Talking noise
Trinindad promises to KO Vargas in eighth round
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Posted: Monday October 16, 2000 4:15 PM
sportsillustrated.cnn.com
March 3, 2000: Felix Trinidad celebrates as he is lifted around the ring during the fight against David Reid at Caesar Palace. Jed Jacobsohn/Allsport
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Felix Trinidad vowed Sunday to knock out Fernando Vargas before the eighth round in their Dec. 2 fight and said he already has his sights set on middleweight champion William Joppy.
"After I knock you out, I'm going to continue toward the middleweight championship," Trinidad told Vargas as the two boxers met in his hometown of San Juan, Puerto Rico to publicize the fight.
Trinidad, the WBA super welterweight champion, and Vargas -- the IBF junior middleweight belt holder from Oxnard, Calif. will fight to unify the 154-pound title in Las Vegas.
"The one who's going to fall is you," Vargas retorted during the news conference at San Juan's Condado Plaza Hotel.
Trinidad, 27, has been moving up the weight classes since beating Oscar De La Hoya at 147 pounds a year ago.
He said he next wants to challenge Joppy for the WBA middleweight belt, a 160-pound title, then fight undisputed light heavyweight champion Roy Jones Jr. at 168 pounds.
Trinidad's father and trainer, Felix Sr., said his son's greater experience gives him an edge over Vargas.
But the 22-year-old Californian has fended off challengers before. He has defended his title six times since seizing it from Mexican Yory Boy Campas in December 1998, and he is unbeaten in 20 fights with 18 knockouts.
He will be the third unbeaten champion in Trinidad's past four bouts. The Puerto Rican has a 38-0 record with 31 knockouts.
Vargas has said he next wants to unify the 154-pound title by beating WBC champion Javier Castillejo of Spain.
Trinidad's promoter, Don King, has called the fight with Vargas a "winner take all" match because there is no clause in the contracts calling for a rematch.
On Sunday, Vargas' trainer, Eduardo Garcia, needled the Trinidad camp about the De La Hoya fight, which remains the Puerto Rican's most significant -- and most controversial -- victory.
Trinidad won by a decision, but only after De La Hoya outboxed him in the first rounds, then coasted through the remainder to protect what he believed was a significant lead.
"We're not going to wait for the judges to give (Trinidad) the victory like they did when he went up against Oscar De La Hoya," Garcia said. "Every saint comes to his moment of truth, and his will be on Dec. 2." |
