Tito's Back!

NEW YORK, NY - Before last night's fight, the question remained. Would Felix Trinidad be the same after a 2 year layoff?

The answer... yes he was, and then some.

Three-time champion Felix 'Tito' Trinidad of Puerto Rico shook off the rust from 29 months of retirement by beating Nicaragua's Ricardo Mayorga in the eighth round of a middleweight bout on Saturday at Madison Square Garden.

Trinidad knocked Mayorga down three times in the eighth, before stopping the former welterweight champion with 21 seconds remaining in the round.

"Before this fight there was a lot of doubts that I wasn't willing to give the kind of fight that I gave tonight," Trinidad said. "I told Don that I could do it and that I would beat Mayorga and tonight I did that."

The 31-year-old Trinidad, who won titles in three weight classes before suddenly retiring in July 2002, was impressive throughout the fight.

After a blistering start from Mayorga in the first round, Trinidad looking uneasy on his feet began to key in and land shots. Mayorga's looping wide hooks were no match for Trinidad’s accurate pin point straight right hands.

Late in the round, Trinidad managed to land his patented left hook that got the crowd standing on their feet.

Always the showman, Mayorga dropped his hands and dared Trinidad to land punches again. Trinidad obliged and connected with two hard left hooks. Amazingly, Mayorga was able to withstand the punches and mockingly shook his legs.

A determined Trinidad remained disconcerted and battered Mayorga to the end of to the bell.

"We know he can take a good punch, and I gave him a lot of punches and he took a lot of my punches but that was bad for him," Trinidad remarked.

Mayorga was credited with a knockdown in the third round when he caught an off-balance Trinidad behind his left ear. Trinidad instinctively put his hand to the canvas to regain his balance.

"The knockdown I suffered in this fight was more from pushing than punching. The referee was already counting, so there was nothing I could do about that, so I just took the count and kept fighting," Trinidad said.

Despite a bit of uncharacteristic side-to-side movement from Trinidad, Mayorga seemed to land more flush shots in the round.

When Trinidad returned to the corner, his father implored him to stop jumping around the ring and stand right in front of his opponent and fight. "He's looking for the knockout but he's going to get knocked out. He can't take your punches," Papa Trinidad said.

In the fifth round, the more experienced Trinidad swarmed Mayorga, unleashing a furious display of punches. He opened a gash under Mayorga's left eye with two devastating straight right hands.

Trinidad continued to batter Mayorga around the ring as the 17,000 plus in attendance rose off their seats once again to cheer on the action. The mad man from Managua courageously survived the round and looked very much like a beaten man as he gingerly made his way to the safety of his corner.

Unfortunately for Mayorga, the one-sided contest continued in the next round. A joyous and confident Trinidad began to seventh round pounding his chest suggesting, "I'm the one with the power."

Trinidad would not be stopped. He easily walked down Mayorga and pounded him with left hooks, but an accidental low blow to Mayorga's right hip caused a break in the action. Mayorga was given a few minutes to recover.

The stoppage definitely gave Mayorga a much needed breather as he displayed more energy to finish the round strongly. However, the extra time did no favours for his swollen eye, which was almost closed by the time he reached the corner to end the seventh round.

As both fighers plotted to the center of the ring to begin the eighth, Mayorga reached out to touch gloves, but a serious looking Trinidad rejected the offer. A bad sign for Mayorga who likely was trying to pull out every trick in the book to stop the torture.

Midway through the round, Trinidad landed a left hook that had Mayorga wobbly on his feet. Trinidad would later land a punishing body shot dropping Mayorga. He managed to beat the count, but seconds later, fell again after an assortment of left hooks and right hands.

"When I saw him going down for the first time to the canvas. My first thought was great, this fight will not go much longer."

Trinidad would finally close the show, dropping a beaten Mayorga with two left hooks. As the brave warrior lay on canvas, referee Steve Smoger would finally stop the execution with 22 seconds left in the round.

With the win, Trinidad 42-1 (35 KOs) hopes to entice undisputed middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins into a rematch. Mayorga drops to 27-5-1 (22 KOs).

"We trained very hard and very well in the gym and now I'm back and I'm excited," Trinidad said after the fight.

Before the fight, a side bet was agreed upon by both fighters. The winner of the match would be granted $100,000.

"There was a contract signed and everything and I don't know what's going to happen with that, but I was the winner, so I won the bet," Trinidad said. "He wanted to win a limousine with my money, but now he has to buy just a little car."

In a welterweight undercard bout, Zab Judah sent an overmatched Wayne Martell to the canvas five times en route to an unsurprising first round stoppage.

"I felt great fighting in my hometown and I did spectacular," said Brooklyn’s Judah. "I am very powerful at 147 and my next opponent must be Cory Spinks. That's it."

The end came at the 2:08 mark as Benji Esteves finally rescued Martell, 24-3 (15 KOs) from further punishment.

With the victory, Judah, who improves to 32-2 (23 KOs), and earns the WBO intercontinental welterweight title.

"There's nothing to be proud of, I did not do what I was supposed to,' said Martell.

In other action Travis Simms retained his WBA super welterweight title for the first time with a 12 round unanimous decision over veteran Bronco McKart.

Scores were 116-112, 118-110, and 117-111 for the Simms, who improves to 24-0 (18 KOs). McKart falls to 47-6 (31 KOs).

"I knew he was a tough guy, that?s why we took the fight," said Simms. "He never hurt me, but I did get a little sloppy at times."

Rosendo Alvarez pounded out a 12 round split decision over Beibis Mendoza in a bout originally scheduled to be for Alvarez' WBA light flyweight title, but which turned into a non-title contest when Alvarez came in three and a half pounds overweight.

"Nothing affected me more in this fight than my opponent," said Alvarez. "My weight was not an issue. My delay in the trip for my visa was not an issue either, because those would just be excuses."

Scores were 115-113, 116-112, and 113-115 for Alvarez, who improves to 33-2-2 (21 KOs). Mendoza drops to 30-3 (2 KOs). There were no knockdowns.

"This will be the last time I fight in the 108 pound division," said Alvarez, the longtime king at junior flyweight.

Phil Banerjee
Contributing Editor