Bernard Hopkins vs. Felix Trinidad [Full Broadcast]

and now it's time for our main event felix trinidad against bernard hopkins it was september 18 1999 when trinidad in the walter weight division of 147 pounds won a majority decision over oscar de la hoya can he now defeat bernard hopkins a middleweight champ with 13 title defenses we'll see coming right up trinidad vs hopkins is being brought to you by madison square garden the world's most famous arena hbo pay-per-view the best in pay-per-view entertainment brought to you by the folks at hbo and by america online so easy to use no wonder it's number one during tonight's show at keyword tvko america online members will be able to get information predict who will win tonight's main event and vote on who you think is winning the fight so america online members long gone now to cast your vote for the next undisputed middleweight champion the atmosphere fully charged inside the near sold out mecca of boxing a large display of puerto rican pride but also a contingent of american flags flying as well in attendance tonight 14 firefighters from engine 10 here in manhattan located across the street from where the south tower the world trade center once stood some of these firemen were actually inside the building when it collapsed they've worked tirelessly around the clock tonight these heroes get their first night out and earlier when they arrived the crowd here at madison square garden gave them a standing ovation fran charles up top once again with emmanuel stewart emanuel it's been a long delay you've been involved in this before particularly when you were training nassim hamad against marco antonio barrera back in april will the delay have any effect on the fight i don't think the delay is going to have an effect once again because both are experiencing the same thing i think the biggest thing that's going to be concerned is just fighting each other and the emotions that they're going to be bringing is just building up to a point where it's going to be a very exciting fight i think a lot earlier than i originally thought and the fact that trinidad got good enough earlier in the meeting yesterday to predict a first round knockout that really surprised me a lot because you know hopkins is such a outspoken talkative guy to the point that sometimes he actually becomes verbally abusive and it's really upsetting trinidad to a great degree i don't think he's ever experienced anything like that all right i'm going to put you on the spot who do you think will win and why i can't take away this this one is a little too much of me i'm going back and forth i like hopkins a lot still surprisingly and a lot of the people that we have found in a boxing circle sure unless they were puerto rican surprisingly have had a little feeling that hopkins want to pull it out so i i really don't know but you know it's just hard to go against a guy like felix trinidad he's such a fantastic fighter all right well we shall see let's take a look and see who our america online audience believes will win the fight 63 percent have felix trinidad winning over bernard hopkins don't forget you still can vote during the fight as well to say who you believe is winning all right now let's send it now to ring announcer jimmy lennon tonight's main event we're bringing to your attention is not only a showdown between two great world champions but also plays a role in boxing history as tonight we will crown the very first undisputed middleweight champion in 14 years a specially commissioned sugar ray robinson trophy will be given to tonight's winner in honor of the great former middleweight champion joining us tonight representing the robinson family please welcome ray robinson the second and ladies and gentlemen to commemorate this night of boxing history we have joined with us in the ring five former middleweight champions all legends of the ring i'll introduce to you them to you at this time first ladies and gentlemen the colorful middleweight champion from 1949 to 1951 the very first man to defeat sugar ray robinson please welcome the raging bull jake la mata and next to him ladies and gentlemen a world champion in three weight divisions he held the middleweight crown in the late 1960s he's a man who holds the distinction of fighting in madison square garden more than any other fighter having a hand for emile griffin and next ladies and gentlemen middleweight champion who held the crown in 1979 with 54 wins in his career please welcome the always exciting former middleweight champion of the world vito antoine and ladies and gentlemen in the ring at this time i introduce to you a three-time world champion he held the middleweight crown in 1988 and 1989 introducing iran the blade of barkley and next ladies and gentlemen a man who holds 104 victories in his career among his many titles he was middleweight champion in 1989 introducing manos de piedra roberto now ladies and gentlemen we turn to a very serious item ladies and gentlemen your attention please for a very solemn moment before we continue our action at this time we would like to pause and offer a long honored boxing tradition of a ten count in remembrance of the tragic loss our nation and this city in particular has recently suffered tonight here at madison square garden ladies and gentlemen we are joined together as more than boxing fans we are joined together as citizens of the world united in grief and in sorrow but with the resolve that we will not be intimidated by acts of terrorism against this great country of ours ladies and gentlemen at this time please rise and remain silent as our timekeeper tolls 10 in honor of the victims the heroes and our nation may god rest their souls and may god bless america is is you will you remember me yes standing on the edge ladies and gentlemen please remain standing at this time for the singing of god bless america to the microphone please welcome r b recording artist genuine stand beside her and guide her through the night with light from above from the mountains through the paris wide with phone god bless america my home sweetheart god bless america land that from the mountains to the paris east wise with full god bless america my home sweet home moving emotional performance by r b reporting star genuine as the crowd here at madison square garden teary eyed and all gets ready to turn its attention to this finale here of the middleweight unification series let's now send it down ringside to jim lampley tale of the tape for the middleweight championship battle between felix trinidad and bernard hopkins and you see the difference in age trinidad the younger by eight years hopkins with the two inch height advantage rare if ever the situations where trinidad has gone into the ring and faced a taller man three inch reach advantage however for tito and they both weighed in well under the 160 pound limit after having spent two and a half weeks at or near the weight limit a highly unusual experience for fighters here are the punch stat numbers a profile of how active these fighters are throw roughly the same amount of punches trinidad with his pinpoint power as you can see slightly more accurate in ter in terms of power punches both of those numbers are very similar rules of the bout with our unofficial ringside scorer harold letterman the felix trinidad bernard hopkins fight is scheduled for 12 rounds using the unified rules of the association of boxing commissions there is no free knockdown rule only the referee can stop the fight if the cut is caused by an accidental headbutt we go to the scorecards if the four rounds have been completed and they cannot be saved by the bell in any round including the club that run around all right thank you very much harold and now bernard hopkins prepares to enter the ring wearing garb entirely different from his usual black executioner's that symbolism regarded by bernard and the people around him as not entirely appropriate tonight and he is expecting to be booed jim and his answer is i come from philadelphia