Felix Trinidad- Beat 3 out of 4 Olympic Gold medalists!

[TitoFan]

Although the loss to Hopkins was hugely disappointing, I don't think it hurt his legacy at all. It was one of three losses on Trinidad's record, all to HOF'ers. Hopkins will go down in history as one of the greatest MW champions ever, and he was always a MW. Trinidad was coming up from WW and JMW. No shame in losing to an established champion at that weight. To your point of how he handled Carr easier than either DLH or Quartey, I would add that his showing against Hopkins, although a loss, was also a better showing than DLH against Hopkins... which was an ill-advised mismatch.

I'd also add that Trinidad's showing against Joppy was incredibly impressive, given that it was his first fight at MW against another legitimate, and noticeably bigger champion in Joppy.

To be fair to Tito I don't think he belonged at 160lbs. Obviously he was best at 147, and 154 should have been his max.

He was tall but I don't think he had the frame to be a middleweight.

You're right about the frame. 160 was definitely not his best weight. Yet he beat Joppy and easily would've dispatched Keith Holmes, who Bernard drew as an opponent in the elimination bout leading up to the Trinidad showdown. Looking at some of the MW names in the division at that time, I think Felix would've fared fairly well. Obviously he wasn't going to go beyond 160, and there was no way in hell he would ever beat RJJ. But I think Trinidad could've hung at 160 and done ok for himself. Not so with DLH, who tried to add MW to his resume and failed miserably. Of course, DLH came from further down in the weight divisions also.

[vidgil]

You're right about the frame. 160 was definitely not his best weight. Yet he beat Joppy and easily would've dispatched Keith Holmes, who Bernard drew as an opponent in the elimination bout leading up to the Trinidad showdown. Looking at some of the MW names in the division at that time, I think Felix would've fared fairly well. Obviously he wasn't going to go beyond 160, and there was no way in hell he would ever beat RJJ. But I think Trinidad could've hung at 160 and done ok for himself. Not so with DLH, who tried to add MW to his resume and failed miserably. Of course, DLH came from further down in the weight divisions also.

I think Tito could have held his own at MW but IMO would never be a great MW, like he was a great WW. It was also a relatively weak time for MWs at that point if I remember correctly. I would have liked to see him fight Howard Eastman, who had a great chin and could really crack himself.

[TitoFan]

You're right about the frame. 160 was definitely not his best weight. Yet he beat Joppy and easily would've dispatched Keith Holmes, who Bernard drew as an opponent in the elimination bout leading up to the Trinidad showdown. Looking at some of the MW names in the division at that time, I think Felix would've fared fairly well. Obviously he wasn't going to go beyond 160, and there was no way in hell he would ever beat RJJ. But I think Trinidad could've hung at 160 and done ok for himself. Not so with DLH, who tried to add MW to his resume and failed miserably. Of course, DLH came from further down in the weight divisions also.

I think Tito could have held his own at MW but IMO would never be a great MW, like he was a great WW. It was also a relatively weak time for MWs at that point if I remember correctly. I would have liked to see him fight Howard Eastman, who had a great chin and could really crack himself.

No... not a great 160 for sure. I don't think Tito was ever going to be one of these guys who can move through 4 or more weight divisions, a la Pacquiao. Myself, I've always appreciated those who carve out a legacy of excellence in one or two weight divisions, and own them. That make 15 or more title defenses. You've got the Monzon's of the world.... the Hopkins'.... even now the Golovkin's. Come to think of it, I just mentioned three middleweights. But you get my point.

[Alpha]

I think Tito would have always struggled with Wright but I would have loved to see the fight at 154 around the time of the Vargas fight. The way he despatched Joppy was incredible considering Hopkins put all kinds of hurt on Joppy and couldn't get him out of there.

[mikeeod]

I think Tito would have always struggled with Wright but I would have loved to see the fight at 154 around the time of the Vargas fight. The way he despatched Joppy was incredible considering Hopkins put all kinds of hurt on Joppy and couldn't get him out of there.

If you watch Jppy's fights vs Tito and Hop, you will see that while Tito's win was impressive, Joppy helped by trying to bully Tito (first fight at 160) and walked right into bombs. Against Hop, Joppy went into survival/spoiler mode almost immediately. I think Winky vs Tito at 154 is a great match up, but give the stylistic advantage to Winky.

[Alpha]

I think Tito would have always struggled with Wright but I would have loved to see the fight at 154 around the time of the Vargas fight. The way he despatched Joppy was incredible considering Hopkins put all kinds of hurt on Joppy and couldn't get him out of there.

If you watch Jppy's fights vs Tito and Hop, you will see that while Tito's win was impressive, Joppy helped by trying to bully Tito (first fight at 160) and walked right into bombs. Against Hop, Joppy went into survival/spoiler mode almost immediately. I think Winky vs Tito at 154 is a great match up, but give the stylistic advantage to Winky.

Your right that Joppy took a calculated risk against Trinidad. If I remember correctly Hopkins & Joppy had a wager about a stoppage. Hopkins bet he would stop Joppy. Probably a reason Joppy was more defensive, In saying that the beating was brutal & Joppy was a tough guy for surviving. Also I think Trinidad was Joppy's only loss by KO at 160. The others came at higher weights and much later in his career.