August 27, 1999
The "Fight of the Millennium"
with Oscar De La Hoya vs. Felix Trinidad will air live on Pay
Per View Saturday, September 18 at 6 p.m. The "Golden Boy"
will take on "Tito" Trinidad in the World Welterweight
Championship in Las Vegas. It will be the biggest Pay-Per-View
event in Top Rank's 34-year history.
The action-packed undercard includes WBA Jr. Featherweight
Champion Nestor Garza vs. Enrique Sanchez, as well as bouts that
include Butterbean and Mia St. John vs. opponents to be announced.
Both De La Hoya and Trinidad have proclaimed themselves pound-for-pound the best fighter in the world. But there can only be one winner of the "Fight of the Millennium," and even world-class boxers and sports books are having a tough time predicting a winner.
"Both are strong and difficult to fight," said world contender Oba Car who has fought both De La Hoya and Trinidad. "The tougher man that night wins."
De La Hoya, 26, is a four-time
world champion who presently holds the World Boxing Council (WBC)
welterweight championship. He has a record of 31-0 with 25 knockouts
and has won world titles at 130, 135, 140, and 147 pounds. This
will be De La Hoya's 20th world championship bout.
Trinidad, 26, has been the International Boxing Federation
(IBF) welterweight champion since 1993. His record of 35-0 with
30 knockouts includes 14 titles defenses. Trinidad is coming off
a tremendous points victory over six-time champion Pernell Whitaker
and a fourth-round knockout of 36-1-1 contender Hugo Pineda.
De La Hoya defeated 48-2-1 Carr, who had lost only to Trinidad and Ike Quartey, on May 22. De La Hoya finished that fight with a thunderous left hood which dropped and stunned Carr in the 11th round. He got to this feet but was unstable; the title bout was then halted. At center right, De La Hoya then said, "Come on, Trinidad, let's get it on. It will be the fight of the century."
Trinidad fought a week later, on May 29, in San Juan. He took out Pineda in four rounds, firing punishing left hooks to the body. "I'm ready for De La Hoya," said Trinidad. "Let's do it."
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