It was on September 29 2001 when, 14 days later than originally scheduled, the great Bernard Hopkins produced perhaps his greatest performance to, as the underdog, outbox and then stop Felix Trinidad, then 40-0 and considered the finest fighter in the world.
Victories over Keith Holmes and William Joppy meant Hopkins and Trinidad had respectively progressed to the final of a four-fighter middleweight tournament overseen by veteran promoter Don King, who intended on crowning Trinidad the world’s leading fighter at 160lbs.
When New York was devastated by the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the twin towers of Manhattan’s World Trade Center, that final – set for Madison Square Garden – was instead postponed indefinitely and then rescheduled for the 29th. The careers of Hopkins and Trinidad, like New York and the rest of the world, were never the same again.
Hopkins, then 36, was, unlike Trinidad, Holmes and Joppy, not signed to King. For all of his charisma and undoubted ability, he – fittingly, given the individual path he gradually forged for himself, and largely because his finest years were unexpectedly in front of him – was also yet to convince influential American broadcaster HBO of his value, which in turn, theoretically, increased King’s power in negotiations.
Hopkins was, however, the IBF champion. With Holmes, the WBC champion, Joppy, in possession of the WBA title, and Trinidad – who had unified the IBF and WBA light-middleweight titles in his previous fight against Fernando Vargas – already committed, at a time when the WBO title was less prestigious, Hopkins recognised not only the value of his but the extent to which his career was at risk.
As the least favoured, by King, of the four fighters, and without sufficient support from those capable of rivalling the respected promoter, he was under intense pressure to not only succeed in the tournament, but to secure financial terms that would safeguard his future should he lose against one of his rivals and find himself peripheral.
Negotiations between Hopkins and the seasoned King – both former convicts – became so tense that an agreement wasn’t reached until both had arrived for a press conference the latter was hosting to start promoting his tournament. It has even since been suggested that, for perhaps the first time – and even in the context of adversaries like Bob Arum – in Hopkins, King had for the first time met his equal as a negotiator.
The heavy-handed Trinidad’s move to 160lbs started promisingly, when, at The Garden, he dropped Joppy, then in his prime, three times before stopping him in the fifth round, earning him the WBA title. At the same venue Hopkins outpointed Holmes, in turn unifying the WBC and IBF titles and securing his status as Trinidad’s opponent in the final on September 15.
Most read in Boxing
At the first of four press conferences staged to promote their IBF, WBA and WBC title fight, at Bryant Park in New York, Hopkins grabbed a miniature Puerto Rican flag out of Trinidad’s hand and tossed it to the ground, provoking so significant a reaction it made the news. Further, more innocuous, press conferences followed in Philadelphia – Hopkins’ home city – and Miami, after a meeting at which it was agreed not to raise the subject of the flag-throwing incident in an attempt to maintain a sense of order and peace. However at the fourth, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where Trinidad is adored, in front of thousands of his fans, Trinidad brought it up.
The antagonistic Hopkins – who in later years warned Joe Calzaghe he would 'never lose to a white man' and stuck his tongue out at the then-fearsome Sergey Kovalev, mid-fight – responded by repeating the same trick. This time the reaction was so fierce he had to flee. His limousine was even set on fire; locals flanked the alternative car he was driven back to the airport in; suggestions persist that a gun was shot.
Four days before they were due to fight – that morning Hopkins, staying at the St. Regis Hotel in Lower Manhattan, was running in Central Park – 19 men hijacked four US commercial planes. Two flew into the north and south towers at the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, another crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and the fourth crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. In total, 2,977 people were killed.
So close to what he knew might prove his defining fight, and having adopted the mentality he knew he needed to succeed, Hopkins later revealed his greatest concern became not the tragedy that had befallen his compatriots, but the jeopardy surrounding the fight. When Trinidad started visiting fire stations to express his support, Hopkins relocated to Philadelphia to maintain his focus and train. Amid speculation it would be cancelled, it was soon announced it would instead take place on the 29th.
When the rearranged fight night arrived, and with firefighters, police officers and survivors in attendance – just three miles from Ground Zero, at The Garden – a both unique and emotional atmosphere was created. In the pre-fight changing rooms, Hopkins’ assistant trainer Naazim Richardson objected to Trinidad’s hand wraps, insisting that they were illegal. Trinidad, in turn, objected. The New York Commission member present regardless agreed that his wraps didn’t meet the necessary standards, and his hands were wrapped again. Hopkins, for his part, continues to believe that Trinidad was attempting to use illegal hand wraps capable of inflicting increased punishment.
Unlike when Trinidad defeated Joppy, The Star Spangled Banner wasn’t booed. The Puerto Rican also entered the ring wearing a New York Police Department hat; Hopkins, after removing his warm-up jacket, uncovered a GoldenPalace.com ad on his upper back that he had been paid $100,000 to display. At odds of 3.5/1, he bet the entire fee on himself to win.
Hopkins had studied footage of Trinidad’s victory over Oscar De La Hoya in 1999. His trainer, “Bouie” Fisher, had also repeatedly drilled him to keep his right hand by his eardrum to protect him from Trinidad’s powerful left hook. He proceeded to impose himself on his 28-year-old opponent, building an early lead and breaking him down to the extent he hurt him at the end of the 11th round and stopped him in the 12th.
His right hand, as a consequence of Trinidad’s attempts to land his left, was later swollen beyond recognition, but he had succeeded in unifying the IBF, WBA and WBC titles, in claiming the Sugar Ray Robinson Trophy, and in recording a career-defining win that contributed to him becoming the undisputed middleweight champion and an all-time great.
ncG1vNJzZmiskaG4tLzOq6tnm5%2BifLS8zquraJqfrbavs45qaWltaWaGcK7Eq6WaqpRitbC8yqKlrGWgqrKzwM5mqaKbn2Kzra3GZp2epJmterW%2ByKegnZmUYrOqs8etZg%3D%3D