Where now for Trinidad?

By Paul Upham: What a difference 12-rounds can make. Felix “Tito” Trinidad entered the ring last Saturday night undefeated in 40 fights, having held five world title belts in three different weight divisions. He was like a runaway locomotive and, to many, it was just a matter of time before Bernard Hopkins became victim No. 41.
But less than a week on from that fateful night, which propelled Bernard Hopkins into the realms of the greatest middleweights in history, we are now left to ponder what the future holds for Trinidad.

The original plan conceived by Papa Trinidad was for Tito to become the undisputed middleweight champion and then face Roy Jones Jr at super middleweight in the biggest fight in recent memory. Two undisputed champions facing off for the right to call themselves the best of the best.

But how quickly things change and, with the sight of Trinidad being battered by Hopkins fresh in our minds, where does Trinidad go from here? How does a man who has been so confident over the last two years handle such a comprehensive defeat?

The physical wounds will heal in time, but the mental scarring to Trinidad’s confidence and psyche may linger much longer and this is why I believe that we will not see Trinidad in another big fight straight away. The fire of confidence needs to be relit and stoked and fanned until a time when the Trinidad express train is up and running again.

Promoter Don King said this week that he had been approached by representatives of Oscar De La Hoya and that they weren’t looking for a fight with Hopkins, who would be too big and strong for the “Golden Boy”. No, Oscar wants a rematch with Trinidad to avenge his first defeat and what better timing than after Trinidad has been beaten down both mentally and physically.

Before last Saturday night, if the money was right, Trinidad would have accepted a rematch with De La Hoya at junior middleweight in a heartbeat. But with the lateral movement of Hopkins fresh in his mind and the memories of what De La Hoya did to him in the early rounds, maybe the Trinidads will pass on this fight for a while. If not De La Hoya, then who?

The best way to restore Trinidad’s confidence before facing De La Hoya would be to win a world title belt. But, all of a sudden, fights that Trinidad would have accepted as easy, take on a whole new perspective.

Assuming that he stays away from middleweight and Hopkins for a while, Trinidad is looking at De La Hoya, who holds the WBC belt, and Fernando Vargas, who recently acquired the WBA belt and would happily accept a rematch of their December slugfest. Although he stopped Vargas in the 12th round, “El Feroz” inflicted considerable damage on Tito and an all-out war is not really what the Puerto Rican would be looking for at this stage.

The IBF belt is currently vacant and will be contested by Winky Wright and Robert Frazier on October 12. Wright, a tricky southpaw, is avoided by everybody who doesn’t have to fight him and you can be sure that Trinidad will feel the same way at this time. But if Robert Frazier finds a way to beat Wright and win his first world title, a fight with Trinidad would be a very nice payday for him and the perfect opportunity for Trinidad to get back his confidence and have a belt around his waist before facing De La Hoya or Vargas.

The other possibility is for Trinidad to hang around at middleweight and wait for Hopkins to retire, lose to someone else (which seems highly unlikely at this stage) or contest a belt that may be stripped from Hopkins if he doesn’t keep up to date on his mandatory defences.

This would be a hollow victory for Trinidad and, the warrior that he is, you can bet he is already planning how to defeat the man who was the first to beat him.

Trinidad has been a very good world champion. At 28 years of age, he has plenty of time to get back to the top, learning from his mistakes and coming back a better all-round fighter. But the true test of any boxer is how he comes back after a loss when the confidence levels are not where they once were.

The Trinidad express needs to get back on the rails first, before Tito faces De La Hoya, Vargas, Mosley or Hopkins. After some fine-tuning by Papa Trinidad, Tito will be firing again, just not right away.

Paul Upham
Contributing Editor