Roy Jones Jnr v Felix Trinidad
Roy Jones Jnr v Felix Trinidad
Jones, the dominant force of the 1990s but at 39 long past his best, still had too much hand speed and power for the smaller Trinidad, who at 170 was boxing 10lbs above his last fighting weight.
The Puerto Rican hero survived knockdowns in the seventh and 10th rounds to see the final bell but Jones was a decisive winner by 117-109 and 116-110 twice.
Jones taunted his opponent in the early rounds, pounding his own stomach and sticking out his chin, but went to work in the middle rounds consistently beating ‘Tito’ to the punch with an effective straight right hand.
It was that shot that dropped the 35-year-old in the seventh with Trinidad looking for some time as though he would not make the count.
However, he got up to take more punishment and walked onto a swift combination three rounds later, by which time Jones was well ahead on the cards.
“He was slipping some really good punches,” said Jones after taking his record to 52-4 in the non-title fight. “I was missing knocking him out by about an inch on some of those shots.
“It took a lot. I can’t believe he stayed in there 12 rounds with me. It was a great fight.”
Trinidad (42-3) admitted that an absence of almost three years counted against him in the end.
“Roy was very fast and very strong,” he said. “I have no excuses. He demonstrated speed and took my body punches.”
Though both fighters won armloads of title belts and millions of fans during their prime, Jones and Trinidad were kept apart by obstacles ranging from mandatory title defences to the jab of Bernard Hopkins, whose upset win over Trinidad in a bout for the undispute middleweight title sank a potential matchup six years ago.
