Trinidad to battle Jones in January
November 10, 2007
NEW YORK (TICKER) -- Felix Trinidad and Roy Jones Jr., two of modern boxing's greatest exponents, will face each other in the ring at Madison Square Garden on January 19, the fighters and promoter Don King announced Saturday.
With 13 combined world titles on their resumes, there seems little else for Puerto Rico's Trinidad (42-2, 35 KOs) and Jones (51-4, 38 KOs) to fight for. But both boxers explained Saturday why they will go toe-to-toe in a 12-round fight at or below the catch weight of 170 pounds on an HBO pay-per-view broadcast.
"We've been talking about this fight for a long time, but now it's a reality," Trinidad said. "I have too much boxing left inside of me and I want to show that I am still one of the best fighters in the world. I feel good at this weight and it will be a great fight between two great champions. Someone's going to get hurt, and it's going to be Roy Jones."
"Tito is a great champion and I know he leaves a great legacy behind him," Jones said. "If someone like that challenges you, how are you going to turn that down?"
The twice-retired Trinidad, 34, is a five-time world champion in the welterweight, junior middleweight and middleweight divisions. In a career that has delivered an 80 percent knockout ratio, he has defeated three Olympic gold medalists - Pernell Whitaker, Oscar De La Hoya and David Reid.
Jones infamously missed out on Olympic gold in Seoul in 1988, when three judges controversially awarded a victory to his Korean opponent. He still is an Olympic champion in his next opponent's mind, however.
"I've had a long career, 44 fights with 35 knockouts," Trinidad said. "But Roy, you're going to be No.36 and my fourth gold medalist, for sure."
Jones has more than made up for his Olympic setback in the pro ranks. The 38-year-old eight-time world champion has won belts in the middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions, becoming the first former middleweight champion to win a world heavyweight crown in 100 years when he defeated John Ruiz - who was 30 pounds heavier - in 2003.
He has notched two victories since his third defeat to Antonio Tarver in 2005, beating Prince Abdi Ajamu in July 2006 and Anthony Hanshaw this past July 14. And he was happy to hype his meeting with Trinidad.
"We both have bombs in our tank and are phenomenal boxers on top of that," Jones said. "We are both powerful punchers and it will all depend on who gets there first. I will guarantee this - count on it, this will be a superfight that delivers the goods. We're going to give fight fans exactly what they want to see."
King, who appeared at the news conference dressed as Santa Claus, said some of the proceeds from the fight would be going to the Susan G. Komen Fight For The Cure for breast cancer and added that he wanted the contest to beat HBO's PPV record of 2.15 million buys, set in May by the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-De La Hoya showdown.
"This is not a fight, it's a happening, an event," King said. "We're going to crown a people's champion, one that everyone can relate and identify with, and we can beat the pay-per-view record with these two legends.
"Our goal is three million households."
