Was just watching his first fight after the Hopkins defeat where he beat Hacine Cherifi in May 2002. He looked pumped in front of a home crowd in Puerto Rico and looked good (albeit against limited opposition) but then after this didn't fight again for nearly two and a half years. Anyone know what the reason was? I read that he retired pretty much directly after this fight but I don't remember that. He just seemed to disappear for a couple of years, which was odd, and then came back again in 2004. Anyone know or remember why?
I dont know but possibly the psychological burden of his 1st defeat vs Hopkins ....being nearly 30 wanting to eat and rest enjoy the accumulated big payday after 3 years of big paydays
Felix Tito Trinidad was phenomenal, he looked great against Maurice Blocker in 1993, winning the IBF 147 lb title. He fought quality opponents such as Yori Boy Campas, Pernell Sweet Pea Whittaker, and his title unification win over WBC Champion Oscar De La Hoya in 1999. He was rising to stardom with his victories at 154 lbs against David Reid and Fernando Vargas. Then came his WBA title win over William Joppy in 2001. He began to appear in such magazines as GQ. Then came the devastating loss to another middleweight great Bernard The Executioner Hopkins in Sept 2001 in a title unification bout. The loss was unforeseen to many as well as Tito, who appeared to have a bright future at 160 lbs.
My wife wrote an article a few years back about Puerto Rico's financial dependence on the U. S. And it's associated issues thereof, and it was noted in the article that he lost pretty much all his money when his advisor bought a bunch of Puerto Rican government bonds and the government defaulted on its debts, making them essentially worthless. I think this happened a few years after retirement but his security blanket appears to be gone.
****, I hope that's not the case. A quick, admittedly superficial, search online suggests his current net worth is 30 million US dollars.
Nice write up as always. In a sense it's a shame back in the late 1980s early 1990s boxers didn't have the same longevity due to far more hectic fight schedules,long amateur careers, same day weigh in,and lack of physiological and expert nutritional support compared to today. Guys like Mark Breland,Marlon Starling, and Honeyghan either retired earlier or had shorter careers at top level. I guess Trinidad vs Blocker was a sort of passing of the guard...but I'd have liked to have seen tito,pernell and quartey fight Starling,Breland and honeyghan still reasonably at the top of their game at welterweight.
It surprised me a little at the time. He knew he wasn't gonna beat Hopkins. I guess 154 was not something he wanted to sweat down to. There were some good matches there for him. Overall it was smart to exit if your not all in. He did more than enough.
Dont know why but i remember that starting with the Reid fight till the Hopkins fight he was the most exciting fighter in the game he was box office and his fights were like big parties i wish i was there. His initial plan starting at 154 was to fight Reid and Vargas then move up to 160 and fight Joppy and Hopkins then move up again to fight Roy Jones and retire after that but Hopkins derailed his plans. I also remember reading in the ring mag after the Joppy fight that if Tito went on to beat Hopkins and Jones and then retire they might start calling Sugar Ray Robinson the second best fighter that ever lived.
I read that he had $9 million in assets but $30 million in debts. I hope the article was wrong, or that his situation has improved.
I believe he won a case very recently, something in the millions. He still lost a ton of his fortune through those junk bonds though. I’m sure he lives comfortably but not as wealthy as he should be. The sad thing is, that was his best friend and best man who signed off all of that stuff. I always heard Tito’s dad was a very money hungry type. Wonder how much influence he had.
I think he was a little burned out. He was fighting often and all big fights. He’d been at a high level consecutively for a long time. So, that defeat sort of left him limited on options. He didn’t wanna do pointless fights (or build himself up again), and the reason they gave is that Hopkins didn’t wanna fight him again. He got a little chunky as I recall. Enjoying the retired life but fans kept asking him to go back and fight again. I think the only fight that appealed to him at that point was Hopkins II and waiting around probably didn’t appeal to him.
