ON September 29 2001, 14 days later than originally scheduled, the great Bernard Hopkins produced perhaps his greatest performance of all to convincingly outbox and then stop Felix Trinidad, then 40-0 and considered by many the finest fighter in the world. In beating Keith Holmes and William Joppy, Hopkins and Trinidad had respectively progressed to the final, at Madison Square Garden, of a four-fighter middleweight tournament promoted by Don King with the intention of declaring Trinidad the worldโs premier fighter at 160lbs. When New York was devastated by the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the twin towers of Manhattanโs World Trade Center, that final was postponed indefinitely, and then rescheduled for the 29th. Trinidad, like New York and the rest of the world, was never the same again.
Bernard Hopkins: Trinidad was undefeated, and had a fanfare and star power much greater than myself. I was an โopponentโ โย not that I thought that way, but I had to understand what the promotion was going to be like, and became. Even though I was confident, and knew I could win the fight and later the respect, there was a different type of fight [before the fight]. I was the threat, and the wildcard. I knew something about โTitoโ โย he was one-dimensional, but no one was strong enough and had that endurance to make him do something else. That one-dimensional thinking had got exposed when he fought Oscar De La Hoya โย I knew I could expose that. It was all about [being] undisputed โ which hadnโt been done since the late, great Marvelous Marvin Hagler, who was my idol of middleweights in boxing. Me and Tito was the ultimate match โ we had to have those fights [with Holmes and Joppy for it] to come to fruition.ย
Hopkins was the only one of the four fighters not signed to King. Negotiations between fighter and promoter became so difficult that an agreement wasnโt reached until both had arrived for a press conference King hosted to promote his tournament. Some said that in Hopkins, King had met his match for the first time. ย
BH: If you could get the video for some of the negotiationsโฆ [whistles]. To see how we went back and forth โย Don King said, โYouโre the only one I f**kingโฆโ. It was serious; it was cursing; it was getting up and shutting the door and โYouโre never gonna fight in a big fightโ. I said, โI have the belts, and the only way youโre gonna get these belts is if you kill meโ. I was willing to fight for what I believed in. I didnโt really get the big pay days until my late 30s. ย
Street smarts [made me his match]. We come from the same cloth. Thereโs a saying on the streets of America โย game recognises game โย and very few fighters who came up on the streets of a big city had to be involved in criminal acts and hustling. Youโve got two ex-cons looking at each other, trying to con each other. Iโm saying why I need more money, and heโs saying why he canโt pay me more money. Don had never had to deal with anybody like that. When I talked to Don King he knew, even though he tried every time, dealing with Bernard Hopkins was not going to be easy because game recognises game. You want to talk street, we can talk street. You want to sell me black to get me to do something I know Iโll regret later, Iโll sell you black right back. ย
After Trinidad dropped Joppy three times before stopping him in the fifth round at The Garden, where Hopkins also convincingly outpointed Holmes, the first of four press conferences to promote their September 15 date was held at New Yorkโs Bryant Park. Hopkins grabbed a miniature Puerto Rican flag out of Trinidadโs hand and tossed it to the ground, causing a reaction so great it made the news. After further, more peaceful, press conferences in Philadelphia, his home city, and Miami, Hopkins dared to do the same again in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where Trinidad remains a national hero. This time he had to flee. His limousine was set on fire; suggestions even persist of a gun being shot.ย
BH: Unless something drastic happens, you donโt make the mainstream news, but it did. We were down in New York City; HBOโs not even half a block down the street; we had a press conference set up, and thereโs hundreds of people, and all the HBO honchos. Weโre in New York โย the microphones are hot. Don King, of course, had flags in both hands, and they started the press conference. I said, โIโm not going to play second to nobody, not even Trinidadโ. You win the war before the war starts โ Iโm clear on that. They tried to call my bluff, and I called their bluff. All hell broke out. Everyone was upset. Before we reached San Juan they said I had to apologise. ย
