The last Super-fight of the millennium was set for September 18, 1999 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada between Oscar De La Hoya and Felix Trinidad. Both welterweight champions were undefeated and it was also a battle between the Mexican-American De La Hoya and the Puerto Rican Trinidad. National pride has always been a part of boxing and in this bout it played a huge part of its appeal.
‘The Golden Boy’ was the face of boxing in the 90’s the same way Sugar Ray Leonard had been in the 80’s. He was an Olympic gold medalist in 1992 and with his good looks and skills, quickly became the biggest box office draw in the sport. He was easy to like and became a huge favorite of both myself and my older brother, who tuned in every time he fought.
I had been training for the Philadelphia Distance Run, my first half marathon on September 19, 1999, the day after the fight. A huge rainstorm dropped heavy rains over south Jersey that Friday, forcing me to work with my lawn service the day before the race and keeping me on my legs all day. That’s the last thing you should do the day before a long run, but I didn’t have a choice.
When my brother came over my house that night to watch the fight on my big screen tv, we were both rooting hard for Oscar. We also knew that Trinidad was tough and it would not be an easy night for De La Hoya, no matter what happened. However, when the fight started, we were both shocked to see how EASY Oscar was handling Trinidad. He was so much quicker, stronger and better than Felix for the first six rounds, that we didn’t see any way he could lose unless he slipped and broke his ankle or something.
I would have given Trinidad maybe 3 rounds at the most after 9, and figured the decision was in the bag for Oscar. For some unknown reason, for the last 3 rounds, De La Hoya ran from Trinidad and handed him all 3 on the judges scorecards. We both were screaming at the tv for Oscar to throw punches, knowing that in boxing, you never leave it up to the judges.
Sure enough, the judges somehow gave the fight to Trinidad by a majority decision and we both couldn’t believe it. Even though Oscar gave away the last 3 rounds, the decision was a travesty and was another sickening display of crooked scoring by Vegas officials. I don’t care what anyone says, boxing judges have been bought and paid for since professional boxing began, especially when Don King was involved.
I went to sleep unsettled that night, knowing it wouldn’t be the last time boxing would do that to me, and it certainly wasn’t. By the way, I got up and ran the half-marathon the next day on tired legs and finished in a little over 2 hours, not bad for someone who only ran 3 miles a day to train for it.
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