torrid pace, but a nasty gash appeared under the Nicaraguan's left eye. Mayorga finally dropped to the canvas in the eighth round after Trinidad battered him with a body shot. He gamely rose only to be sent to the canvas again after a left hook from Trinidad. An obviously hurt Mayorga refused to quit but was forced to take a knee before referee Steve Smoger had seen enough of the carnage and stopped the fight at 2:39 seconds into the eighth round.

From 1999 to 2001, Trinidad was the hottest boxer in the world, consistently near the top of most experts' pound-for-pound best lists. Following in the footsteps of Puerto Rico's great world champions, including Wilfredo Gomez and Wilfred Benitez, Trinidad's insatiable drive to fight the best champions reached new heights on Sept. 18, 1998, in Las Vegas, when, as the International Boxing Federation welterweight champion, he tangled with World Boxing Council welterweight champion Oscar De La Hoya. The first fight ever at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino was dubbed Fight of the Millennium, Trinidad weathered a slow start to bang a retreating De La Hoya in the last four rounds and triumph by majority decision. "I told everyone I was the best welterweight in the world," announced an ebullient Trinidad. "I proved it against a fighter who ran away from me."

Trinidad's two-handed power was simply too much for "The Golden Boy," who faded badly in the last three rounds. He was routinely booed by the crowd of 12,500, which continuously cheered for Trinidad, chanting "Tito, Tito, Tito." Following the victory, which set a pay-per-view record for a non-heavyweight title fight with more than 1.4 million buys, Trinidad and his camp returned to his native island to an unprecedented celebration that literally closed the capital city for the day. Thousands of flag-waving islanders cheered wildly at the airport and along the parade route into San Juan. Don King, Trinidad's promoter, responded to a cry for a rematch from De La Hoya by saying, "Anytime, anywhere. Just reverse the purses and put Bob Arum's (De La Hoya's promoter's) name where my name was on the first contract and it's done. That's only fair."

On Dec. 2, 2000, in what turned out to be Fight of the Year according to the Boxing Writers Association of America, USA TODAY, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Cleveland Plain Dealer, San Antonio Express-News and others; a career-defining fight for both fighters; and one of the better fights in history; Vargas tasted the canvas for the first time in his entire career at just 26 seconds of the first round. Trinidad had slipped past a Vargas jab to counter with a devastating left hook. Vargas made it to his feet long enough to walk into another powerful left hook, which floored him for the second time. Vargas had been in the ring with Trinidad for less than a minute. It appeared the end was near. Now, many learned, it was clear why De La Hoya chose to run from Trinidad.

Vargas survived the first round and slowly built momentum before shocking Trinidad, and the raucous crowd at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, with a left-hook knockdown of his own in the fourth round that left the Puerto Rican sliding across the canvas on his trunks. Trinidad then built an insurmountable scorecard lead going into the 12th, and final, round. He could have shuffled away from Vargas' haymakers, but, as he had promised, he stood toe to toe with him, repelled his advances and scored three knockdowns in the round-the last of which came from a right hand that Marc Kriegel of the New York Daily News said, "dropped Vargas like a gunshot." Referee Jay Nady mercifully ended the punishment there.

Trinidad, always reaching for greatness, then moved up to 160 pounds to participate in Don King's Middleweight World Championship Series with IBF champion Bernard Hopkins, two-time WBA champion William Joppy, and WBC champion Keith Holmes. The first fight in the tournament was won by Hopkins, who defeated Holmes by unanimous decision in the Theater at Madison Square Garden on April 14, 2001. The second fight featured Trinidad vs. Joppy on May 12 of that year in what turned out to be the largest non-heavyweight crowd, 18,235, and the third-largest gross for boxing since Madison Square Garden moved to its current location in 1968.

The widely held beliefs that Trinidad might not be able to bring his vaunted punching power to, or take a punch at, middleweight were dispelled when Trinidad dropped Joppy with a left hook that sent Joppy sprawling underneath the bottom rope with 12 seconds left in the first round. Joppy survived the round and maintained his composure until 2:03 into the fourth round when Trinidad caught him with a right hand left hook combination that floored Joppy and left him stumbling badly. Joppy made it into the fifth round, but Trinidad dropped him for the third time with two right hands. Referee Arthur Mercante Jr. ended the brutal punishment there.

The newly crowned WBA middleweight champion became the seventh fighter in history to win championships at welterweight and middleweight joining "Sugar" Ray Robinson, Carmen Basilio, Emile Griffith, "Sugar" Ray Leonard, Thomas "The Hitman" Hearns and Roberto "Hands of Stone" Duran.

He then faced IBF and WBC champion Bernard Hopkins in the MWCS finale in the Garden on Sept. 15, 2001. In that bout, Hopkins had a tremendous game plan, stuck to it and fought the fight of his life in winning by technical knockout in round 12.

Trinidad began boxing at age 8 and won five Puerto Rican National Amateur Championships at 100 pounds, 112, 119, 126 and 132. He posted an amateur career record of 51-6, but only had 12 knockouts. When he turned professional on March 10, 1990, he was determined to establish himself as a knockout artist. He made good on his goal by knocking out his first five opponents and nine of his first 10. Trinidad's staggering 35 knockouts in 43 outings have given this slugger one of the highest knockout percentages of any world champion in history at 81 percent.

Felix Trinidad Sr. was the Puerto Rican featherweight champion in 1979; the Boxing Writers Association of America Trainer of the Year in 1995 and 2000; and the BWAA Manager of the Year in 2000 (This marked the first time in it's history that the BWAA had given the Trainer of the Year and Manager of the Year to the same person in one year.) Tito has three sisters and two brothers and remains very close to his family. He lives in Cupey Alto, with his wife, Sharon and two young daughters, Ashley Nicole, 4, and Leysha, 1. He also enjoys playing basketball and visiting the beach.