We agreed in a [later] meeting nobody was going to bring up the flag throwing [at the later press conferences]. โWe might have some problems in San Juan but weโll try to have security.โ Everything was going very smooth. Then we get to San Juan, at the Roberto [Clemente] Coliseum โ one block away is the ghetto, the worst part of Puerto Rico. All of a sudden the rules changed. Tito was home. Heโs comfortable. We got off the airplane โย the soldiers are there with their guns and they donโt look happy at me. Iโm not home anymore, so Iโm being cordial. We get to the Roberto Coliseum โ youโre talking about a stadium for a pep rally. There had to be over 6,000 there. All of their dignitaries were there; the whole country had heard what happened. They were telling me if I came there I was a dead man and wouldnโt leave โ I still went. When Tito got up there โ and remember he didnโt do this in Philly or Miami, โcause weโd had a peace treaty conversation โ and said something like, โIโm going to win this fight for my people, my country, when you threw the flagโฆโ, a book or magazine just missed my head. People started coming forward โย coming after me throwing bottles and stuff and calling me โDiabloโ. ย
It was war. I ran. The soldiers pointed, โGo that wayโ, and that was it. There was a room, and we, seven or eight of us, locked that door โย we was holding the door like a horror movie. If they got through the door we were done. I thought it was some fireworks, but it might have been a gun shot. I know one thing โย they was trying to kill us. Eventually, it rained so hard, for damn near half hour, that it had to be a blessing from God. They loaded us up in a car; we rode back and there were neighbourhood people on both sides of the car giving us the finger, throwing stuff, all the way to the airport. They put us on the plane first, no check-in or emptying pockets โย [the flight] wasnโt private.ย
I knew that the pressure would be too much for a man to train in his hometown where heโs beloved, and reminded every day: โYou have to get him for us.โ Thatโs a lot of pressure for anybody. Fighting for a country โ I wouldnโt want that on me. ย
The fight was just four days away when, in an attack orchestrated by Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, 19 men hijacked four US commercial airplanes bound for the west coast. Two were flown into the north and south towers at the World Trade Centre in Lower Manhattan, one crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, DC, and the fourth crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennysylvania. A total of 2,977 people were killed.
BH: My biggest victory โย my biggest redemption โ is attached to 9/11. I was running Central Park in the morning โย when the second plane went in I was just taking off my wet clothes at the St. Regis Hotel in Lower Manhattan. Iโd left the TV on โย I came back and it was still on. Breaking news. Iโm not paying attention. Weโre in New York City; helicopters fly low; it was an accident. When the second plane sliced through: โMy God, weโre being attacked. This is a terrorist attack.โ Five minutes later, sirens go off in the building. They want everybody out. We knew other buildings might get attacked. There might be bombs. Absolutely [I was scared]. We were training two blocks away from the twin towers. We were going to be there from 4pm-6.30pm. The gym got demolished; the whole area was done. You couldnโt make phone calls out, and you couldnโt make phone calls in. Nobody was around โ it was a ghost town.ย
The next day I started saying: โThis fight ainโt going to happen.โ I was not scared, โWeโre nextโ. I was more scared that what Iโm hearing is going to affect one of my biggest moments. How do I express that without looking selfish? I was scared for a lot of reasons. For the first time in my life I can make a substantial amount of money; say Iโm undisputed. But I couldnโt express that, because we were being attacked. ย
Don King was negotiating so that the fight could still happen, for the solidarity of the people. โLetโs show that weโre not going to shut down.โ We set up camp in Philadelphia because nothingโs open in New York. โLetโs get out of New York โย itโs been two days. Iโve got to train.โ I didnโt do anything that camp didnโt allow. I donโt know if the fightโs going to be cancelled โย we canโt get nothing out of Don King. They grounded all the planes โย Tito couldnโt leave. Tito was out at every fire station, campaigning to show his support, which anybody would have agreed was the right thing to do. ย
