by James Slater – Though he was a well respected world champion and was known among hardcore fight fans for years before the fight, it was the legendary Bernard Hopkins’ stoppage win over the then unbeaten Felix Trinidad that transformed him into a real boxing star. B-Hop, aged a mere 36-years-old when entering the ring as an underdog against “Tito” in September of 2001, was expected by most to be yet another fighter to fall to the power and sheer class of the Puerto Rican great.
Things didn’t turn out that way, as we all know. Hopkins, now the best middleweight in the world courtesy of his 12th round TKO, all but retired Trinidad, and went on to earn millions of dollars and win himself a handful of further big victories. Now aged 44 and 36 respectively, Hopkins and Trinidad are both locks for The Hall of Fame, but it appears neither guy is ready to retire just yet..
According to FightNews.com, there may even be a rematch between the two this coming November. One can understand Hopkins, 49-5-1(32) fighting on in 2009 – after all, he looked as great as ever last time out, when he took yet another fighter’s unbeaten record away, this one belonging to Kelly Pavlik – but it’s hard to see why Trinidad, 42-3(35) would want to box on. “Tito” tried his hand at comebacks three times post-Hopkins, and on only one of these occasions, in his winning fight against Ricardo Mayorga, did he come out having achieved anything good.
One-sided losses to Winky Wright and later Roy Jones Junior appeared to have made Trinidad see sense and decide to box no longer, but according to this news this is no longer the case. Could we really see Hopkins-Trinidad II in November?
This from FightNews.com:
‘Felix Trinidad and his promoter Don King had a meeting in the Ritz Carlton Hotel of Isla Verde in Puerto Rico to try to set up a rematch between Trinidad and Bernard Hopkins. Sources assure that Don King and Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer are near an agreement for a fight in November. Trinidad needs to train for five or six months.’
So there it is, the fight is in the works. A Trinidad-Hopkins return would almost certainly sell. Due, if nothing else, to curiosity, fans would likely pay to see a rematch that has been eight long years in the making. Don’t get me wrong, there really is no need for a rematch, nor was there ever one. Hopkins won so decisively back in Sept. of 2001, and Trinidad was so utterly beaten by “The Executioner’s” master class that a part-two was not called for by anyone. Now, however, it seems Trinidad has forgotten about the pain and humiliation he suffered at the hands of the Philly great.
There is no word about what weight the talked about rematch will be fought at (if it does indeed come off), but light-heavyweight would be a good guess. At age 44, Hopkins cannot go on for ever, and maybe Trinidad is hoping his former conqueror has slowed down sufficiently to be taken – even though he is 36 now himself.
We will stay tuned for further news.