Twenty-four years ago, the legendary Felix Trinidad made his middleweight debut. He convincingly silenced any doubts about his power translating to the 160-pound division, delivering an authoritative knockout victory over WBA champion William Joppy.
Having already proven himself as a formidable welterweight world champion, Trinidad (42-3, 35 KOs) moved up to junior middleweight in 2000. There, he defeated David Reid and Fernando Vargas, becoming a unified champion at 154 pounds and further solidifying his place in boxing history.
However, after spending just nine months in that division, Trinidad decided to ascend to the profitable 160-pound weight class. His target was a showdown with Bernard Hopkins (55-8-2, 32 KOs) for the undisputed middleweight title, but he first needed to dethrone WBA champion William Joppy (40-7-2, 30 KOs).
Fighting at Madison Square Garden, Trinidad quickly asserted his dominance. Joppy, initially willing to trade blows in the center of the ring with the Puerto Rican star, soon realized the error of his strategy.
In the opening round, the Maryland-born champion was sent crashing to the canvas. He had momentarily dropped his hands, allowing Trinidad to connect with the full force of a left hook. The bell saved Joppy from further damage, for the moment at least.
Ignoring the clear warning sign, Joppy continued to engage Trinidad, refusing to abandon his aggressive, front-foot strategy despite his narrow escape. He recovered somewhat in rounds two and three, finding moments of success.
Yet, Joppy would once again pay the price for his misplaced confidence in the fourth round. Failing to learn from his earlier mistake, he again lowered his hands, enabling another powerful left hook from Trinidad that sent him sprawling to the canvas a second time.
Fighting on pure survival instincts and visibly shaky legs, the brave American refused to quit. However, his resilience met its end in the fifth round. Trinidad landed a clean right hand that clearly rocked Joppy to his core, followed by another on the way down, prompting the referee to immediately stop the contest.
While he may have been in denial during the fight, Joppy famously admitted Trinidad`s superior power in a post-fight interview.
He stated, “I have never been hit like that before.”
Adding, “He’s a great champion. I never thought he could hit like that. I didn’t think he would have that much power coming up from 154 pounds.”
`Tito` got his anticipated shot at Bernard Hopkins for the undisputed middleweight championship just four months later. However, it was Hopkins who emerged victorious, ending Trinidad`s perfect 40-fight undefeated record with a memorable twelfth-round knockout in their historic clash.
Oliver Croft