Felix Trinidad defeats Oscar De La Hoya at the
Fight of The Millennium

September 18, 1999 -- In the most anticipated fight of the year, Felix Trinidad defeated Oscar De La Hoya by mounting an attack in the late rounds, while De La Hoya ran around the ring.  Trinidad started landing some of powerful right hands which he was missing in the early rounds and relentlessly continued chasing De La Hoya around the ring while De La Hoya basically took the 10th, 11th and 12th round off.

"My corner said keep attacking. I knew it was close, but I kept attacking," Trinidad said.

Oscar De La Hoya heard boos as he back pedaled and ran around the ring in the final rounds with Felix Trinidad chasing and hitting him.  Perhaps the fans knew something De La Hoya didn't - that he was throwing away certain victory in the biggest fight of his career.  "For one time, I wanted to box and show a good boxing lesson," De La Hoya said. "I guess that wasn't enough for the people at ringside."  Many people after the fight were blaming his corner men who actually assured him that "You got the fight won Oscar, just stay on your feet."  

Oscar De La Hoya listened to the bad advice of his corner and he lost the fight.  Light heavyweight champion and fight commentator Roy Jones said clearly " Just because you got off to a good start doesn't mean you should take the rest of the night off."  De La Hoya did just that.  

His corner men also didn't count the big heart of Trinidad, who refused to be overcome by frustration and was determined to bring the WBC title belt to his homeland of Puerto Rico like he promised. "I knew Oscar was a great fighter, but I have such a will to win," said Trinidad.

Neither boxer fought a great fight, but Trinidad's late round barrage on De La Hoya proved to sway the judges decision.  Here is how the judges scored it and a round by round look at the Fight of the Millennium:

Glen Hamada	114-114
Bob Logist*	115-114
Jerry Roth*	115-113
* In favor of Felix Trinidad.

 

 

R o u n d   B y  R o u n d

Round One:

De La Hoya and Trinidad are in the center of the ring.  Not many punches thrown, each fighter is testing and feeling the other out.  De La Hoya starts to establish his left jab and finishes off with a flurry of combination during the last 10 seconds of the fight.

Round Two:

De La Hoya is moving around the ring a lot.  Trinidad tries to cut of the ring to slow down his movement.  De La Hoya throws more jabs and several effective combinations. With 1:42 to go in the 2nd, De La Hoya connected with a left jab straight to the nose of Trinidad. The crowd began chanting, "Tito, Tito, Tito," as the IBF champ became more aggressive. Seconds later, De La Hoya scored with another stiff left jab and Trinidad's, nose began bleeding. At the 41-second mark, Trinidad momentarily was able to cut the ring off and delivered a solid right hand that caught De La Hoya flush on the chin.

Round Three:

Trinidad's nose is bleeding and the cornermen are working hard to contain the blood. Trinidad seems to be more aggressive and lands some hard left hooks. Both boxers are exchanging jabs, but De La Hoya's accuracy proved to be the difference and within seconds Trinidad's white satin trucks were spotted by his own blood. De La Hoya seems to be more on the defensive, but throwing quick combinations at Trinidad. Trinidad seems a bit frustrated and confused because De La Hoya won't stand still. With under 40-seconds to go in the 3rd, De La Hoya connected with another jab and then bounced a rapid one-two. By the conclusion of the round, De La Hoya returned to his stool brimming with confidence while across the his corner men work on containing his nose bleed.

Round Four:

Trinidad lands some good combinations. De La Hoya scored with a sharp right hand to the chin on the aggressor Trinidad. Trinidad counters and connects with a long straight right hand to the head. The Puerto Rican champion continued to put pressure on the elusive De La Hoya and with 1:16 to go in the 4th, connected with a sharp right hand to the chin. De La Hoya went downstairs via a digging left hook with less than a minute remaining in the round, but Trinidad countered with a solid hook of his own.  Once again, De La Hoya finishes with a flurry in the last :10 seconds of the fight.

Round Five:

De La Hoya lands a left hook early in the round, then remains outside and dependent on his footwork. Trinidad continues to chase him and cut off the ring. De La Hoya's left jab continues to land effectively.   At the 54-second mark of the 5th, De La Hoya paused and unloaded another quick scoring combination.  However, Trinidad stayed loyal to his arsenal and ripped De La Hoya with a sharp right hand to the jaw. Just before the round ended,  De La Hoya connects on Trinidad with a strong, straight right hand down the middle, and a thudding hook to the temple. Trinidad's left eye was noticeably swollen and his corner began applying endswell to the left eye.

Round Six:

De La Hoya was on the defensive in the sixth and hits Trinidad with more jabs. The flow of blood from Trinidad's nose increased and his white trunks began taking on a pinkish hue, as he continued his pursuit of the fleeing WBC champ. At the 1:35 mark, Trinidad answered with a strong right hand to the jaw. but is seems that Trinidad missing a lot of his shots. Late in the round with 28 -seconds to go, De La Hoya landed a solid counter right hand to the point of the chin and then followed up moments later with a stiff hook. De La Hoya seems to be more confident.