Three days after leaving New York it was announced that the fight was going to happen โ I felt so good about that.ย
Elements of drama continued to unfold until the opening bell at Madison Square Garden. In the pre-fight changing rooms, Hopkinsโ assistant trainer Naazim Richardson objected to Trinidadโs hand wraps, claiming they were illegal. Though Trinidad complained, the New York Commission member present agreed that they didnโt meet the necessary standards, and his hands were rewrapped. ย
BH: Naazim realised that that hand wrap looked like a cast โย Tito wanted to hurt me. Iโm not mad at him. Pressure. How bad he wanted to hurt me is how I wanted him to be โย that type of emotion kills you. Brother Naazim noticed an ice bucket was next to Titoโs leg, and not his trainer, and diluted more with water than with ice, so he wanted to see and feel the wraps. Iโd warmed up in the dressing room and was ready to fight. Naazimโs 10 people in one. He said: โWeโve got a problem. There ainโt going to be a fight.โ He said the bucket gave them away. They went crazy. โHeโs scared; he canโt get out of the fight now.โ They made him cut it off. The fight was delayed. ย
A uniquely emotional atmosphere existed in the arena where, just three miles from Ground Zero, among those still mourning were firefighters, police officers and survivors. Unlike when Trinidad beat Joppy, The Star Spangled Banner wasnโt booed. Trinidad entered the ring wearing a New York Police Department hat; when Hopkins removed his warm-up jacket, he revealed a GoldenPalace.com ad on his upper back. They had paid him $100,000 for that, and he bet the fee on himself to win at 3.5/1.
BH: Ninety-nine per cent of those people wanted Tito to win. I felt that. I was more concerned that if I didnโt win I was done โย they were never going to bring me back. I was too dangerous to give a second chance to. This was a choice between live or die, and I had to suffer the consequences if it didnโt turn out my way. In the first big sports event since 9/11. It had to be shown that the people of New York โย that the nation that was watching โย wouldnโt be shook.
Hopkins then proceeded to impose himself on Trinidad, building an early lead and systematically breaking him down. At the age of 36 and therefore eight years Trinidadโs senior, he convincingly won the sixth round before hurting him at the end of the 11th and stopping him in the 12th to record a career-defining win, claim the Sugar Ray Robinson Trophy and universal recognition as the worldโs best middle.
BH: I reviewed the Oscar De La Hoya fight [against Trinidad] a dozen-plus times. Tito was a rhythm fighter โ rocked to the right, to the left, to the right โย but when he settled down to the left, the left hook comes. He didnโt throw it on the move. Once Iโd seen this pattern, and understood I could off-stand that rock,ย I threw enough jabs to keep him from setting his rhythm. I was confident Iโd beat him, and make it look easy. Why do you think I kept that right hand glued to my eardrum? I couldnโt take that chance. Thatโs the way [my trainer] โBouieโ Fisher had me training in the gym. I could only use my left hand when I was sparring, and every time [my right hand] dropped the tennis ball โย and I done it, many times โย I had to spar an extra round. After 15, 20 rounds of sparring, you ainโt gonna drop the ball. My right hand, from my knuckles to my wrist, was so swollen after that fight. It was like someone took a baseball bat and was just hitting on my hand. I really noticed it hours later, in my hotel room.ย
I knew, in that sixth round, that it was a matter of time โย it was up to me to end this fight. I knew I was faster; I knew I was slicker, a better counter-puncher. He was getting beat mentally, and it was a matter of time. The uppercut [at the end of the 11th], the bell saved him from getting knocked out. He was still hurt, and bewildered. I rocked on the ropes, let him come in, and the uppercut caught him and the bell rung. Tito was hurt as he rested โย and he didnโt really rest. He was a dead man. The fight should have been stopped.ย
The counter-right [the punch that ended the fight] was something that I was hitting him with periodically, every now and again. That counter right happened automatically because of training. It was like my hand had a mind of its own. โCatch it, fire back, donโt even think about it.โ
If you watch it back, I didnโt even look at him. The punch wasnโt a hard punch โย it was a quick punch he didnโt know was coming. Itโs the punches you donโt see that hurt you. It was automatic, and that was the end of the fight.