15.05.05 – FELIX “TITO” TRINIDAD: “The fighter who beats me in the ring has to be one of the best in the world and Wright is one of the best. He has an uncomfortable style and a stiff jab. I came in at the best condition ever and I couldn’t land any power punches because I was being cautious in not losing any points.. I am not thinking about retirement. I will have a rematch, but I have to speak with my father and manager, my wife and family about my future in boxing. I will accept any challenge in the future against Winky or any other champion.”
WINKY WRIGHT: “I moved up to middleweight. He is a great fighter and he’s strong. I hit him with some great shots. He has a great hook. I kept moving to avoid the hook. I take my hat off to him. He has a heart of a champion. I’ll exercise the rematch clause. That was tonight. Next time may be different. I don’t know what’s next. We got to fight. Don King will deliver us another big fight. If the rematch doesn’t happen, then yes I’ll fight the winner of Hopkins-Taylor. I am a man of my word and he’s (Trinidad) a great champion.
“That was the game plan and I executed it perfectly. It was a complete victory. I’ve had to keep proving myself over and over again. I think he underestimated me a little bit because of the weight gain and moving up in class. I hit him with some great shots. I hit him in the face. He has a great hook. I kept my eye on his hook the entire fight.
“Tito will be better prepared the next time. He won’t under estimate me the next time.
“Tito is my first honor. (would he take the winner of Hopkins-Taylor if Tito did not come back) Hell yea.”
Final odds:
Felix Trinidad Minus 180
Winky Wright Plus 160
ZAB “SUPER” JUDAH: “The last time I fought in this arena was against Kostya Tszyu. I wanted to give a world championship performance to help put behind me what happened after that fight. I apologize for that.
“This was not a fight I picked. It was a mandatory. I want Oscar De La Hoya, Margarito or Mosley. It would be an honor to fight any of these fighters to prove I am the best fighter in the world. Bring me anybody. I can knock out anybody because I am very focused right now. This is the new Zab Judah. I have grown up a lot. Don King has helped me mature. The sky is the limit if I stay focused. I am a solid well seasoned poised veteran.
“I am fighting under two of the greatest fighters in the world in Felix Trinidad and Winky Wright tonight.
“I will fight De La Hoya, Margarito, anyone. I am the best pound for pound fighter in the world. I have been calling them out forever. I want to apologize one more time to the MGM Grand for what happened previously.”
COSME RIVERA: “I was not able to use my reach as my advantage in the fight. The first knockdown took me by surprise and the rest of the fight was history. I will work hard to regain my contender status.”
DON KING: “We want to fight whoever is there. We want to fight Hopkins. The winner of this fight tonight should meet Hopkins. (Are you still going to promote John Ruiz?) I am going to still promote Ruiz.
(Comment on James Toney) I have no comment on James Toney. This is a great
night for boxing. I am not looking for any negatives now. After tonight, I want everyone to concentrate on next week’s heavyweight fight between Lamon Brewster and Andrew Golota in Chicago.
Final odds—Judah Minus 900, Rivera Plus 600
Will go 10 rounds Plus 120
Won’t go 10 rounds Minus 140
VICTOR BURGOS: “Grigsby did not come to fight. He came to run. He did not hurt me in the fight. I hit him real good. I had a real good chance in the fourth and sixth round. He was running all over the place. I feel they stole this fight from me. I don’t know if I am motivated to search for a title in my career now. If he wanted to run, why didn’t he go to a park.”
WILL GRIGSBY: “This means more to me than I can explain. I felt a little rusty but I was still good enough to win. My legs are my specialty and it was hard with the rust. I will be even better next time. Burgos is a great champion. He was shorter than me and moved to the right, so he was hard to hit. I dedicate this fight to my mom, who died of multiple sclerosis 15 years ago.”
Final odds—Burgos Minus 330; Grigsby Plus 260
DANNY “KID DYNAMITE” ROMERO: “I felt real rusty. But I thought I was ahead on points. I thought it was at least going to be unanimous. It was a set back, but I have to keep beating on. We bumped heads a little. I wanted to win. I knew I wasn’t going to look fabulous or spectacular, but this sucks. I thought I did pretty much what I wanted to do. I was blocking shots and I was staying real tight. He kept getting away from my right hand and I thought to myself, hey, and then I started using the left hook. I was pressuring him a lot with body shots. He was slowing down in the later rounds and his punches were losing power. After the first round, he wasn’t hitting that hard. I was so damn nervous. It has been two years since I have been in the ring.
“May 26 is next. We’ll go do that and take care of him (his dad).”