They chanted “Tito, Tito, Tito” but the Pride of Puerto Rico could not will himself to be kryptonite to Roy Jones Jr’s Superman on Saturday night in New York City. In a fight billed as “Bring On The Titans” (but to some it was “Bring On The Geezers”), Roy Jones Jr dominated Felix “Tito” Trinidad over the course of 12 rounds in a fantasy mega-matchup that should have taken place back in 2000.
In a fight that could have sold out stadiums years ago, Trinidad Vs Jones couldn’t fill Madison Square Garden but drew a solid audience of 12,162 of mostly pro-Trinidad fans. Regardless of the inevitable skill sets diminishing and the fact that both of their legacies encountered speed bumps recently, fans still packed it in to witness a fight that turned back the clocks for many who have long awaited this battle.
Although Jones recently turned 39, it was Trinidad and his fluffy body coupled with recently celebrated 35th birthday that seemed to suffer of old age. Roy Jones Jr partied like it was 1999 and used Tito Trinidad and his face to show off his dance moves.
With the Puerto Rican spectators urging Trinidad on, Roy Jones shuffled, danced, posed and pranced his way through each of the 12 rounds. Utilizing a swift attack that looked much like the Jones of old, the former pound for pound champ floored Trinidad twice in the fight (rounds 7 & 10) with flash knockdowns but couldn’t fulfill his promise of “Tito must go in fo’” that bellowed through the fight’s promotion.
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Trinidad tried to start quickly but many of his punches found Jones’ arms and elbows as Tito never cleanly landed on the former champ. Jones began a cautious fight but soon figured his speed and strength was insurmountable. He began to pepper Trinidad with multiple punch combinations and seemed to be cruising along. The 170 pound catch weight also proved to be too much for Trinidad as the former 3 division champ looked heavier than ever as this would be his highest fighting weight. Jones simply was faster and stronger than Trinidad and, once he figured he couldn’t be hurt, opened up a potshot exhibition that caused the crowd to erupt in “Roy Jones Jr” chants.
Jones’ performance was so dominant in fact, that the pro-Trinidad crowd began to head towards the exit before the 12th round began. With lopsided scores of 117-109 on once scorecard and 116-110 on the other, Jones showed that he could still be impressive as a much older model of the champion that conquered opponent after opponent with uncanny abilities.
“Yeah, I felt his power but ain’t no way I’m gonna let a super middleweight push around a former heavyweight champion,”Jones said post fight.
So what will Jones do next?
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“I’ll fight anyone, anywhere, anytime,”Jones said. He has been adamant during fight week that after he won, he’d travel to Wales to seek super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe. He also expressed interest in fighting Bernard Hopkins.
As for Trinidad, the future is uncertain. “I will decide this week with my father what I will do,” he said somberly after his loss.
Check the fight out next week as the replay will be shown on HBO at 10pm EST.
Other fights:
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Super Lightweights: Devon Alexander “The Great” defeated Vs Demarcus “Chop Chop” Corley via unanimous decision
Super Welterweights: Alex “The Technician” Bunema defeated Roman “Made In Hell” Karmazin via 10th round TKO
Heavyweights: Andrew Golota defeated “Merciless” Mike Mallo via unanimous decision
Andreas Hale’s Unofficial Scorecard
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 total
Jones 10 -9 -10-10 -9 -10 -10- 9 -10-10 -10 -10 117
Trinidad 9 -10 -9 – 9- 10 – 9 – 8- 10 -9 – 8 – 9 – 9 109