where they boost santa claus once again turning a negative into a positive america the beautiful by ray charles hopkins chosen entry music two men who entered the ring behind him carrying a fireman's helmet and a policeman's cap america america may god bless and you know when i was in school is you know god yes hey felix trinidad has been here in new york since september 9. he never left foreign foreign foreign foreign foreign foreign oh and now let's go to ringing out to jimmy lennon jr for the official introductions ladies and gentlemen at this time we ask you to please rise for the singing of our national anthems in the ring ladies and gentlemen presenting the colors we have our special guest honor guards representing the new york city fire department and new york city police department first we present the national anthems of puerto rico please welcome puerto rican recording artists alpha oh foreign foreign so yes and thank you very much to alpha please remain standing ladies and gentlemen we present the national anthem of the united states and to lead us tonight we have the celebrated vocalist and new york city police officer please welcome danny rodriguez what so broadly we had at the twilight last gleaming who's brought stripes and we watched were the bombs bursting r and thank you very much to danny rodriguez thank you very much to our honor guard representing the new york city fire department and the police department ladies and gentlemen a very good evening to you and we welcome you to the world's most famous arena madison square garden in new york city for the featured bout of the evening the finale of the world middleweight championship series brought to you by dawn king productions and madison square garden in association with tvko valley's atlantic city caesars atlantic city and budweiser the undisputed king of beers this unification bat coming away is sanctioned by the wba president alberto mendoza supervisor gonzalo lopez silvero the wbc president jose suleiman supervisor mario lantrovers the ibf president hiawatha night supervisor joseph dwyer and the new york state athletic commission the chairman is mel southard commissioners jerome becker and mark hornstein introducing to you are three judges scoring this bout from ringside from oneida castle new york don ackerman from johannesburg south africa stanley christodoulou and from bangkok thailand anek hong tong and the third man of the ring our referee in charge of this bout working in this his 93rd world title bout steve smoker all right fans here we go with a bout you've all been waiting for 12 rounds of boxing for the undisputed middleweight championship of the world and now ladies and gentlemen in attendance and boxing fans joining us around the world live from madison square garden it is time for the main event of the evening introducing to you first on my left fighting out of the red corner wearing red white and blue trunks hailing from and representing puerto rico he weighed in at 158 and one half pounds he is undefeated in his campaign in the ring with 40 wins no losses 33 wins coming by way of knockout here is the five-time world champion in three weight divisions the current wba middleweight champion of the world ladies and gentlemen please welcome el grand campeon puerto trinidad and his opponent across the ring on my right fighting out of the blue corner wearing red trunks with silver trim fighting out of philadelphia pennsylvania he weighed in at a driven ready 157 pounds his chrysanthe 39 wins two losses one draw with 28 wins coming by way of knockout tonight ladies and gentlemen he is making the 14th defense of his title here is the wbc and ibf middleweight champion of the world introducing bernard the executioner hopkins once again a referee in charge steve smoker now to give instructions gentlemen we've given you instructions at the weigh-in both in english and spanish please obey my commands protect yourself at all times respect the bell touch gloves touch him up respect respect touch him bernard let's go let's go the fight to survive and thrive have always made new york a fight town now more than ever bernard hopkins felix trinidad personified that spirit bernard hopkins claims he wants to test trinidad's chin in the first round trinidad's father says his son is gonna knock hopkins out in the first round sometimes all that is just talk sometimes it means real fireworks from the opening bell trinidad knocked goppy down in the first he knocked vargas down twice in the first trinidad can't be waiting with this boxer he's got to get off bernard hopkins job is to stay close make this guy discouraged make him look to the referee and start complaining early because that referee speech didn't impress me at all hard right hand over the top by hopkins partially blocked by trinidad but serious enough to make him move back into the corner crowd overwhelmingly in favor of trinidad as they demonstrated in pre-fight pageantry trinidad likes to have room when he punch throws his punches it's up to hopkins to stay close as close as he can hopkins prizes his skills as an in-fighter many experts expect that hopkins at some point will try to get up into trinidad's test and take away his punting rage and he hasn't done that yet the old saying is oscar de la hoya moved i'm gonna move but yet that's not the way to fight trinidad because you lose energy as the rounds go on as de la hoya learned they trade jabs through much of round one biggest blows so far a hopkins right hand over the top trinidad like to stay paused with his on the ball of his right foot and just throw that lead with that right hand he's always comparing to a sprinter the way he gets up on that front foot he's on the mark and hopkins job is to keep him off the mark and it lands the left hook as hopkins backs away from their first chest to test clinch hopkins tries to go inside again working to try to get a trinidad's body both fighters try lead right hands hopkins just not figured yet how to get close now he's got it he's got to keep it just like that that's the fight he won holding with the left hand upstairs as he hit with the right hand downstairs smoker hasn't yet been a part of the action he's the third man in the ring the referee bernard hopkins want to keep hugging and pushing this guy keep this a wrestling match in his favor right hand inside by bernard hopkins again lanza right trinidad misses his hopkins lands his own round one is a bit of a scuffle hopkins got a little of what he wanted and landed two right hands and showed that he's not going to be walking into that left hook if he can help it today okay i need you to jail all right there probably baby okay stay out of the corner and fight yours in the center of the ring and i want you to jail pop that jab we worked on it so let's pop it pop it get the jab right hold your head up a little bit all right the same thing you did in the first round let's continue that everyone calm you know to be tranquil hey he can't beat me i got him i didn't make sure the jacket is first well it wasn't a first-round knockout plan b it wasn't even a highly artistic first round by compubox numbers it was a missed punch fest trinidad was 4 out of 27. hopkins was 6 out of 43 according to compubox harold letterman scored the round for tito trinidad hopkins has been real small he jabs yeti understand that he has sort of a reach advantage with the height there and he's out of the way once he does that jabbing and moving primarily to his left trying to get away from the deadly left of trinidad you really want to make trinidad throw a lot of left because he prefers to hit you with that right then throw that left hook george is it fair to guess that hopkins either wants to be way outside or way inside yeah he just hasn't figured out this guy yet trying to get relaxed in there that's that's the hard job to move around he's not comfortable moving i can tell you that trinidad needs room and that that's benefit trinidad when the fight is at long range so again they trade from long range