On This Day Trinidad Unified Titles Against De La Hoya in 1999
Felix Trinidad unified the WBC and IBF welterweight titles 27 years ago today with a majority decision over Oscar De La Hoya that still divides scorecards.
The fight was billed as “The Fight of the Millennium.” It ended with two judges for Trinidad, one even, and a large share of the ringside press convinced De La Hoya had done enough.
They met on Sept. 18, 1999, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
De La Hoya entered 31-0 as the WBC champion. Trinidad entered 35-0 as the IBF champion.
Both were 26. Both made 147 pounds. Neither man was knocked down.
The official cards read 115-113 and 115-114 for Trinidad, with Glen Hamada at 114-114. Jerry Roth and Bob Logist gave the Puerto Rican the fight. Referee Mitch Halpern worked the 12 rounds.
Trinidad left 36-0 and the unified welterweight champion. De La Hoya left 31-1 with his first professional loss.
The argument started before the arena emptied. De La Hoya boxed, moved, and landed the cleaner work through the middle rounds.
CompuBox had him connecting 263 of 648 punches to Trinidad’s 166 of 462. Trinidad was the one walking forward when the last three rounds arrived.
Those late rounds decided the unification. After nine, De La Hoya led 87-84 and 86-85 on two cards, with the third even at 86-86.
Trinidad then out-landed him 64-33 over the final three rounds. Two judges gave him that stretch, and the majority decision followed.
De La Hoya’s corner later said the plan was to protect a lead. Trainer Robert Alcazar said he felt his fighter “didn’t need the last three rounds” and had already “given Trinidad a boxing lesson.”
De La Hoya sounded less sure after the scores were read.
“I tried to box, because people were so used to me fighting and brawling, but I guess that wasn’t enough for the people at ringside,” he said. “I am just very disappointed with boxing right now.”
The Associated Press scored it 115-113 for De La Hoya. The New York Post had the same margin for the Golden Boy.
HBO unofficial judge Harold Lederman landed on 114-114 after giving Trinidad the 10th through 12th.
That split is why the night never settled. One side saw a champion who boxed and then ran. The other saw a champion who finished stronger and got paid for coming forward in Nevada.
Bob Arum promoted De La Hoya. Don King was with Trinidad. The purses were reported at $21 million for De La Hoya and $8.5 million for Trinidad before pay-per-view bonuses.
The show did about 1.4 million PPV buys on TVKO, a non-heavyweight record at the time.
A rematch was discussed immediately. It never happened.
Trinidad moved up, won titles at 154 and 160, and became one of Puerto Rico’s three-division champions. De La Hoya kept fighting at the top of the sport and built a second career as a promoter.
The 1999 fight remains the night both men are measured against. Trinidad’s unification is in the book as a majority decision.
De La Hoya’s first defeat is still the one a lot of people at ringside swore he did not lose.
Twenty-seven years later, the cards have not changed. The debate has not either.