Felix Trinidad vs Oscar De La Hoya

Puerto Rican legend Felix Trinidad became the unified welterweight champion when he was awarded a majority decision over Oscar De La Hoya after 12 rounds at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on September 18, 1999. Trinidad retained his International Boxing Federation championship and took De La Hoya’s World Boxing Council title by scores of 115–113 from Jerry Roth and 115–114 from Bob Logist. Glen Hamada scored the contest even at 114–114. Referee Mitch Halpern had little cause to intervene during a technical and cautious match in which neither man was knocked down.

Both champions entered unbeaten and weighed the welterweight limit of 147 pounds. De La Hoya brought a record of 31 victories, including 25 by stoppage, and was making the eighth defence of his WBC title. Trinidad was 35–0 with 30 knockouts and was defending the IBF championship for the fifteenth time. The contest produced 1.4 million pay-per-view purchases, then a record for a non-heavyweight fight, and a gate of approximately $12.9 million. De La Hoya was guaranteed $21 million and Trinidad $8.5 million.

The opening two rounds were largely spent at long range. De La Hoya circled to his left, using the jab and quick changes of direction to prevent Trinidad from setting his feet. Trinidad followed in measured fashion, looking to place the left hook and straight right, but was repeatedly short with his punches. De La Hoya landed the clearer combinations, although the second was close and was divided among ringside scorers. The pace remained below what was expected from two unbeaten champions known for their punching.

De La Hoya established his jab more firmly in the third, striking Trinidad repeatedly as the Puerto Rican advanced. Trinidad’s nose began to bleed, and he had difficulty getting past the lead hand. Trinidad applied greater pressure in the fourth and landed several rights, but De La Hoya continued to circle away before stopping briefly to score. The difference in speed was becoming apparent: Trinidad required time to set his attack, while De La Hoya could step in with two or three punches and leave before the counter arrived.

In the fifth and sixth rounds, De La Hoya’s control appeared more pronounced. He shook Trinidad with a combination in the fifth and prevented him from developing any sustained attack. Trinidad’s left eye became swollen during the sixth as De La Hoya continued to score with jabs and straight rights. Trinidad occasionally landed the harder single blow, but De La Hoya produced cleaner sequences and dictated where the exchanges took place. His movement was purposeful rather than evasive at this stage, as he punched before and after each change of position.

The seventh was more evenly contested. Trinidad connected with a hard left hook and a right, while De La Hoya answered with the jab and a right counter. Trinidad was warned after punching at the bell. De La Hoya enjoyed another strong round in the eighth, rocking Trinidad with a jab and right hand before landing a right-left-right combination as he moved off the ropes. He was warned to keep his punches above the belt. Trinidad’s damaged left eye was giving him increasing difficulty, and his frustration was evident as he continued to follow without trapping the champion.

De La Hoya remained effective in the ninth, landing to the head and body and again using his jab to interrupt Trinidad’s advance. He appeared to finish the round with a secure advantage, but the official cards were much closer than his corner understood. After nine rounds, Roth had De La Hoya ahead 87–84, Logist had him leading only 86–85, and Hamada had the contest even at 86–86. De La Hoya therefore did not possess the wide margin on which his subsequent tactics depended.

From the tenth onward, De La Hoya reduced his offensive work and concentrated upon avoiding Trinidad’s right hand and left hook. Trinidad increased his pace, followed more urgently and won the tenth on all three official cards. De La Hoya still landed occasional jabs and a combination at the bell, but he was now yielding ground for most of each round. In the eleventh, he continued to back away as sections of the crowd booed. Trinidad landed to the body and head, while De La Hoya answered only in brief flurries. All three judges again favoured Trinidad.

De La Hoya did little attacking in the twelfth. His feet became tangled early in the round, and he stumbled without being hit. Trinidad pressed forward and landed several rights, although he was unable to hurt or corner him. De La Hoya scored with a few late jabs and short rights but spent much of the session retreating. Roth and Hamada awarded the final round to Trinidad; Logist gave it to De La Hoya. Over the last three rounds, Trinidad outlanded him by 64 punches to 33 and was given eight of the nine available scores by the officials.

De La Hoya’s supporters were surprised by the announcement, while Trinidad’s were pleased. The Associated Press scored the fight 115–113 for De La Hoya, while HBO’s unofficial scorer had it even. The punch figures strongly favoured De La Hoya, who landed 263 of 648 attempts against Trinidad’s 166 of 462. His advantage was largely produced by the jab, of which he landed 143 to Trinidad’s 42; the power punches were almost even, Trinidad landing 124 and De La Hoya 120.

De La Hoya’s superiority in speed and accuracy over the first nine rounds persuaded many observers that he had deserved the decision. His retreat during the last three rounds, however, surrendered rounds which the judges considered decisive and left no opportunity to strengthen his claim. Trinidad had never ceased advancing and was rewarded for finishing as the aggressor. The verdict remained disputed, and although a rematch was repeatedly discussed, the two men never met again.

I’ve never bought the argument that Felix Trinidad clearly won this fight. Oscar De La Hoya outboxed him for most of the night. His jab was quicker, his feet kept Trinidad from setting himself, and his combinations repeatedly found the target before Tito could answer. The punch figures strongly favoured Oscar, and so did my eyes.

Trinidad was a magnificent welterweight and a frightening puncher, but he looked technically limited here. He followed De La Hoya instead of cutting off the ring and spent too long waiting for the perfect left hook. By the sixth round, his left eye was swelling, and Oscar appeared to have solved him.

Then De La Hoya made one of the worst tactical decisions of his career. Believing he had already secured the verdict, he stopped punching and surrendered the last three rounds. Moving is boxing; refusing to engage while protecting an imagined lead is gambling with the judges.

I still had De La Hoya winning. He landed nearly 100 more punches and controlled far more of the contest. Trinidad deserves credit for continuing to press and finishing strongly, but aggression without enough clean scoring should not erase the earlier rounds.

The official majority decision was wrong, although Oscar helped create the conditions for it. He fought the better fight, then behaved as though the scorecards were already signed. That cost him his unbeaten record and denied boxing the clear conclusion a rematch might have provided.