in round two neither fighter really into an offensive rhythm yet trinidad threw a limited number of punches for him in round one now he lands a right hand across the top trinidad trying to close the range down and step in on hopkins he's trying to close the range but yet he want to keep some distance so that long right hand can come so he doesn't want to completely close it looking to get right on the mark hopkins sticks the jabs this is unusual that hopkins would give trinidad this kind of respect in the first couple rounds very surprised that's what you don't want to do with you thought that hopkins would gamble more against trinidad earlier jump right on him you're not he said he wasn't afraid talking to talk now you got to jump on it hopkins beginning to unveil his dab and sticking it accurately for the moment once he tastes any of trinidad's power then you're really going to see the motorboat move hopkins can see that trinidad only want to land a hard shot nothing else and that's a dangerous position to be in when you're in the ring with a guy knowing that he's intended by hopkins biggest blow of the fight trinidad momentarily stunned elbow hopkins has been working at distance with his jab hoping to get trinidad to come to him found him in range the punch was a little high trinidad might have been momentarily stunned but took the punch well compubox numbers in round two hopkins 10 out of 40. trinidad 2 out of 19. so felix trinidad in two rounds has thrown by compubox numbers only 46 punches hopkins throwing twice as many not landing all that much but the one big right hand was the biggest blow of the fight you don't want to get a kid like that mad once you hit him once get back on him and do something gino's father asking him some his son to work the jab work the jab he tries to get started with it here firing the left hand again trinidad is on the mark what do you mean by that he's on the ball of that right foot when you see him up on the on that on his right foot like that he's on the mark getting ready to deliver like a track run or something take off got to keep him off that position you got to keep him out of that position and how how do you keep him out of that by moving to his left so we always have to pick that foot up and set it down now he's off now hopkins says he'll be watching his feet as much as his hands just for that reason hopkins varying the pace just a little leading with the left hook there instead of the jab now trinidad fires his own right hand across the top and gets the top of hopkins heads he allowed trinidad to get set that time and he paid for it the range is closing up a little trinidad moving closer and tito beginning to loosen up and throw a few more punches that was the case in the first couple of rounds hopkins back is starting to touch the ring the ropes a lot more that's what you don't want let your back touch the rope with trinidad so you think hopkins wants to stay in the middle of the ring and box with yeah he can box and he can he's always successful but you don't want your back touching those ropes you don't need the whole ring to box just the middle of it that's the fight that hopkins won push and hit you may notice that there's some printing on the back of bernard hopkins who rented it out for about a hundred thousand dollars to a dot-com gambling service and then bet the hundred thousand dollars on himself to win the fight yeah either way the tattoo is already fading as the sweat pours off of hopkins body here in round three but bernard hopkins isn't fading no and the bet looks pretty good at least for the moment as he gives trinidad a spirited fight hopkins is dictating the tempo and he's making trinidad think about coming more to him hopkins sticks the jab right on the point of trinidad's tin as round three comes to a close okay how do you feel deep breath secrets with your hands up you got to keep your hands up it's going to be easy now it's only a matter of time before you get it you're going you get him out of here bernard hopkins showing that a philadelphia fighter can box as well as brawl whatever his reputation is round four begins harold letterman how to score the first three okay jim i got a two to one 29-28 arnold hopkins jim the french round that's what he thought of would take that step to the right and rush in to put him on the way out but rats two and three it's that hopkins left jab boxing from the outside the occasional straight right hand landed a cleaner shot out bikes ago now trinidad has hopkins moving in on him that's what you want you want hopkins to get that brave to try to follow this hard hitting trinidad trinidad opens up lands two power shots hopkins tries to fire back immediately trinidad misses with the right hopkins lands his own backstage fires a left hook trinidad getting as good as he fishes out now lands the short right hand inside power against power which man is stronger at close range this is not a good idea for hopkins to mix it up with one of them he's done an excellent job of using his brains don't go back to philadelphia too soon well perhaps he's realized so far that he can deal with trinidad's punch oh that punch can be dealt with larry you've got to stay smart trinidad only threw 67 punches in the first three rounds of the fight by compubox numbers that's a very limited offensive output he has begun to fire here in round four but hopkins is firing back and lands a right hand to the body there you go clean jabs by hopkins bernard hopkins said that this fight would be his defining moment so far he's had pockets of brilliance and seems to be getting trinidad for the most part to fight his fight but there have been moments here in round four when tito seemed to be turning the tide hopkins intending to move like this is a good idea that he did weigh in at 157. that can help him off the neck top down hopkins up in the corner hopkins landed three punches in a row then felix went to the body as bernard moved away bernard once again is spending too much time on the ropes so far hopkins has completely neutralized the left hand of trinidad can trinidad find a way to put him on the defensive without that left hand the right hand fails there on right hand by hopkins and there was a close enough round that that last big right hand by hopkins may have been the decision looking at it don't let him out jab you he wants to jam because he don't want you to jam you don't like that dad he's dead with it all right quick shot don't worry about the big shot i want to see the quick side all right he's not going to hit you you got to take it easy don't get killers now that was the fifth round and now with calm thank you bernard hopkins trainer louie fisher is not nearly as well known as felix trinidad senior but fisher is a 73 year old proven pro who knows every trick in the book and has done a brilliant job of training hopkins throughout his career he told him to try to jab with trinidad that's not a good idea don't jab with him you catch him off balance and then jabbing because he turns that jab into a hook once you start trying to step in with power wait until he's finished and then get him hopkins blocking trinidad's jab with his right glove bernard continually moving to his left to stay away from trinidad's left and he steps in and bangs his right hand against the side of trinidad's head hopkins misses the right trinidad misses the left hopkins fires a little left hook inside hopkins is doing a good job of staying over there making trinidad throw those left hooks that's where you want to be because he's a bit more accurate with his right hands trinidad is make him miss with left hook don't try to make him miss with the right hands hopkins a little bit quicker with his jab now trinidad corners him tries to step in bernard steps away solid left by trinidad trinidad seeming to take a little velocity off the left just trying to land it hopkins is not making a mistake that bernard uh that uh don't be dead by letting trinidad lay on his left hand he holds him and certainly not making