Hopkins shows off the gold.   (AP)

By: Tony Scott and Mike Kaczowka

September 29, 2001 

New York, NY (BoxingGurus.com) - He talked the talk and then he walked the walk!!!

After over an hour wait from the finish of the Lopez/Petelo fight to the start of the main event, Trinidad/Hopkins finally got it on at Madison Square Garden in New York City on HBO PPV. In one of the most anticipated Middleweight championship fights of all time, the "superfight" lived up to every expectation. 

Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins (40-2-1, 29 KO) absolutely dominated and manhandled what some people (not this website) thought was the best P4P fighter in the world Felix "Tito" Trinidad (40-1, 33 KO). Now Hopkins is the undisputed Middleweight champion of the world holding the IBF, WBA and WBC world titles.

After the fight, when asked when he knew he was going to win this fight Hopkins said, "When he (Trinidad) signed the contract. When Tito realized he couldn't hurt me is when he knew it was over."

Both fighters in the first round just tried to feel each other out and Hopkins was a bit more active and pushed the tempo. The 2nd round was much like the first, but at the end of the 2nd, Hopkins landed a very hard straight right that stunned Trinidad. In the 3rd round, Trinidad finally showed some energy and was more active and possibly pulled the round out.

Hopkins went back to what worked for him in the first two rounds and was just more active and the aggressor. Trinidad was just not throwing enough punches to keep up with Hopkins. The rest of the fight was all Hopkins. Using his stiff jab and slick defense Hopkins was in total control going into the 12th round.

Then something happened that has never happened before. Felix Trinidad was knocked out by a HUGE right hook fired by Hopkins. Trinidad tried to throw a left hook and after he missed, Hopkins counter-punched very quickly with a short but powerful right hook that sent Trinidad immediately to the canvas. Trinidad did beat the count and got up at 9, but he was clearly out of it. Referee Steve Smoger appeared as if he was going to let Trinidad continue, but Papa Trinidad stepped in the ring and asked the fight to be stopped. 

At 1:42 of round 12 in his fight versus Trinidad, Hopkins entered the land of immortality. Now Hopkins must be considered one of the best Middleweights of all time and the best of his generation.

"I wanted to show my greatness," said Hopkins. "He never hurt."

Punch stats as one would expect were vastly in Hopkins favor. He was 260 of 653 for 40%. Trinidad was 129 of 329 for 39%.

Trinidad struggles to beat the count.   (AP)

Hopkins didn't want to take a chance of leaving the fight up to the judges even though he and everyone in attendance felt he was clearly winning, but after what happened in De La Hoya/Trinidad, nobody blamed Hopkins for wanting to close the show. The scorecards through 11 rounds were 109-100, 107-102 and 107-102 all for Hopkins. BoxingGurus.com at ringside agrees with the landslide with a 108-101 for Hopkins. Click here to view the official scorecard.

When asked what's next Hopkins said at the post fight press conference, "Roy Jones said it best when he is said Bernard Hopkins is a man. That's why he hasn't fought me in six or seven years. I want Oscar de la Hoya right now. He needs a chance to redeem himself. Roy Jones is not on my radar. He disrespected me back in February. Or course $20 million would change my mind quickly."
 

TELEVISED UNDERCARD:

IBF Junior Flyweight champion Ricardo "Finito" Lopez (50-0-1, 37 KO) showed why he is one of the top 10 P4P fighters in the world and an all-time great by dismantling a recent world champion Zolani "The Tiger" Petelo (17-3-2, 9 KO). Lopez knocked out Petelo at 1:32 of the 8th round. Petelo, who has just recently moved up to Junior Flyweight, is the former IBF Strawweight champion and had to give up his title after he couldn't make weight anymore. The 1st round was a feel out round, with both fighters staying on the outside seeing what each other had. The 2nd round brought some fireworks when Lopez caught Petelo, a southpaw; with a beautiful counter left hook flush on the chin. Petelo went to the canvas, but got up fairly quickly and survived the rest of the round. Lopez continued to control the tempo of the bout in the 3rd by capitalizing on his jab and superior defensive instincts to frustrate the younger Petelo. Lopez continued to dominate the fight even while suffering two cuts, both caused by head butts. Then came the 8th round were the dismantling finally caught up to Petelo and he got caught by a big three-punch combo and decided not to beat the count and stayed on one knee as referee Arthur Mercante Sr. counted to ten. Lopez was easily leading on all scorecards 70-62 at the time of the knockout.

