Trinidad Takes Care of Business
Dateline: 05/30/99One week after Oscar De La Hoya knocked out Oba Carr, Felix "Tito" Trinidad also took care of business with a fourth round knockout against overmatched challenger Hugo Pineda (36-2-1, 27 KOs). The win was Trinidad’s 13th defense of his IBF welterweight championship and raised his record to 35-0 with 30 KOs. More importantly, the win kept Trinidad in line for a big money, career-defining bout with WBC champ Oscar De La Hoya (tentatively scheduled for Sept. 18).
The Trinidad-Pineda fight was a prime example of why weighing fighters more than 24 hours before a bout renders weight limits completely meaningless. Trinidad needed to lose eighteen pounds in the two months leading up to the fight to make the welterweight limit, then promptly put back on 15 pounds to enter the ring at 162. Pineda did Tito one better, making the 147-pound weight limit, then adding an incredible 20 pounds to fight at 167 pounds. These guys aren’t welterweights, they’re full-blown super middleweights!
Anyway, once the fight started Trinidad looked as sharp and confident as ever -- using the first round to establish his jab, then steadily picking up the pace in each successive round. Pineda did nothing to embarrass himself, he was just in way over his head. As the punishment mounted, the only question became how many rounds the fight would last. Punctuating a series of punishing shots, the champ scored with a right to the ribs, a right to the chin and a left hook to the body that finally dropped Pineda late in the fourth -- forcing the challenger to spit out his mouth piece and take a ten count from referee Roberto Ramirez at 2:53 of the round.
Boxing fans have waited years to see De La Hoya and Trinidad get in the ring together and determine once and for all who’s the better man and the top welterweight in the world. All indications are that the fight will take place on Sept. 18, but with both camps squabbling for additional money and control, De La Hoya suffering a minor hand injury in his bout with Oba Carr and Trinidad having increasing difficulty making weight, the fight that all boxing fans want to see seems to be much less than a sure thing.
