Frank Thomas

Notable Sports Figures
Felix Trinidad
Rican featherweight champion in the 1970s. Trinidad’s
boxing career began not too many years after his father’s
ended. He was twelve years old when he first started
fighting and over the next five years he captured five
Puerto Rican National Championships in five different
weight classes: 100, 112, 119, 126, and 132 pounds).
His overall amateur record was fifty-one wins against
six losses. However Trinidad never fought in the
Olympics and this may have been a contributing factor
for his low profile among boxing fans.
A Power Puncher
Trinidad’s first professional bout came on March 10,
1990, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He defeated Angel
Romero by a technical knockout (TKO) in the second
round. It was a harbinger of a new style in which
Trinidad, known for his speed, would now become a
power puncher as well. Of the fifty-one victories in his
amateur career, only twelve had come by knockout; nine
of his first ten professional victories would come that
route. During this time Trinidad stayed close to home,
venturing outside Puerto Rico only twice—to Italy and
to Miami—winning both fights by TKO. In fact,
Trinidad fought fourteen of his first twenty fights in his
native Puerto Rico, another factor that contributed to his
being overlooked by the public in his early years. However,
on the island Trinidad was a hero.
Trinidad’s twentieth fight, on June 19, 1993, against
Maurice Blocker in San Diego, California, proved to be a
Chronology
milestone in his career. He knocked out Blocker in the
second round and won the International Boxing Federation
(IBF) welterweight title. It was Trinidad’s twentieth
consecutive victory as a professional, eighteen by knockouts.
Trinidad returned to Puerto Rico a champion and
seven weeks later made his first title defense; he knocked
out Luis Garcia in the first round in a bout on Bayamon,
Puerto Rico. Trinidad had a tougher time against his next
opponent, Anthony Stephens, but still managed to score a
knockout in the tenth round of a fight staged in Ft. Lauderdale,
Florida on October 23, 1993. Soon after, Trinidad
began preparing for the man who, up to that time, would
be his toughest opponent, former lightweight champion
Hector “Macho” Camacho.
Welterweight Champion
Trinidad
1973 Born January 10 in Cupey Alto, Puerto Rico
1985 Begins boxing
1990 Turns professional
1993 Wins IBF welterweight title with 2nd-round knockout of
Maurice Blocker
1994 Unanimous decision over Hector “Macho” Camacho
1999 Defeats Pernell “Sweat Pea” Whitaker
1999 Decision over Oscar De La Hoya captures WBA welterweight
title
2000 Defeats David Reid to capture WBA super welterweight title
2000 TKO of Fernando Vargas, wins IBF super welterweight title
2001 Knocks out WBA middleweight champion William Joppy
2001 Loses to Bernard Hopkins by a TKO in fight to determine
undisputed middleweight champion
2002 Wins by TKO over Hasine Cherifi in 4th round
2002 Announces his retirement in July
Trinidad fought Camacho, who had moved up in
weight class, on January 29, 1994, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The bout went the distance, twelve rounds, ending
Trinidad’s streak of nine consecutive knockouts, but in
the end he triumphed with a unanimous decision. In
September 1994 began his next knockout streak with a
fourth-round TKO over Luis Ramon Campas in Las
Vegas. Over the next five years Trinidad would run his
knockout string to ten in a row.
On February 20, 1999, Trinidad took on Pernell
“Sweat Pea” Whitaker in New York City. Whitaker was
also one of the most dominating boxers of the 1990s,
first winning the World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight
crown in 1989. He unified the title in 1990 and
held it until 1992 when he moved up in weight class to
the welterweight division. He was WBC welterweight
champion from 1993 to 1997. Now against Trinidad,
Whitaker was attempting a comeback, of sorts, and hoping
to capture the IBF welterweight title. But once again
Trinidad was not to be denied. The fight lasted the full
twelve rounds, with Trinidad winning by a unanimous
decision. After a May tuneup bout against Hugo Pineda,
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