Felix "Tito" Trinidad - Has enough time passed to properly rank him?

How long does the process usually take, anyway? People now seem to have a realistic placement and perspective regarding, say, Lennox Lewis, and he retired 15 plus years ago now. We are talking about a fighter who turned pro in 90 and was really out of his peak come the new millennium, no longer quite the destroyer he was a few weight divisions lower.

Beyond that, where exactly does this board rank him in regards to his place at weleterweight? Consensus top ten? Way too high, somewhere perhaps between 11-20?

How about his power, or H2H ability?

 

At welter, the best fighter he fought was ODH....and we all know the controversy in the decision. Sweet Pea was involved with "smoke/blow" type stuff by that time in his career. Maybe the Camacho victory is considered "top shelf".

 

It's definitely been enough time to rate him. His prime ended nearly 20 years ago.

I rank him highly at both 147 and 154. No, I wouldn't pick him over a Leonard, Hearns, Robinson, Napoles, ect... but he'd do well H2H against many quality welters.

As a puncher... he's easily a top 5 puncher in welterweight history, and there shouldn't be any debate about that. Robinson, Hearns, Tito, and Cuevas are the four most lethal punchers in welterweight history.

He had his flaws, no doubt, but he was a beautiful offensive machine and a murderous puncher.

I can't see any of the current welters beating him. Or, let me re-phrase that.... I wouldn't give Thurman, Garcia, Brook, or Porter a snowball's chance in Hell at beating Trinidad. The jury is still out on Spence, because I think Errol is potentially a great fighter.

However, even as Spence's biggest fan, I'll admit that he's probably too hittable for Trinidad.

 

It might be the reverse...Tito too "hittable" against Spence. Southpaw Spence already holds his own against the Charlo brothers (MW & Jr. MW). Plus now that everyone knows the past situation, Tito doesn't get special wrappings for his hands.

 

I would put him around number 20 all time at welter. But anywhere between 15 and 25 sounds okay to me.

 

At Welter I'd give him a good shot against a lot of the top names. His Chin was unpredictable but he could box and bang a fair bit .certainly not a guy to underestimate .

 

His trouncing by Wright damaged his standing imo.He had no clue how to avoid the jab, but very exciting to watch and he had legitimately great power.

 

I used to like to WatchTito at work. It was a similar feeling as to watching Benn .You knew he could blast someone out yet at the same time be dropped himself.

 

I was never a big fan but could appreciate his workmanlike dynamism and punch power.

In terms of ranking him - sure, enough time has passed. But, I wouldn't know where to put him right now because, in my opinion, he was easily befuddled by good technicians and there's a history of these types in the Welterweights.

It's easy to think of him as being up there in the Top-20. However, I could also see that being challenged.

At the moment, I would have to say, it needs looking in to...

 

I was always really excited when he entered the ring. A truly great fighter. Id put him in with a chance against any 147 - 154 fighter in the history of the sport.

A great left hook.

 

Top 10 at 147 easy. Made 15 title defences. He's one of my favourites though.
One of the most entertaining fighters ever. Similar to pacman how he would come to the ring smiling and enjoying himself. He was ranked p4p1 on some lists prior to the Hopkins fight I believe. Went on a real good run, from Whitaker up to Hopkins.

 

Nice post and good to see him getting kudo's. As a matter of course i think he will be underrated to an extent in here. I agree with your top 4 punchers at 147.

 

Some great stuff from several posters so far in this thread. Great stuff, thanks to everyone!

 

I actually just watched this super impressive demo-job yesterday. A fine performance by a very young Trinidad...

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Pure and true ATG. I missed the Tito days.