Trinidad speaks!
fightnews.com (pic of tito at conference)
By Andre Courtemanche
A press conference was held today for WBA and IBF Jr. Middleweight champion Felix "Tito" Trinidad to discuss his May 12 fight with WBA Middleweight king William Joppy at Madison Square Garden.
The fight, Trinidad's first at the 160-pound weight limit, will be the second leg in Don King's middleweight unification tournament that began with Bernard Hopkins' unanimous decision over Keith Holmes. Also on hand was Felix Trinidad Sr., manager and trainer of his four-time world champion son. Team Trinidad have been training in old San Juan at the Casa Olimpica. They say everything is going quite well. Tito's weight is 163 lbs., as of today.
Felix Trinidad Sr.
The question of whether he is the strongest fighter (William Joppy) we have ever fought is a difficult question to answer because it can only be answered after the fight. We are confronting a strong fighter in a new weight division, so we have to see when we get to the ring. We can finish this fight in one round, but maybe we'll have to go 12 rounds.
As a father, I am very proud that my son, once he beats two great champions and becomes undisputed champion of the middleweights, I will be very proud that he has entered the place of immortals in the sport.
The decision is a decision of the manager (to take on Joppy first). We asked and we pressed for this fight when Tito was 147lbs. We perceived that he (Tito) move up and fight the best champions of his time and the best of the middleweights. I consider William Joppy to be the best of the middleweights. I foresaw that [Tito] was going to go to immortality in the sport by fighting him.
I heard in the press yesterday that Fernando Vargas is thinking of fighting Oscar De La Hoya. That could be a way in which the winner can have the opportunity to fight Felix Trinidad. If Vargas is saying he wants Tito first, then he doesn't want to fight De La Hoya because he will not fight Trinidad first. He has to fight Oscar De La Hoya, that's his decision but he will not fight Felix Trinidad right now.
Felix "Tito" Trinidad
David Reid remained on his feet; Vargas did not. For me, David Reid was stronger than Vargas.
When I win this fight on May 12, I don't want there to be any doubts that I am the best. Fighting in front a public that will be 90% in my favor, that will be an extra for me. I will be winning the title.
The two fighters sparring with me, when they were professional fighters, one was a super middleweight and the other was a welter, but now they are around 200 pounds. They are not active professional fighters. They are in good shape and they know a lot about boxing techniques. We take care of them and we bandage them as though they were our fighters. They were good professional fighters, they were not world champions, but they know boxing techniques and they do what we want for the training.
We have dealt with a style similar to William Joppy. We had David Reid. Faster than him (Joppy) with more movement was Pernell Whitaker. With more bad tricks than him was Hector "Macho" Camacho.
He is saying the truth (Joppy's contention that he is a natural middleweight). He has been a middleweight. I am going first time to the middleweights, but he will have never encountered a fighter like me and he will see it on May 12. I am only going up a category, because if we are going to talk about weight, then we can weight each other two weeks after the fight to see how weighs more. It is not because I am going to eat crazy; it is because I take a lot of weight. I am always heavier than him. I am very high in weight and if Joppy has said that I am fat, he has to see me. When he sees me, he will be impressed. I am not fat like he is saying. On the 12'th I'm going to show him. I don't care what he's saying. On May 12 there will be a new champion."
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