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i mean i remember trinidad was a heavy favorite coming to this fight. 3-1 favorite i remember. and Im one of those ppl who picked tito to win. but i wasnt so sure. i knew hopkins would have a chance to crack him. but look how easily hopkins smashed trinidad in that fight. and now if you compare the two its a fukin mismatch. what made trinidad so dangerous in most ppl's eyes?? his left hook or what? punching power. Hopkins dismantled that fool
In a nutshell, Trinidad was (at the time) one of the most overrated fighters around.
Maybe now he is a little underrated, but my point still stands.
ive got to admit i did favour trinidad heavily. he was coming off 2 devastating wins against vargas and joppy. He was also the marquee fighter in this matchup. Think about it. In the middleweight tournament Trinidad sold out Madison Square Garden while Hopkins fought in the smaller garden venue.
The 2 big wins for me made me fancy him over Hopkins. Also it was in the script for Tinidad to win and that Hopkins could possibly grow old overnight. How wrong I was
I didn't think Trinidad would win.
But it was off his performance against Joppy and the fact that people were shortchanging Hopkins for his skill and felt that eventually Tito would catch up to him, for some reason they didn't even consider that Hopkins could take his punch and they wanted Tito to fight Roy Jones.
If you ask me Tito's lucky he fought Hopkins, if he would have fought Roy at that time he would have been done worse, knocked out faster, and NEVER come out of retirement.
It was pretty much the combination of Tito's BIG wins over Reid, Vargas and Joppy and the fact that Hopkins had little oposition in his weight class and he had not looked very impressive in recent fights at that time.
I remember being very VERY nervous for Tito in this fight. I knew this was going to be his toughest challange. All my brothers and friends were telling me I was crazy. But I was more of a boxing fan than they and I had seen enough Hopkins fights to know that there was going to be trouble. I still thaught Tito would win though.
I also was looking forward to a possible fight with Roy Jones, I didn't hink Tito could beat him, but it would have been a Big night of boxing. And then shortly after that Roy gets himself knocked out twice....It kinda makes you think...What if Tito had won that fight against B-Hop. Maybe he was going to fight Roy at just the right time....hmmm. Then again, he probably would have gotten KTFOut.
Roy didnt lose until he went to heavyweight and come back down. Trinidad wouldn't have beat him till he came down. And Roy had about 5 other defenses so if Tito had beaten Hopkins would would have beat him.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Rookie Fan
Its really, really easy to say it now but at the time Hopkins for his level and class was still in relative obscurity and Trinidad was a superstar. It seems B-hop only really got the level of fame he had earned when he faught Taylor.
He got it with his KO over De La Hoya IMO... which is a shame because Hopkins is one of the best fighters of our generation IMO...
ARE YOU STILL HERE? Gottdamnnnn....Quote:
Originally Posted by Pro BOXER18
Dismantle that fool... ::** IDIOT!!
...Felix Trinindad was anything but overrated...
It was that Bhop was underrated.. People tried to take away felix's thunder syaing..He's not a true middleweight and the joppy knockout was due to some sort of mis taping of his hands...
All rubbish..
Fact is.. Tito.. A truely great fighter and a legendary powerful boxer..
Bernard hopkins one of two best defensive and boxing masterminds of the era.. He and james toney
All it is that bernard was underrated..
Nothing to do with differnce in taping of hands etc.. Its like harold lederman said in the pre fight video's and statements to trinidad- mayorga...
It wasnt any controversy of taping of hands , or exposure..It was highly likely that bernard saw the way felix dismantled joppy which influenced him to box trinidad in the way he did..
Any true boxing fan could see that bernard had a stone solid fight plan that night and it was executed to perfection..
You can go around calling trinidad a fool.. say hes overrated... But its highly untrue..
Trinidad is a legend and has only ever been beaten by at least as of now top 5 pound for pound fighters.. and had the sense even at such a young age as to use initiative and not be greedy and know when is the time to retire and keep his legact in tact.. A rare quality in top fighters.
Yeah, I can see your point. After all, Trinidad lost TWO WHOLE FIGHTS in his 42-2 (35 KOs) career. Both against future HOF fighters. He did that, while defeating more than a few previously undefeated fighters, some of whose carcasses De La Hoya later feasted upon.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimboogie
So yeah, you're statement of Trinidad being, not just overrated but "ONE OF THE MOST OVERRATED FIGHTERS AROUND" is chock-full of common sense and boxing wisdom.