the mistake that both choppy and vargas made of standing in front of trinidad he hasn't done much of that hopkins is boxing trinidad and he's winning most of the rallies yeah but hopkins has used a lot of his footwork legs up moving around that's not good he's got his back against the ropes he's living dangerously he's still outscoring trinidad he's landing two punches to everyone for trinidad they fight after the bell and hopkins dishes out twice as much baby quick right hand put it at the shoulder that's not the head put it at the shoulder deep breath deep breath trinidad in close quarters the battle rings trinidad throws a left hook and as bernard hopkins says he's not going to ask the referee to change things he'll take it into his own hands when oscar de la hoya came out and appeared too many eyes at ringside to win the first seven rounds against felix trinidad none of the three judges sitting at ringside scored it exactly that way right now there's a dance that in the eyes of many here but aren't hopkins has won the first five rounds against trinidad will the judges once again insist on giving rounds to trinidad when he doesn't seem to be winning any of them that's what happened against de la hoya this is the kind of champ trinidad that you're gonna knock you have to knock him out to win it you may as well forget trying to win this thing on point if you want the title that he possess you gotta knock him out so you're saying that bernard shouldn't fool himself into believing that he's succeeding just because he seems to be winning the round no you can't coach yourself to a victory with a champion like this the judges are not going to allow you to do it and i think this pace is a little too much for bernard he's used too much of his legs early on well certainly trinidad hasn't overused his he's only thrown 23 punches per round which is a very low punch output by compubox numbers now trinidad lands a big right hand against the ropes but hopkins steps away and lands in return remember trinidad's amazing stamina hopkins lands a right trinidad lands a left felix is a marathon runner who builds the tempo from round around and he's trying to build it with the left hook right here four straight left hand by trinidad hopkins blocked almost every one of those punches and there's no sign yet that hopkins is wearing down oh yeah there's a lot of sounds but two minutes what are the signs that he's wearing down he went through his ring to his corner and laid his legs flat out trinidad is still sitting in a sitting position hopkins looks pretty good here as he backs trinidad up with a combination a furious pace in round six by far the best round of the fight back to the ropes again hopkins they begin to trade power shots at close range and this is trinidad's game you can't play power shots with trinidad because every time he hits you you'll still limit lingering the damage lingers on and start to accumulate trinidad ripping left hook and he pushes hopkins head back and smoker says don't do it again round six was a beauty for no [ __ ] out there keep doing your job you going all right only thing i want to see is that quick right hand the quick right hand take a plane with two left hands quick little left hands that was a clean hard shot which trinidad seemed to take well trinidad aggressive perhaps a little frustrated at the end you're not going to find this kind of determination as often in the fight as you see in phoenix trinidad why don't you want to give hopkins more credit george he's fighting a terrific fight so far he's doing a great job but this determination of this guy keeps coming back it just takes everything out of your legs takes everything out of your heart well they're both champions between rounds felix trinidad asked his father in the corner am i winning the fight and trinidad senior said yes you are harold letterman how have you scored it through six that kingship four rounds to two 58-56 bernard hopkins i remember my wildest dreams thought that i never see bernard hopkins win his fight with an outside game but that's what he's doing staying outside popping the jab coming back with the straight right hands tonight round six i just thought felix trinidad was a little bit the aggressor got into better shots of giving true today runs one and six all the rest of hopkins hopkins trying to load up with that quick right hand everything is trying to execute what his trainer told him to do throw the quick right hand and trinidad catches you in that exchange it's top trouble time more and more george trinidad is able to land his left hook why but hopkins is giving him the left hook because if he's able to land one jab and stand up closer he's always able to get the left hook off i'm going to worry about the left hook if i'm uh don't punch though not worry about that right hand very good four punches in combination by hopkins there finishing up to the body trinidad stalking relentlessly imposing mental pressure on hopkins as he does on all of his opponents even when technically outgunned felix trinidad is always coming always coming good thing about hopkins he's not allowed trinidad to get up on that right foot making him keep it flat that's what you want if he's going to hit you let him be out of position to do it good thank you chopping right hand by hopkins the second one partially blocked crowd oohing and eyeing as hopkins continues to score exceeding the expectations of many that's not like a philadelphia fighter at all thinking george they've been a lot of great boxers out of philadelphia and you couldn't survive the famous gym wars in philadelphia if you couldn't box yeah this guy's boxing tonight oscar de la hoya exposed the vulnerability of trinidad and bernard hopkins is trying to use that model to dominate the fight yes particularly trinidad's vulnerability defense and movement hopkins said to me i'm no de la hoya but i saw that felix fell for every faint against oscar so i'll be using them too you're closing in on him son as long as you keep that jab going your homer you're going to be home free all right you cannot actually on my head okay let's see if if you get up there you throw some punches so we can get him no you gotta work with him real good let's see if we can punch it up and down you got it three punches one hand when you get it you when you get him the fight over here he's not gonna be able to take your punches but you gotta know that your hands have to be up keep your hands up three judges one from the united states one from thailand one from south africa maybe the verdict falls into their hands although felix trinidad certainly will want to try to put hopkins on his back in round seven by copybox numbers hopkins landed 18 punches to only six for trinidad if you go by compubox numbers hopkins has outlanded tito in every round you know there are a lot of people out there who never heard of bernard hopkins he hasn't had a lot of big television fights we're hearing about him and seeing him now you're seeing the hunger of a 36 year old man he's waited a long time for this moment a geriatric wonder i'd like to see what happened in the 10 11 and 12 with the he's now geriatrics to land some hard chopping punches on tito but tito was taking them well and he didn't go undefeated and have 20 championship fights by not being able to take punches well and all is trying to make trinidad walk into his traps now he's setting traps you can go back eight years in this sport and you won't find a fight in which either man was declared a loser and it's abundantly clear now that neither man came here tonight expecting to lose hopkins believes whether trinidad will be able to beat the belief out of him remains to be seen but right now bernard is showing a multiplicity of skills as he continues to outbox tito i don't believe what i'm seeing i don't believe it and now trinidad shuffles his own feet to try to dazzle bernard and bernard says you shuffle a while i'll hit you trinidad is playing into hopkins hand now with the foolishness his job was always