THE SNEAKY DON AND HIS CINDERBLOCK HANDWRAPS. PT. 2.
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Finally, he (The Don) also admits, that not only does the illegal wrap allow Tito to hit harder, but it PREVENTS TITO'S HANDS FROM OPENING ON IMPACT" which actually provides more protection for his hand. So while most fighters have to worry about hitting a fighter on the top of the head in fear of hurting their hands, Tito's hands have extra power and extra protection from illegal hand wraps.
You may think, "Oh Well," it's over. He wrapped the hands illegally, he got caught and was made to rewrap legally - no harm - no foul.
Not exactly.
First of all, Don Felix insists that he is going to continue to wrap Tito's hands the way he has always wrapped them - which is of course, illegally. In the same interview quoted above, Don Felix is asked straight out, "Will you be wrapping Tito’s hands differently for this upcoming fight with Cherifi?" and to my absolute amazement his answer was, "No, we’ll be doing it the same way we’ve always done it because I believe that we wouldn’t have the same problems we had for the last fight. That controversy was really done to fill our heads with too many things at the same time. It was like a type of terrorism in a time when terrorism was in the United States. It was boxing terrorism."
I don't see how you can blame Hopkins for not allowing them to wrap Tito's left hand without anyone from his camp being there. Hown one day the cops come and arrest you just after one of your sparring sessions on her face, you can't blame the cops for terrorizing you just because you got away with it all the other times.
If the wraps were illegal, then they will be and always have been illegal. That is as long as they are in the United States. Which brings up a very interesting twist.
Cherifi better watch very carefully how Tito wraps that left hand, but even if he does, are the same rules applicable in Puerto Rico? Even if the rules are the same will the commission there enforce them?
Regardless, the fact remains; the first reason to pay close attention to this issue is for the protection of Tito's future opponents, such as Cherifi. However, there is another reason. What about Tito's past opponents?
Tito Trinidad has moved up the boxing ranks by giving some of the best fighters in boxing a severe beating and some of them may never be the same after suffering the effects of that beating. Take for example, David Reid. In March of 2000 Reid, who was 14-0 and the WBA jr. middleweight champion of the world, stepped into the ring against Tito Trinidad. Reid had a good right hand and caught Tito with it in the 3rd round and sent him to the canvas. More importantly he was able to avoid Tito's left hook, but only until the 7th round. Tito knocked read down in the 7th and then 3 times in the 11th. Since that fight it has been apparent that Reid will never be the same fighter. He was literally ruined by one fight.
His next fight against Kirino Garcia (who had a record of 28-20-1) you could see the lasting effects of the Trinidad beating - this was supposed to be a confidence building fight for Reid. But instead, Reid was gun shy and tired badly down the stretch allowing Garcia to almost steal the fight; in fact, everyone in the audience felt Kirino Garcia won the fight even though the judges gave the decision to Reid. However, Reid knew he was not the same.
His next fight would be against Urbano Gurrola (who was 18-7) and it was more of the same. Gurrola withstood the right hands through the first 5 rounds and then Reid tired badly. It was as if Reid was a totally different fighter. You could see the panic in his face by the8th round as Gurrola started putting pressure on him. Again, Reid was given a decision that many felt he didn't deserve. The next fight against Maurice Brantley (23-3) was almost identical to the two prior fights. But if those three fights weren't enough proof, his next fight against Sam Hill (who was 13-2-1 and looked to be badly out of shape) confirmed everyone's suspicions. Reid would never be the same fighter - he was TKO'ed in the 9th round by Sam Hill on November 11, 2001 and his career likely over for good. In just over a year’s time it became crystal clear that the beating Tito Trinidad gave David Reid would last a lifetime.