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In a Junior Featherweight attraction, Ratanachai Vorapin (40-5, 28 KO) scored a majority decision over Danny "Kid Dynomite" Romero (41-4-1, 35 KO) in a very close and hard fought fight. The fight was a seesaw battle with neither fighter really taking complete control at any point throughout the fight. In the 3rd round, a unintentional clash of heads opened up a small cut above the left eye of Vorapin, but his corner did a good job stopping the bleeding on the cut, which was never a factor again in the fight. Then again in the 5th round, a head butt occurred, but this time it opened up a cut just above Romero's left eye, which continued to bleed constantly throughout the rest of the fight. Both fighters were very gritty and fought a hard tough-nosed fight. The judge's scorecards were 97-93 (Vorapin), 96-94 (Vorapin) and 95-95. BoxingGurus.com at ringside scored the fight 95-95 a draw, but there were a few close rounds that could have gone either way and see no problems with any of the scorecards.
 

NON-TELEVISED UNDERCARD:

In an IBF Welterweight title elimination bout, "Gentleman of the Ring" Michele Piccirillo (36-1-0-1, 23 KO) won a unanimous decision over Rafael Pineda (35-4, 29 KO) to earn a mandatory world title shot in the near future. The fight started out slow, but in the 2nd round Pineda got credited with knocking down Piccirillo, which clearly was a slip and referee Wayne Kelly missed what was a Pineda phantom punch. The action again slowed down, but then came a weird 5th round. Towards the end of the 5th round, Paccirillo caught an off-balance Pineda with a solid right hand that sent him to the canvas. While Pineda was on a knee, Paccirillo continued to hit Pineda with two right hands and sent Pineda sprawling out on the canvas. Kelly called time out and took a point away Piccirillo and never started counting for the knock down of Pineda. After a minute of confusion the bell rang to end the round. Kelly did rule the punch a knockdown. The rest of the fight was back and forth fighting with each fighter doing nothing to dominate the fight. The judge's scorecards were 117-108, 113-112 and 115-111 all for Piccirillo. BoxingGurus.com at ringside scored the fight 115-111 for Piccirillo. 

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WBO Junior Flyweight champion Nelson Dieppa (19-2-1, 11 KO) easily defended his title by scoring a unanimous decision over former IBF Strawweight champion Fahlan Sakkreerin (44-3-2, 17 KO). Dieppa was in total control in this fight using his superior hand speed and quickness to keep Sakkreerin off balance and unable to mount any type of charge. Diepa relied heavily on his straight right hand that opened up much of the rest of Diepa's arsenal. Sakkreerin, the Thai southpaw, tried to get things going in the middle rounds, but came up empty every time he made a run. The judge's scorecards were 118-110, 118-110 and 119-109 all for Diepa. BoxingGurus.com at ringside had the fight scored 118-111 for Diepa.

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WBA Super Middleweight champion Byron "Gator" Mitchell (24-1-1, 17 KO) retained his title with a very close split decision over Manuel Siaca (15-4, 14 KO). What looked to be a quick night for Mitchell turned into everything he could handle. Mitchell knocked down Siaca in the 1st round with an overhand right with only seconds remaining in the round, and Mitchell went on to control most of the next few rounds. But Siaca came on strong in the middle rounds and turned this fight into a true battle. Siaca really turned this into a fight when he floored Mitchell on the early going of the 12th round. Mitchell was clearly hurt, but Siaca did not jump on him after he got up. Only thing one can assume is Siaca thought he had the fight won at that point and did not want to get caught with a big punch like he did in their first fight back on March 3rd. In that fight, Mitchell was losing the fight, but scored a TKO to win the fight in the last round. The judges scorecards were 115-112 (Siaca), 114-112 (Mitchell) and 114-112 (Mitchell. BoxingGurus.com at ringside had the fight scored 114-112 (Mitchell).

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Hot Featherweight prospect Daniel Seda (18-0, 15 KO) barely kept his unblemished record in tact by winning a narrow split decision over a game Roger De Jesus Medal (14-3, 6 KO). Seda had to fight back after being put on the canvas in the 3rd and 5th rounds. The judges scored the fight 95-94 (Seda), 95-94 (Seda) and 97-91 (Medal). BoxingGurus.com at ringside had the fight scored 95-93 (Seda). Seda is a stablemate of Felix Trinidad and managed by Papa Trinidad.