he's been always the field fitness fighter another man has gone to the body as much as he might maybe the critical difference will come in the next few rounds if one man decides to focus on the rib cage they're both terrific body punches i think the fighting punches is going out of the window now ripping with both hands trying to break bernard down with power shots hopkins countering back twice with the left hook he completes the vote all night trinidad has been trying to lay on hopkins left hand but hopkins seems to get his left hand right out of the trap and hold to the left if he's able to just lay on that left hand of hopkins once he's going to get him with that overhand right hopkins lands a nice right hand just after the bell and smoker shouts no no no no no and here's the graphic that demonstrates the degree to which hopkins has dominated compubox punched at numbers outlanding tito trinidad in every one of the eight rounds so far remember the judges do not see these graphics all right all right separate the champions from the legend two three of quick shots inside this sunsport getting deep now get him out of there sometimes it takes a long time to be young bernard hopkins at 36 still seems young fighting one of the great fighters of recent times ages got nothing to do with it tonight all about the best fighter who can he can take it harold letterman gave trinidad the first round i think generously now even on letterman's card we're reaching the stage where trinidad would need a knockout to win if hopkins can stand up the rest of the way trinidad has tried to get in those left uppercuts and strides and the biggest thing hopkins has accomplished by my life is he's just refusing to bend the tito's grill he's still making tino fight all of that determination hopkins has not been one ounce maybe he should you know fellas remember what mark antonio barrera did against prince ahmed everybody talked about him looking into big punches he came out and put on a masterful show of controlled aggression we're seeing that hopkins is not a one-dimensional fighter but hello that's the big surprise of tonight he's been able to keep stay on his legs whenever he needed them he was able to move out of the way another big surprise is that it is so far a clean fight without a single penalized foul a shot the closest we came was trinidad elbowing hopkins beyond the rope booing fischer tells bernard hopkins if he keeps firing the dab he can't lose the fight he's still firing the dab energetically trinidad able to lay on hopkins left hand now that's what he's been trying to do all night overhand right on top of it he's here i'm here that's what he's waiting for trinidad got in a good shot on hopkins lands a straight right hand up the pipe and that gives him room to move off the ropes and for the first time in the fight hopkins is grinning at tito trinidad i was able to hit him with the right hand and move out of the way and there's another big right hand and again he moves out of the way very smart didn't say i heard you i'm going to get you some more hit you and get out of the way and another right hand for hopkins this is a cold clinical totally professional performance by a true professional prize fighter bernard hopkins make sure you use that work with him here we see straight right hand but but hopkins is not loading up on these right hands he's throwing short quick punches and getting out of the way of the return like i said cold and clinical he is not allowing himself to get into the heat of trinidad's fashion he's boxing moving and winning and that's hard to do when you hurt a guy and don't go after the finish this man is being extremely smart tonight hopkins once again between rounds tito trinidad asked his father if he's winning and once again trinidad senior said yes you are i think i think trinidad is asking that question because he doesn't really think he's winning no i think he wore the most discouraged look i've ever seen on his face between rounds harold how do you have it going into the town okay jim seven rounds to two 88 83 bernard hopkins you know what i can't understand this brendon hopkins to feel extremely stand up face to face bernard hopkins gets up first every time he lays the gym in a straight right i think felix will come in on an angle but he just stays right in front of him bernard gets off first and hurts him all the time when a guy is as good a puncher as trinidad he depends on that he expects that somewhere along the way it will play the difference and if it doesn't what are his answers against bernard hopkins got the left hand he's leaned on the hopkins left hand now that's what he wants hopkins better be careful that's it puts his weight on your left hand and throws his overhand right hopkins beating him to the punch though you know george trinidad has landed some big shots but he hasn't hurt hopkins after the dumpy fight there seemed to be no question about trinidad's viability as a 160-pound fighter a middleweight but maybe the question reopens itself as a result of the way that hopkins has been able to take trinidad punches tonight oh it's not about that hopkins has been extremely small tonight extremely small cinnamon is spending a lot of himself right here because he's been taking punishment we're seeing how much he wants a real champion in trinidad because he's come from some serious fire this is the determination of felix trinidad is going to have to take some chances what an awesome show what a great great fight as we come down the stretch in the 10th round blood coming out of trinidad's nose bernard hopkins won't take no for an answer steve smoker trying to pull hopkins trunks up clock still running trinidad running out of time most of the crowd on its feet as they watch the two fighters trade through the round and beyond and trinidad almost looks out on his feet keep your hands up the end of the round bernard hopkins patience during that fight resulted in that round but you heard the question in trinidad's corner can you fight another round and that was the ring doctor who wanted to know if trinidad could continue so the doctors are watching trinidad now as hopkins comes off a big 10th round where he landed 33 of 86 punches they go into the 11. hopkins has been beyond 10 rounds 14 times in his career trinidad 8 hopkins with a prohibited lead on harold letterman's scorecard as we come to the last two rounds it was a push a lot of punches but it was a push counter they had a favorite timid right now hopkins senses that trinidad is weakening very weak you got to be careful with him he's dealing with that powerful puncher good uppercut by hopkins trinidad visibly tiring for the moment bernard hopkins fed a hundred thousand dollars on himself to win the fight because he doesn't want to lose this is another huge round for hopkins trinidad has landed maybe two punches in the round bernard is taking target practice i doubt if this caller will let him come up another round is daddy still telling him he's winning you know his dad may have to tell him to send it out hopkins is dangerous now all of a sudden he's starting to smell victory and even a knockout and he's patience with it overwhelmingly pro-trinidad crowd trying to lift their man hopkins just keeps pounding away get back hands up hands up astonishing absolutely astonishing performance sometimes when a fighter is labeled a kind of a genius he's bound to disappoint you big right hand one of those larry this guy has been a fox and a terror trinidad is everything we would not expect he's been dead and more everything trinidad is hurt from the accumulation of punishment as round 11 comes to a close last round coming up you got the clothes you got the clothes big all right around here last round in the 11th round he looked like a fighter with very little left in the tank now let's see what he's got for what might be the last round of his career harold how do you have it coming to the 12. our kitchen 108 101 9 rounds to two bernard hopkins i only gave tito trinidad browns one