:puke:
Tito was knockin every body out, it seemed like. And Joppy was rated more highly than Hopkins by some people at the time, and look what Tito did to him. Plus Hopkins' win over Keith Holmes was pretty underwhelming. And every body loves a puncher. Add all that up and you get a big a disapointment for Trinidad fans when Hopkins took him apart.
CC,I'm guessing that's how most saw it and it's easy to see.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hulk
Trinidad was not overated and i thought he would win because of his ko power i expected a ko from him because he carried his power upto middle with his ko of Joppy
His impressive KO of Joppy in Tito's 1st fight at 160, combined with Hopkins' subpar performance against Keith Holmes.... all that kinda raised my expectations, too. Hopkins was just too much of a tough nut for Tito to crack, however.Quote:
Originally Posted by tysonbruno
I figured it would come down to a hard and close decision and i was hoping it was for trinidad..Quote:
Originally Posted by TitoFan
I was already a fan of Bhop knew he hadnt, wouldnt and probably will never be stopped...
Personally i think he is one of the most underrated defensive greats of all time..
But the way in which bernard fought tito was genius and what happened in that fight was exactly what Bernard had expected to happen.. It was pretty much planned to a tee..
Yep to be honest Hopkins performance against Tito was excellent like poetry in motion Hopkins was at his best there he fought extremely well he done everything exactly right and even brawling sometimes that was one of the most beautiful performances i've ever seen in ring and props to Tito for lasting that long because he took some very hard shots.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tito_BHB
A severely well-deserved CC for that, Ice. No one EVER mentions that side of the fight. People lose sight of the fact that this was Trinidad's 2nd fight ever at 160. He was facing a truly UNDERrated (at the time) defensive master at middleweight. A natural middleweight who had reigned at that weight for a LONG time. Someone who will undoubtedly go into the HOF as one of the best middleweights in boxing's history. IMO, there is no shame whatsoever in Tito's defeat to Hopkins.Quote:
Originally Posted by ICE COLD BOXING
:coolclick: back bro watched that fight few times i couldn't believe right hands Tito took and that right hand that floored him that was perfect right hand and he still got up what heart from Tito plus that wasn't even his proper weight thats amazing thing and am i biggest Tito fan ?? no but do i respect him not ducking anyone and his style and his warrior like heart ?? oh hell yes ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by TitoFan
No shame atall.. I mean if anything tito was hugely exciting from the start because he had a vulnerability to him and he got knocked down early only to knockout his opponents..
And the complete contrast in which he actually suffered his only defeats he was in fact slowly and methodically taken apart by two of the best pound for pound and best defensive fighters of this era if not ever..
And lets not forget..Tito was up at nine..It was felix sr who walked in with the towel to stop the fight..
One thing that is really interesting to watch is that when a friend of mine see's the knockout..nine out of ten will say that bernard pushed felix..But he in fact turned in so hard with a right hand felix was as close to dead weight as he possibly could be without actually bieng sparked out.. He hits him then pushes forward and goes to throw another shot but felix is already down..
A real sight to see when felix is down and stumbles back down whilst struggling to get up.. vacant stare and everything
Damn bro. Got me all choked up while reading that last paragraph (LOL). No but seriously, that was a pretty good description of the end of the fight. I remember that blank stare as well. Few of us can imagine what it must be like to go down by KO for the first time in over 40 fights, most of them KO victories. And yeah, Tito was up at nine. But Felix Sr. had seen enough and knew Tito would just suffer unnecessary damage.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tito_BHB
Agreed. That was just an old school, outback woodshed, downhome Mississippi @ss whoopin'!
Tito was beaten before he even got in the ring , right from the start Hopkins owned him !
Remeber his Body language coming to the ring ?
Does anyone remember the Press conferance in Puerto Rico ?
Hopkins pushed him back and Tito didnt retaliate with zest or enthusiasim right from that moment he lost the fight !!
The fight also took place 2 weeks after 9/11 the original was cancelled Tito had to wait around in New York whilst Hopkins went home to relax and tick over people who dont believe this was a factor should remember the shape Tito came into the ring .................................................. .......................................fat with a belly and though Tito also put on a bit spare after weighing in he was badly out of condition .
Hopkins would have beaten him anyway .