Written by Ozzie Gonzalez, Latinosportslegends.com

"I want Hopkins next! He is the only one to defeat me, but I will avenge that loss," said the former three-division champion Felix "Tito" Trinidad.

May 12, 2002 -- Frenchman Hasine Cherifi was no match for former world champion, Felix "Tito" Trinidad last night as the Puerto Rico native destroyed Cherifi in four rounds, winning by technical knockout (TKO).

From the opening bell, Cherifi (32-6-1) was out-manned by Trinidad, who was fighting in front of his home fans at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in Puerto Rico.

This fight was scheduled for 10 rounds, but Trinidad gave an early indication that it would not go that far when he connected with a solid right to the head with about one minute left in the first round.

With 37 seconds to go in the third round, Trinidad caught Cherifi off balance with a right to the jaw that briefly knocked him down. Cherifi got up quickly, but that was the first of two more knockdowns to come.

"I hurt him with the right hand a lot," Trinidad said. "That was the plan. We practiced in the gym."

The second knockdown came from a Trinidad combination which ended with a left hook that dropped Cherifi to his knee for another 8-count. Less than a minute later, he followed a right lead with another left hook for another knockdown, and referee Ismael Quinonez Falu stopped it at the 2:32 mark of the fourth round.

After the fight, Trinidad made it clear that he would like to avenge his only loss against Bernard Hopkins.

"I want Hopkins!" said the 31-year-old Trinidad. "He is the only one to defeat me and I will avenge that loss."

Trinidad improves his record to 41-1 with 34 knockouts. Cherifi, who held the middleweight title briefly in 1998, fell to 32-7-1.

On the undercard, Diobelys Hurtado of Cuba scored a surprising seventh-round knockout of WBA interim super welterweight champion Randall Bailey.

 

Web site design, development and maintenance by
  Latino Legends in Sports.™
© Copyright 2002, All Rights Reserved.