and six all the rest of bernard hopkins boxing beautifully from the outside get out hopkins better go for safety and get a knockout you just can't trust judges well hopkins still wants to fight he's not sitting on his lead he's seen somebody try to do that against trinidad without success hopkins imposing his will and his skill on the man who is tonight the lesser fighter trinidad continues to come he'll never quit no never stop coming no retreat oh he's never been knocked out this fight is over steve smoker stops it no bernard comes in has done it he knocked out trinidad bernard hopkins has put himself up there in the list of all the great middleweights his 14th consecutive defense of his title trinidad a beaten man he was beaten boxing and then he was beaten physically he was beaten with the smarts of bernard hawkins he was beaten with the heart of bernard hopkins what a performance i'd like to find my words so i could eat them oh what brilliance here's a guy who tonight just as he has through his whole career did it his way he insisted on his individuality his right to govern his career and his life on his own terms it's cost him a lot he got it all back tonight you know that was a lot of inspiration in new york city for the united states flag and he bit into the inspiration there's your winner there's your winner in a big way and a felix tito trinidad who had never before been so physically beaten up in his career never before knocked out goes down in the middle of the 12th round and cannot continue as bernard hopkins punctuates a huge and thrilling and unexpected victory with a sensational power shot show in the 12th round oh what a right hand george what a right hand every shot this guy was so i never thought his legs could last but i guess those 150 pounds exactly what he needed to move around 157 pounds three pounds under the limit some people thought i know he'll be too weak he wasn't too weak he was too strong he tricked us a thoroughly dominant performance from start to finish hopkins by compubox numbers landing more punches than trinidad in every single round of the fight hopkins never did anything dirty the referee had not a chance to disqualify him no it was a great great fight all the way through never did anything dirty and what a show of determination to will by felix trinidad thoroughly beaten throughout most of the fight but fighting like a winner who believed in himself he never stopped trying never stop trying a champion to the end score cards show that hopkins was headed for the easy victory on the american scorecard of don ackerman he was up 109 to 100 going to the 12th on stanley christodoulos south africa scorecard he was up to 107 to 102. and on anec the scorer from thailand he was up 107 to 102. so hopkins had won the fight on the scorecards as they entered the 12th just as we expected was the case without any trust of the judges he went for the knockout now let's go to jimmy lennon jr to announce the official particulars on hopkins triumph ladies and gentlemen we have the time of one minute 18 seconds in round number 12 a referee in charge steve smoger recognizes the corner and stops the contest the winner by way of technical knockout tonight earning his place in boxing history as he is now the undisputed middleweight champion of the world bernard the executioner hopkins and increasingly throughout the fight it became a compubox landslide for hopkins landing 131 more punches throwing 324 four punches landing at a higher connect percentage to the shock and surprise of many landing the bigger power shots winning big and going away final power punch numbers hopkins landing 68 more throwing 165 more dominating increasingly down the stretch again what can you say about one of the most shockingly brilliant performances we've seen in the ring in recent years and larry merchant stands by now with the winner thank you very much jim bernard hopkins i'm not great yet but i will be at 36 he still thinks he has time to get better bernard why were you able to master a fighter who is considered so devastating well first larry i'd like to thank hbo all the people i'd like to thank my advisor and my friend and my friend lou de bella for giving me the opportunity not to take the bad rap that was on bernard hopkins i'd like to thank you for being not biased but being truthful and everybody at hbo larry i like to first you know hope that the troops and things work out okay with america usa is strong we will knock anybody out to try to go against us larry i trained hard for this fight um you know i always have a good sound bite to give everyone i'm not a dog guy but i wanted to i wanted to show my greatness and i believe i came halfway doing that was was there a little misdirection in you indicating that you were just going to try to dive into him and smother him when you knew all along that you felt that you could show the skills to outbox them that people didn't think you had yes larry one thing i knew and i mentioned it all through the media i said once trinidad find out he can't hurt me the fight's over you know larry i got one of the fill up for your chins iron chins but i just happened to have skills with it but i knew larry that if i take my time set my shots up as long as the fight come the more pain that i was going to put on trinidad i just like to thank hbo for giving me the opportunity i like to thank you for saying the good things about me when i'm good when i do good i will let you talk how how are you able to avoid his potent left hand well larry you take the best weapons from the guy that they're used against you if the guy has a gun you try to get you get to the gun you don't run from it because you got a better chance on smothering or got a better chance on uh getting to the gun i had to take his left hand away from him smurf shots and keep my defense up a good defense but i do have a good defense as well as our offense trinidad is a left hook guy that's all he had and i've been watching him for years once i took his left hook away and every time he's set up i watched his leg in his feet and i knew to move to the opposite way all right let's take a look at the last round at the knockout now you knew he was weakening from several rounds before this right yes i knew right about the fourth round when i knew i hit him with a good kind of right hook and he sort of dazed and he said oh and i wanted to follow up but not follow up recklessly because i know he's you know he got a piece of dish and left folk but he never hurt me larry i mean it he never hurt me no no shape no shape for him in this fight all right so in the last couple of rounds you were fighting with more abandoned and and then the control you were fighting in before yes i was uh doing just that larry you know i don't know what you're gonna do after this fight this this you know interview stuff but you ought to be uh a train in the corner because you know you got the blueprint of when all happens and you you read it well exactly just what you said is what i was doing god bless the fire department god bless the fire department and the philadelphia uh you know the police philanthropy all around the world you know whatever they are the warriors i'm sorry what does it mean to you now to have in philadelphia tied carlos monzone's middleweight record of 14 consecutive defenses it's great larry it's history but i want to be judged by my peers not by me reading my own articles i think when it's all done bernard hopkins will be known as one of the greatest middleweights that came along at all times i don't want to say that i want the world and the public to judge me and i can live whatever they come up with but in my heart in my heart i knew that i would get another chance in life to redeem myself from what i used to be and to what i am now i can show example not only for boxing but for people in general larry i am the american dream i am the american story thank you very much bernard congratulations again as always you're looking younger not older so do you jim you know i