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William Joppy vs. Félix Trinidad

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History in the Making
DateMay 12, 2001
VenueMadison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S.
Title(s) on the lineWBA middleweight title
Tale of the tape
Boxer William Joppy Félix Trinidad
Nickname "Tito"
Hometown Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S. Fajardo, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Purse $1,100,000 $10,000,000
Pre-fight record 32–1–1 (24 KO) 39–0 (32 KO)
Age 30 years, 8 months 28 years, 4 months
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 158+3⁄4 lb (72 kg) 159+1⁄4 lb (72 kg)
Style Orthodox Orthodox
Recognition WBA
Middleweight Champion		 WBA and IBF
Light Middleweight Champion
The Ring No. 2 ranked pound-for-pound fighter
2-division world champion
Result
Trinidad defeated Joppy by 5th round TKO

William Joppy vs. Félix Trinidad, billed as History in the Making, was a professional boxing match contested on May 12, 2001, for the WBA middleweight championship.[1]

Background

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In March 2001 Don King held a press conference at The Theater at Madison Square Garden, to announce a three fight Middleweight World Championship Series in order to produce the first undisputed middleweight champion since Marvin Hagler was stripped of the WBA title in February 1987. The first bout would see the longest reigning of the Middleweight titlists Bernard Hopkins face Keith Holmes, with WBA champ William Joppy pitted against unified Light middleweight (and former long reigning welterweight) champion Félix Trinidad. King compared the four contenders former greats in the division like Sugar Ray Robinson, Ray Leonard and Marvelous Marvin Hagler saying "We're talking about legends here, pure greatness, Felix is the eye of the hurricane. The question is: Can he conquer the elements?"[2] Trinidad was regarded as the favourite to win the tournament.[3]

On 14 April, Hopkins scored a dominate decision victory over Holmes moving into the final to await the winner between Joppy and Trinidad.

Joppy would appear unimpressed with Trinidad in the build up saying "I think he's a little overrated, I want to show he doesn't belong in the ring with me." Trinidad, a 3-1 favourite to win the bout, predicted a knockout victory.[4]

The fights

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Undercard

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The first bout on the PPV card saw Christy Martin take a majority decision over Kathy Collins.

Frank vs. Forrest II

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The first of the two world title bouts saw IBF No. 1 ranked Raul Frank take on unbeaten No. 2 ranked Vernon Forrest[5], for the welterweight belt vacated by Trinidad when he moved up to Light middleweight.[6]

The two had met the previous August, with the bout ending in a no contest after a clash of head led to Frank being unable to continue.[7]

The fight

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Forrest used his left jab and overhand right to control the action, preventing Frank from getting inside and stopping him from being effective.

At the end of 12 rounds, two judges scored it 115–110 and the third had it 120–108 all in favour of Forrest. HBO's unofficial ringside scorer Harold Lederman scored the bout a shutout of 120–108 for Forrest.[8]

Speaking after the bout Forrest admitted "I hurt my right hand in the third round and couldn't get any power, but I stayed with it".

Preceded by Raul Frank's bouts
12 May 2001 		Succeeded by
vs. Alex Carrillo Villa
Vernon Forrest's bouts
12 May 2001 		Succeeded by
vs. Edgar Ruiz

Byrd vs. Harris

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The penultimate bout, saw former WBO heavyweight titleholder Chris Byrd face Maurice Harris in a semi final of an IBF heavyweight elimination tournament. The winner would be set to face David Tua who had stopped Danell Nicholson in March.[9]

Despite an aggressive start from Harris, Byrd would take control and out box his opponent for most of the fight. Harris would be dropped in the 6th round after a left to body followed up by one to chin. He beat the count but his apparent lack of conditioning prevented him from taking the fight to Byrd.

The bout went the full 10 rounds and Byrd was awarded an unanimous decision victory with two cards of 117–110 and one of 118–109.

Main Event

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The crowd of more than 18,000 at Madison Square Garden would witness a dominate display from Trinidad in his middleweight debut. Knocking Joppy down in the 1st 4th and 5th rounds before Arthur Mercante, Jr. opted to wave off the contest with 30 seconds left in the 5th.[10]

Aftermath

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Speaking after the bout Trinidad said "You guys saw tonight I'm a true middleweight. I beat the best middleweight tonight, and I will beat Hopkins". Joppy would credit Trinidad saying "He's a great champion, I never thought he could hit that hard. I never thought he would have the power that he had coming from 154 to 160 pounds. I've never been hit like that before."[11]

With the victory Trinidad moved on to the final against Hopkins as well becoming the first former welterweight champion to win a middleweight title, since Roberto Durán against Iran Barkley in 1989.

Undercard

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Confirmed bouts:[12]

Winner Loser Weight division/title belt(s) disputed Result
United States Chris Byrd United States Maurice Harris USBA Heavyweight title Unanimous decision
United States Vernon Forrest Guyana Raul Frank IBF World Welterweight title Unanimous decision
United States Christy Martin United States Kathy Collins Welterweight (10 rounds) Majority decision
Non-TV bouts
Puerto Rico Daniel Seda Ghana Nana Konadu WBA Fedelatin Featherweight title 9th round TKO.
Italy Michele Piccirillo Venezuela Elio Ortiz Light Middleweight (12 rounds) No Contest
Puerto Rico Felix Flores United States Gerald Gray Welterweight (10 rounds) 4th round TKO.
Dominican Republic Julio Cesar Green Cayman Islands Charles Whittaker Super Middleweight (8 rounds) Draw
United States Shamir Reyes United States James Baker Lightweight (4 rounds) Draw
United States Chantel Stanciel Colombia Alex Lubo Light Middleweight (4 rounds) 2nd round TKO.
Puerto Rico Freddie Cadena United States Andre Baker Super Lightweight (4 rounds) Unanimous decision

Broadcasting

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Country Broadcaster
 United States HBO

References

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  1. ^ "William Joppy vs. Felix Trinidad". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  2. ^ Lena Williams (15 March 2001). "PLUS: BOXING; Middleweights Descend on Garden". New York Times. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  3. ^ Mark Hale (15 March 2001). "TITO'S THE JEWEL OF GARDEN TOURNEY". nypost.com/. New York Post. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  4. ^ Associated Press (11 May 2001). "Joppy not impressed by Trinidad". espncdn.com. ESPN. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  5. ^ "Vernon Forrest vs. Raul Frank (2nd meeting)". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  6. ^ "Trinidad to remain super welterweight". South Florida Sun Sentinel. Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 11 March 2000. Retrieved 24 May 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Michael Arkush (27 August 2000). "BOXING; Vargas Stops Thompson With TKO in 4th". New York Times. Archived from the original on 27 May 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  8. ^ Associated Press (13 May 2001). "Forrest outpoints Frank, claims vacant title". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  9. ^ "Chris Byrd vs. Maurice Harris". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  10. ^ George Willis (13 May 2001). "TRINIDAD DESTROYS JOPPY". nypost.com. New York Post. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  11. ^ Associated Press (12 May 2001). "Trinidad unbeaten in 40 fights". espncdn.com. New York: ESPN. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  12. ^ "BoxRec - event".
Preceded by William Joppy's bouts
12 May 2001 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Félix Trinidad's bouts
12 May 2001 		Succeeded by
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