Then you have the Fernando Vargas. If anyone heard the explosion that Tito's left hook made when it connected to Vargas' chin in the first round of their fight, you have to ask yourself "what did he just get hit with." Even Fernardo Vargas said, "I had never been hit with a punch like that. I can remember thinking, who is this guy Mike Tyson." After going back and watching the tape of the Vargas vs Trinidad fight, I noticed that even Jim Lampley was saying, "look at how Vargas is responding even to Tito's jab." It was absolutely amazing. Tito's jab was almost knocking Vargas down and this is a fighter who had fought top quality opposition and had never been knocked down before. The exact same story with William Joppy.
However, once he was made to wrap his hands legally against Bernard Hopkins, the power was gone. At about 1:30 into the first round, Tito and Hopkins got tangled up and as Hopkins was pulling out, Tito was holding his arms down and he hit Hopkins with the exact same left hook that took Vargas down and Joppy out, yet Hopkins felt no ill effects. Again, in the 5th or 6th round as the bell rang to end the round, Tito threw a left hook after the bell rang and caught Hopkins square on his chin, yet Hopkins just looked at Tito like to say, "is that all you got."
You could see the look on Tito's face, he knew that the fight was over at that point. Even Hopkins told me in our interview, "once Tito hit me with his left hook and seen that he couldn't hurt me, the fight was over." It seems that the illegal hand wraps do indeed have an effect on Tito's power, just as Don Felix says.
The facts are, that if the wraps were illegal in New York and Don Felix maintains that he has always wrapped Tito's hands that way and that he is going to continue wrapping Tito's hands that way, then there needs to be an official investigation. :hat
Ironically, in the very same building that Don Felix was caught wrapping Tito's hands illegally (Madison Square Garden), in 1983 a prospect named Billy Collins was badly and surprisingly beaten by an outsider named Luis Resto. At the end Collins's eyes were swollen shut, his mouth was badly bruised and his nose broken. Afterwards his trainer-father shook hands with Resto and felt no padding in the gloves. The very same New York commission discovered.
There must be an official investigation before there is a Billy Collins in Tito Trinidad's future and we can only pray that there is not one in his past.
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IKE ENWEREUZOR INTERVIEWS BOUIE FISCHER LONG TIME TRAINER OF BERNARD HOPKINS AFTER THE TRINIDAD FIGHT.
Ike Enwereuzor:
" I talked to William Joppy before his last fight and he brought up an issue that Trinidad's people wrapped Tito's hand illegally and that is why he lost. He said that your people caught Trinidad illegally wrapping his hands. Can you tell us what happened?"
Bouie Fischer:
" I tell you, Ike. They have been getting away with that for a long time. I sent my people to Trinidad's locker room to make sure everything was right. When they got there they came back to me and toldme that Trinidad's left hand was wrapped before they got there. So, I had to go over to his dressing room myself, this is my business and I have been doing it for over 50 years. When I got there I told them to unwrap the hand and do it over because we need to see the hand being wrapped. They refused to unwrap the hands so I told them I guess the fight will not happen then, we can reschedule to another date. The officials came in and said we don't have time to do this over. I told them, well we must do this right or no fight. They know the rules, no tape on the skin or tape on the ankle. His left hand was heavy just like your camera. Guess what, the officials then said, " you can go and wrap Bernard hands anyway you want." Trinidad's father and his people didn't want to make the change because they knew they cheated and they tried to cover it up by asking me to wrap Bernard's hands anyway we wish. I wasn't going for that, we have to do this right, they raised hell like you couldn't believe. I said you can do it your way, but there will be no fight if you don't do it right. They said we are going to leave it as it is, so I told them we can reschedule the fight untill next week. They didn't want to do that. This is why we had a delay coming out. When they saw Bernard they tried to ask us to take off just a little tape, but they had a half roll of tape on Trinidad's left hand. This is why people say he has a good left hook. David Reid paid a big price, Trinidad took away the fighter in him. David Reids people were trying to schedule a fight with Bernard and it could have happened if Reid would have won his last fight.
I'm glad it never happened. "
O0
