For this week’s fight of the week we go back to September 2001. Just weeks after the attack on the world trade centre took place Bernhard Hopkins met Felix Trinidad to decide who would become the first undisputed middleweight champion of the world since Marvin Hagler some 13 years previous. Stakes were high, Hopkins had thrown The Puerto Rican flag on the floor at not one but two press conferences, one of which in Puerto Rico itself which caused a riot. How would Trinidad react to this attack on his country’s honour?
Hopkins was 36 years old with a record of 39 wins 2 defeats and 1 draw with 1 no contest, he was the IBF and WBC champion coming into the fight. He had started boxing relatively late in life after spending time in prison, he had been stabbed 3 times and witnessed a murder whilst serving time. Upon release he dedicated himself to boxing to turn his back on his criminal past. After losing his professional debut he went undefeated for 22 fights before contesting for the middleweight title unsuccessfully against hall of fame rival Roy Jones Jnr. 18 months later he had another chance at championship gold, this time he faced Ecuadorian Segundo Mercado In Ecuador. The fight was a draw and the rematch was set 4 months later in the US, Hopkins won this time and became champion at the age of 30.
Trinidad was 28 years old, he was undefeated with a record of 40 wins and no losses, he held the WBA championship after coming up from super welterweight in his previous fight. He had been a boxer most of his life competing in the amateur ranks from the age of 12, he fought in five weight classes before turning pro at 17 at welterweight. A little over 3 years and 20 fights later he was world champion and a hero in his home country of Puerto Rico.
The fight took place in the famed venue of Madison Square Garden, with a full crowd and an electric atmosphere. As the fighters came to centre ring Trinidad looked amped up with an intensity no doubt inflamed by Hopkins’s press conference antics. Hopkins looked like calmness personified by contrast with a stillness in his posture.
The 1st round began with both champions probing each other’s defences testing for tells and weaknesses. Hopkins seemed to be cycling through different looks checking on Trinidad’s reactions, he came out looking to jab then quickly launched into a right hand lead followed by a left hook. As the round went on they clinched up and Hopkins had some success dirty boxing with one hand holding behind the head and the other throwing in hooks and uppercuts. Hopkins certainly looked the bigger man and seemed to be able to control the clinch. Back out at range and Hopkins’s solid stance and measured guard was polished whilst Trinidad’s stance looked shaky and less composed. First round to Hopkins
The 2nd round began with Trinidad pressing the action but Hopkins was able to circle left and right to avoid his stalking. Hopkins started to get some success going with his jab, doubling and feinting off it. Whenever they did come together and clinched Hopkins looked the bigger, stronger fighter and seemed to be in control. As the round drew to a close Hopkins jabbed then dipped for a second before scoring with a clean right hand as his opponent dropped his left glove. Trinidad seemed momentarily wobbled and didn’t seem to react which encouraged Hopkins to follow up before they tied up in the clinch. Hopkins round.
Round 3 began with Trinidad looking to impose himself after the clean right hand he took in the last round. He moved forward with purpose jabbing and looking to throw the swift left hooks for which he was famous for. He certainly had the speed advantage and was looking to put this on Hopkins now. Hopkins got back to circling the ring taking care not to get caught up on the ropes, this was a fairly even round that I gave to Trinidad on activity rather than clean punches landed.
Round 4 was a masterclass in boxing from Hopkins. He set to work early in the round with his jab pushing back the smaller, quicker Trinidad. A lightning left hook counter did seem to give Hopkins pause for a few seconds before he went back to work behind his authoritative jab. Trinidad started to respond with some offence of his own which opened him up to hard counters. They quickly ended up in the clinch and Hopkins again looked to rough house Trinidad with tactics that would have made Randy Couture proud. As they got back to range Hopkins was this time happy to jab off the back foot with sporadic forays of offence. At times he was backed onto the ropes only to step side to side and fire off lead right hands before entering clinches and exiting back to centre ring, masterful stuff. Hopkins round big.
Round 5 saw more of the same varied tactics from Hopkins, jabbing on the lead, countering Trinidad’s offence as well as spots of mauling clinch work. Trinidad’s famous left hook was his principle weapon and easily diffused by Hopkins through the use of a disciplined right hand cover and answering with razor sharp catch and pitch counters or effective head movement. The more the fighters stood at range the more the difference between the economic footwork of Hopkins versus the fast footwork of Trinidad was apparent. Hopkins was always balanced and ready to throw and defend whilst Trinidad looked clumsy by comparison. One bright point for Trinidad was him landing his money punch left hook at the end of the round but he still lost the round comfortably. The referee had to separate the fighters as the bell sounded, Trinidad looked energised by his connection, Hopkins looked cold and unimpressed.
