A former rival of Oscar De La Hoya and Shane Mosley has revealed the name of one other fighter who hit harder.
De La Hoya and Mosley are widely considered to be two of the best fighters of their respective generations which culminated in the crossing paths on two occasions.
‘Sugar Shane’ defeated De La Hoya via split decision after a competitive 12-round clash at the Staples Center in Los Angeles back in June of 2000 to capture the WBC world welterweight title.
Their second encounter took place several years after their first and it was Mosley who prevailed once again as he defeated ‘The Golden Boy’ via unanimous decision to unify the WBA and WBA light-middleweight titles in Las Vegas.
One man that shared the ring with both Mosley and De La Hoya was Fernando Vargas, who held a version of the world light-middleweight title on two occasions during his career.
In a feature with The Ring Magazine, Vargas overlooked Mosley and ‘The Golden Boy’ when revealing the hardest puncher he ever crossed paths with, naming none other than Puerto Rican great Felix Trinidad.
“Him, but now I know why! I didn’t even know I got knocked out. I was never down in the amateurs or pros, and I went down five times and I don’t remember half the fight. But I know I fought with all my heart.
“When I was on the way to the hospital in the ambulance with my wife after the fight, I said, “Baby, did it look bad when I went down?” And she said, “You got up every single time.” And I said, “How many times did I go down?” I didn’t know I went down five times and I got up five times.
“That’s the warrior that went in. It’s in your DNA. I don’t remember getting up, but I know if I have a heartbeat in my body I’m going to get up. Regardless if I’m in a fight or in life, it doesn’t matter. I’m not going to lay down.
“I felt like I was getting hit by a bat. It was like an explosion in my head. I couldn’t believe it. You can see by my expression in the first knockdown. I know I’d have lasted longer in the game if I didn’t take that fight. It’s a risk – I take the good with the bad.”
Trinidad is widely regarded as being one of the greatest Puerto Rican fighters of all time. He held world titles in three weight classes during his storied professional career, producing victories over the likes of De La Hoya, Ricardo Mayorga and Hector Camacho before his retirement in 2008.