said to bernard hopkins last week do you find it all ironic that a guy who spent seven and a half years in the state penitentiary feels like exhibiting patriotism as you do at this time and he said hey in any other country in the world i wouldn't have gotten the second chance yeah you pay your dues and you come back out and that's an inspiration to everyone who's been in jail come on out who cares about your past we want to know what you're going to do today it's about craft george it's about crap and we saw a craftsman at work tonight i've seen he i told you i was trying to find my words so i could eat them i said he would lose yum yummy yummy hey listen i mean here's how underappreciated he's been some of the smartest boxing fans i know called me this week to ask does this guy really have a chance against trinidad i said guys he hasn't lost a fight in eight years you know no fighter like that doesn't have a chance as great as trinidad is yeah he tricked himself he tricked us all he taught us a lesson never give up on a guy who's had some experience some skills punching power in philadelphia gems don't give up on him what can tito learn from the way hopkins took away his left hand i don't think there's a lot for him to learn he lost he hasn't lost before he can come back and be better there's not a whole lot to learn you just you lose you win some and you lose something just pick yourself up and let's start a new career i'm sure that's what he's going to say to larry merchant right now papa trinidad great fighters fight each other trinidad i thank you one for you getting this tournament i wouldn't have got a chance to show my greatness but anytime hold up i'm not just saying this ain't politics i run my own show my own manager whenever you need a chance to redeem yourself i got to get the minions we can do it i'm not a guy that duck people all right that's all records reporters great show trinidad i will come back to san juan listen me and luke debell entertainment don king will come back to san juan and i'm a man i will apologize to the puerto rican fans for throwing the flag down for my heart that's the true champion we shut it up within a month and i'll be there is that is that good yeah okay he says he would go to puerto rico and ask for to be forgiven for what he did i would love for him to do that thank you very much tito were you surprised or shocked at how well bernhard hopkins was able to box was a great fighter and a good boxer i came to win he beat me tonight i accept it all right tell us tito before the fight they made you re-wrap your hands in a different way with only one layer of gauze and tape instead of two layers of tape did that affect your power i'm a great puncher it doesn't matter how my hands were bandaged it was just that's the way it went did you realize toward the end of the fight that you needed a knockout to win uh and that i can still win uh without having to knock him out when you went down at the end how surprising was that for you having never ever lost a professional prize fight what was going on he hit me hard but and i accepted that the referee stopped the fight all right now now that a roy jones fight is out of the picture will you try for a rematch with de la hoya i'm a fighter and i'll fight anybody i'm a great champion and i have to discuss it with my dad and see what goes on thank you very much you've been a champion thank you for putting up the best fights you could against a great fighter tonight let everybody know that i have always respected hbo and everybody in boxing boxing is a very hard sport and i'm i want respect and i wish that all fighters were respected also and i know that the hbo respects me and i would love that they will keep doing it and then in the future there will be great great fighters and in a great fight hbo fighting on hbo okay thank you very much thank you chad jim all right thank you much larry uh george we're gonna take care of one piece of business here before we throw it back up to fran charles earlier this evening uh welterweights uh rafael pineda of colombia and michaela picarillo of italy fought a potential title eliminator the winner supposedly to fight vernon forrest for his version of the welterweight title george the good boxer almost always beats the good puncher when the punter waits and waits and waits to land the big punch and that was the story of this fight yeah pineda was just sitting around waiting thinking i'm going to beat this guy sooner or later he can't move like this all night he was disappointed and spoiled this guy had all of the footwork and speed and coordination throughout the fight they needed getting credit for a knockdown of pichurillo in the second round when he barely landed a punch on the top of piccariello's head but from that point forward picarillo too fast simply too mobile and sticking with his game plan boxing all the way more or less took the fight out of pineda's in 37 fights and we'll see him down the road as well now let's go back up to our host fran charles all right jim so bernard hopkins becomes the first unified middleweight champion since marvin hagler had that title back in 1987. manny during the fight you turned to me at one point you told me bernard hopkins did his homework yes he was very well prepared coming into the fight he did everything that he said that he was going to do and i don't think that tito will ever ever beat a breton hopkins i mean there should never be a rematch as far as i'm concerned and i just have to say i'm very happy to have had all these great fights that tito has given us throughout the years because he's been a true warrior but what felix did tonight was try to get set to throw that left hooking as he was squatting trying to get in position burn out every time we'd hit him with a short right hand and he he had no other battle plan it was just strictly the left hook the left hook the left hook and bernard had too many other things that he was able to do in addition to being physically a strong man man you said no rematch then for trinidad he shouldn't look for that what's next for bernard hopkins well if bernard hopkins fights roy jones it's got to be taken as a serious fight and at this point in time you may even have to favor bernard considering the good competition that he's had in the last couple of years as compared to what roy has had so all of the great natural talent that roy shares and enjoys he may have to give it up a little bit in this fight here because when they fought before he just barely won the fight then right and bernard hopkins right now is at the top of his game all right now what's next for trinidad then trinidad right now i think he should take a really good long rest he's been on a lot of big fights even the fight with vargas which he won but still he suffered a lot i think physically and i just don't know what's going to be the future for him right now all right well we will wait and see bernard hopkins coming in with a game plan and sticking with it emmanuel it's been a pleasure all right so for manny stewart i'm fran charles trinidad vs hopkins has been brought to you by madison square garden the world's most famous arena hbo pay-per-view the best in pay-per-view entertainment brought to you by the folks at hbo and special thanks to america online and aol members for participating in tonight's telecast we'd also like to thank our internet partners and the following magazine partners and a special thanks to the partners who provided the sugar ray robinson trophy and so for all of us here on a special night at madison square garden this is fran charles saying good night our executive producer is rick bernstein tonight's telecast was produced by dave harmon and directed by mark payton associate producers tom huffine and brian lockhart assistant to the producer abtin motea production manager mark hayden technical supervisor bob hunter technical director doug getz a reminder at the end of our credits we will list some of the organizations you can volunteer or donate to so so you