Round 6 saw much of the same patterns repeated from earlier in the fight. The difference in footwork was becoming more apparent, the small measured steps of Hopkins versus the big dancing steps of Trinidad. Energy expended over 12 rounds adds up and Hopkins was looking the more economic by far. A reason for this could be that for the majority of Trinidad’s career he was a massive puncher for the welterweight class which resulted in a lot of knockout wins early. Up at middleweight he was up against a bigger man with no real weakness to easily exploit. Hopkins spent a lot of this round controlling the fight jabbing. Trinidad appeared to get frustrated half way through the round throwing reckless hook, uppercut hook combinations with the left hand. Hopkins answered with upper cuts and hooks of his own with right hands and excellent defence. He landed two consecutive hooks, the second seeming to stun Trinidad for a moment. Another round for Hopkins.
Round 7, and we’re entering the second half of the fight with the knockout artist looking small, out matched and out of ideas. It’s rare to see a fighter so masterful at the core movement patterns of evasion, pressing, feinting and drawing opponents onto shots. In this round Hopkins showed a bit of all of them whilst Trinidad by comparison was not able to show any of them apart from looking to set up his favoured left hook to the head. In a previous blog I spoke about what separates the champions from the very good fighters and one of those was being a student of the game and the versatility that allows. Hopkins spent large portions of the round jabbing both as an offensive weapon and whilst moving away setting up counters. At one point he feinted a right hand, stepped to his right then nailed Trinidad with the right hand, beautiful boxing. Trinidad was getting more and more frustrated which was causing him to make mistakes and burn off energy whilst Hopkins was typically calm and strategic. Round for Hopkins.
Round 8 saw Hopkins employ more aggressive tactics with him preferring more power punching combinations than the previous rounds. When the fighters came together Hopkins was also sneaking in cheeky nodders, otherwise known as seemingly unintentional headbuts which made it even more difficult for Trinidad to work inside. During the longer clinch battles Hopkins was able to use his mauling clinch to manhandle Trinidad and out work him. At various parts of the round Hopkins would stop, stock still with an air of arrogance that seemed to be employed as a psychological vector of attack, he was winning the fight in all areas and was sure to let Trinidad know at every opportunity. Another round for Hopkins.
Round 9 saw Hopkins box on the back foot and look to dictate with the jab. Trinidad’s own jab was largely impotent which made it near impossible for him to impose himself. Hopkins was happy to skirt the ring and potshot from the ropes landing ocasional combinations clean. As the round drew to a close Hopkins flurried with 3 or 4 punches then experty slipped the expected counter left hook before arrogantly moving away. Another round for Hopkins.
Round 10 saw a switch in tactics from Hopkins again, he indulged Trinidad with a prolonged battle of close range activity without the mauling, just punching, covering and slipping. While Trinidad was fixated on the body Hopkins was working head and body, while Trinidad was loading up, Hopkins was flowing into short combinations, while Trinidad seemed to be completely focused on offence Hopkins was never out of position for more than a moment keeping his head off the centreline. At the end of the round Hopkins threw a right hook and uppercut combination staggering Trinidad, uppercuts were becoming more featured throughout the round, and this one almost put Trinidad away. Round for Hopkins.
Round 11 began and Trinidad’s legs looked weak, he still seemed hurt from the last round. Hopkins was again throwing hard uppercuts and they were landing, Trinidad was bundled over after getting hit which was not called a knock down but he looked stunned again. As they continued Hopkins feinted a jab then landed another big right uppercut, he was finding that shot over and over. Blood was in the water and the pragmatic Hopkins took every opportunity to work his opponent, mauling him, working combinations and bullying him. Round for Hopkins.
Into the 12th and final round and Trinidad needed a knockout to win. Hopkins started the round on the front foot like he was the one that needed a stoppage to win. Hopkins was pouring it on, he was taking it to Trinidad showing great conditioning this late into the fight. The end came just before the midway point in the round. Hopkins threw a lead hand uppercut that was countered by Trinidad with a left hook, Hopkins blocked this and then threw a perfect short counter overhand right hand that dropped Trinidad hard. He managed to beat the count but was saved from more punishment by his father who climbed into the ring to stop the fight.
Hopkins had unified the division at 36 years of age cementing his legacy as a modern great. He would later on move up to light heavyweight and win a world title at 41 years of age and go on to reclaim a version of the championship twice more before retiring at age 51.
Trinidad would go on to fight 8 months later in his home country of Puerto Rico where he retired after winning by knockout. Just over two years later he would return and go on to fight three more times over the course of the next 3 and a bit years winning 1 and losing the other 2.
In this fight we saw a strategic performance by a student of the game versus an athletic phenom that had come up to a new weight. Strategy met instinct and strategy won big time. Hopkins might be one of the most cerebral fighters of the last 30 years, his strength is in his mind, his preparation, his cool head and awareness. Perhaps his criminal past had imbued him with a stress tolerance that was his real strength, after being stabbed multiple times as a young man and witnessing violent death in prison a boxing match is nothing to get too uptight about.
What did you think?
Come back next week for another fight of the week retrospective.