Round Seven:

Trinidad started having some degree of success with thudding left hooks to the body and De La Hoya seems to be slowing down a bit. He was unable to double up on the shots but periodically would sink a hook into the chiseled De La Hoya's rib cage. De La Hoya returned to jabbing and moving from the outside.  Trinidad is throwing heavy power punches and is looking for a knock out. Three consecutive left jabs were on target for De La Hoya and then at the 20 second mark, Trinidad connected with three straight right crosses down the middle. Trinidad hit De La Hoya in the head just after the bell and both men exchanged verbal insults before returning to their corners.

Round Eight:

Trinidad's nose stopped bleeding and his eye is holding up well, thanks to the great work of his cornermen. De La Hoya scored with yet another clean right hand down the middle. Trinidad continued to try and cut the ring but seconds later, De La Hoya nailed him with another sharp right hand to the chin. Both men traded shots with 1:08 to go, as Trinidad connected with a hard right but De La Hoya answered with a brisk three-shot combination. Trinidad regained control of the center of the ring and De La Hoya was forced to move along the ropes in an effort to elude his heavy punches.

Round Nine:

Trinidad starts to cut of the ring more. De La Hoya flurried with a quick four-punch combo to the head and body that forced Trinidad to step back. Seconds later, De La Hoya stepped back inside and scored with another fast flurry of punches. With 1:42 to go in the 9th, Trinidad caught De La Hoya on the ropes long enough to land a sharp right hand over the top. The blow tagged De La Hoya above the left ear and he starts dancing around the ring. Trinidad is getting more momentum and connect with some good power punches. Trinidad sank a sharp hook into De La Hoya ribs and then followed with a chopping right hand up top. De La Hoya attempted to fight back and with 32-seconds remaining in the 9th, caught Trinidad with a straight right hand down the middle.  Just before the bell, De La Hoya throws another flurry of punches, but not as effective.  De La Hoya is slowing down.

Round Ten:

Trinidad looks strong and goes after De La Hoya.  He catches De La Hoya with a left hook to the side of the head followed by an overhand right to the face, and yet another hook to the jaw. De La Hoya put it in reverse and Trinidad continues to attack. De La Hoya began getting lazy with his left and Trinidad started firing counter right hands over the top. With under 36-seconds remaining in the 10th, Trinidad scored with another long right as De La Hoya bounced up and down along the ropes. Trinidad connects with some power punches and the De La Hoya is running backwards.
De La Hoya's returned fire with wide looping punches that lacked steam and accuracy. Trinidad is aggressive and now is in control of the fight.  De La Hoya left eye is swollen and he seems winded as he returns to his corner.

Round Eleven:

De La Hoya's trainers are heard saying that he was in front and not to make mistakes over the last two rounds. That conservative strategy would prove to be the turning point in the fight and set the stage for Trinidad's victory. Both men traded jabs to open the eleventh but De La Hoya kept his pawing left out in front and Trinidad quickly countered over the top with a sizzling right hand to the jaw. With De La Hoya maneuvering along the ropes, Trinidad walked his man down and scored with two more sharp right hands.  De La Hoya lacked the stick to keep Trinidad away and the IBF king kept up the pressure with two digging left hooks. At the 1:47 mark of the 11th, Trinidad scored with a shooting right hand lead and sweat cascaded off De La Hoya's head.   For the first time in the fight, De La Hoya grabs Trinidad around the neck and the referee Halpern was forced to break the fighters. Halpern issued a brief warning to break clean and the action resumed. Trinidad was relentless as he continued to chase De La Hoya around the ring. As De La Hoya danced along the ropes, Trinidad faked with his left and then tattooed De La Hoya with a straight right hand square on the mouth. At the bell, De La Hoya slowly returned to his corner while Trinidad raised his right hand to the cheers of the fans.

Round Twelve:

Trinidad opened the final round by scoring with another lead right and then followed
up with two more shots to the head. De La Hoya's feet did a quick two-step and the undefeated champion looked weary. With 2:06 to go in the bout, Trinidad connected with a long right hand to the head. De La Hoya tried to slip the blow and ended up looking out at the crowd. Seconds later, Trinidad fired another lead right that missed but gave the impression that De La Hoya had been tagged. De La Hoya's lead continued to evaporate as Trinidad connected with a stiff left hand up top. Halfway through the round the crowd began voicing their displeasure by booing De La Hoya. The confident WBC champ dropped his gloves to his sides and dances around the ring as Trinidad continues to unload power punches. At the 10-second mark, Trinidad finally landed a swift one-two, as De La Hoya tries to return blows with a weak flurry.

At the bell De La Hoya raised his gloves in triumph. Trinidad responds in kind with the same mannerism. Both athletes were quickly lifted on the shoulders of their seconds and paraded around the ring as the fans cheered.

The Decision:

The decision was handed to the ring man and he announced a majority decision in favor of Felix Trinidad.  He threw his arms in the air and his people held him up in the air.  Trinidad seemed to be crying with tears of joy that he is now the WBC and IBF champion of the world and his loving people in Puerto Rico is at a frenzy over the victory

Despite several masterful rounds at the beginning, towards the end, De La Hoya looked tired, was gasping for air and lost aggression. Even at that De La Hoya thought he did enough to win,  "I thought I had it in the bag, I really did. I swear in my heart I thought I had won it." 

What De La Hoya thought would be a triumphant boxing performance on Saturday night, 9/18/99, instead became a bitter defeat proving once again that it never pays to make assumptions in boxing unless your opponent is sprawled on the canvas.

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