Channel: sgoz92

Views: 743,014

Keywords: Bernard Hopkins (Boxer), Boxing, Felix Trinidad

Id: pAdJ2XzP4Ns

Length: 97min 0sec (5820 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 15 2013

Reddit Comments

[u/Immynimmy]

Fun fact...this fight sold 475k. If someone sold that nowadays everyone on this sub would say it's terrible.

Another fun fact: this was the result of a 4 man middleweight tournament...we outta have more of those.

[u/OdeToSpot]

Its so funny to hear them talking about how old Bernard is this telecast. If they had only known how much longer he would have fought.

[u/[deleted]]

This fight is practically the definition of an absolute schooling. Bhop at his best.

[u/Yellow_Emperor]

I usually don't like watching fights which aren't in nice 1080 HD, but I'd be disrespecting the sport if I didn't watch this.

[u/Prettygame4Ausername]

Steve Smoger is best referee.

[u/senorworldwide]

I miss the old school Executioner entrances, evil black mask and all.

[u/OldMackysBackInTown]

HBO did a podcast and page about this today. The podcast is great. Interviews with Bernard and Smoger and some of the brass that pulled the fight together:

https://twitter.com/HBOboxing/status/781538156843765760?s=09

[u/MuhammadAli-Oop]

The hook that ended it was so damn short... Beautiful punch