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

[mikeeod]

Tito did have a very impressive run, however, up to his fight vs Hop. Tito's wins vs Yori Boy Campas, Vargas, Reid, Blocker, and Joppy were extremely impressive. Watch his early fights and you will see true greatness. Before he fell in love with his punch/stamina, he was a masterful boxer with serious power in both hands.

The Oba Carr win was also excellent.

Definitely. He handled Carr much more easily than either Oscar or Ike Quartey. I thought Tito looked impressive vs Anthony Stephens as well. The loss to Bernard hurt Tito's legacy because that is what people focus on (plus his loss to Winky), but the guy was a legit great fighter in his prime.

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.

I say it hurt Tito's legacy because it is the fight most fans remember when they think of him. That, or the Oscar fight, and both made him look one dimensional. Tito is like Kelly Pavilik in that both were very solid fighters early in their career and then fell in love with their punch and were beaten by Hop. Tito had a great jab, good movement, and solid defense at his best. That's NOT what most fans remember, unfortunately.

The Joppy win was great. Joppy was the undisputed #2 middleweight at the time and Tito destroyed him. Phenomenal showing. In my opinion, this fight is the reason I don't give credence/credibility to the argument that Tito wasn't a true middleweight. The only guy at 160 who beats Tito during that time is Hop, and size wasn't the reason, Hop was just better.