NEW YORK—Two of the greatest boxers in history, Felix “Tito” Trinidad and Roy Jones Jr., will face each other in a battle boxing fans have been waiting for years to see at New York’s famed Madison Square Garden. The bout will take place on Saturday, Jan. 19, 2008 and will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View..
Trinidad (42-2, 35 KOs), from Puerto Rico, and Jones (51-4, 38 KOs) from Pensacola, Fla.,—both destined for the Hall of Fame—have built a staggering list of accomplishments and will enter the ring for this highly anticipated 12-round fight at or below the catch weight of 170 pounds.
Jones is an eight-time world champion, winning belts in the middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions, becoming the first former middleweight champion to win a world heavyweight crown in over 100 years.
Trinidad is a five-time world champion with a stunning career knockout ratio of 80 percent that has won titles in the welterweight, junior middleweight and middleweight classes. He also holds the distinction of having defeated three Olympic Games gold medalists: Pernell “Sweet Pea” Whitaker, “The Golden Boy” Oscar De La Hoya and David Reid.
“I always want to fight great fighters and I have always wanted to fight Roy Jones Jr., one of the greatest fighters of the era,” 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.”
Jones minced no words in summing up the match.
“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.”
“Tito is a great champion and I know he leaves a great legacy behind him. If someone like that challenges you, how are you going to turn that down?”
Promoter Don King is especially proud to be promoting this fight.
“I’ve been trying to put these two superstars in a match for a long time and to get this done just leaves me breathless,” King exclaimed. “This will be a fight for the ages and will be remembered among the greatest events I have ever staged. Tito and Roy, it doesn’t get any better than that.”
HBO Pay-Per-View’s Mark Taffet shares his excitement.
“Tito Trinidad and Roy Jones are two legendary fighters who have participated in some of the biggest and most memorable fights of our generation,” Taffet said. “We’re thrilled that boxing fans will finally get to see this matchup of superstars.
The Mecca of boxing is proud to be hosting the event at the world’s most famous arena.
“Two legendary fighters at Madison Square Garden in the greatest city in the world, it just can’t get any better than that,” said Joel Fisher, senior vice president, Madison Square Garden Sports Properties. “The Garden is strongly committed to the sport of boxing and Trinidad versus Jones is certainly an event our loyal boxing fans have been waiting to see.”
From 1993 to 2004, Jones was regarded by most as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. He was Ring magazine’s “Fighter of the Year” in 1994 and was voted 1990’s “Fighter of the Decade” by the prestigious Boxing Writers Association of America.
The list of top-name fighters Jones has defeated reads like a Who’s Who and is even more impressive when one considers the opponents’ records going into the matches: Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins (22-1); Thomas Tate (29-2); James “Lights Out” Toney (44-0-2); Vinny Pazineza (40-5); Eric Lucas (19-2-2); Mike “The Body Snatcher” McCallum (49-3-1); Montell Griffin (27-0); Virgil “Quicksilver” Hill (43-2); Lou Del Valle (27-1); Otis Grant (31-1-1); Reggie Johnson (39-5-1); Julio Cesar Gonzalez (27-0); Clinton Woods (32-1); John Ruiz (38-4-1); and Antonio Tarver (21-1).
Trinidad is the greatest and most revered fighter ever from the boxing-crazed island of Puerto Rico. He was named the BWAA Fighter of the Year in 2000 and in that same year participated in the BWAA and USA Today Fight of the Year when he knocked out then-undefeated “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas.
His list of vanquished star foes provides a similar list to that of Jones: Maurice Blocker (34-3); Hector “Macho” Camacho (43-2); “Yory Boy” Campas (56-0); Oba Carr (32-0); Freddie Pendleton (40-20-4); Pernell Whitaker (40-2-1); Hugo Pineda (36-1-1); Oscar De La Hoya (31-0); Fernando Vargas (20-0); William Joppy (32-1-1); and Ricardo “El Matador” Mayorga (27-4-1).
Trinidad’s father, manager and trainer Felix Trinidad Sr. was named BWAA Trainer of the Year in 1995 and again in 2000 as well as Manager of the Year in 2000.
The Trinidad vs. Jones domestic pay-per-view telecast beginning at 9 pm ET/6 pm PT will be produced and distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View and will be available in more than 61 million pay-per-view homes.
The domestic telecast will be available in HDTV for those viewers who can receive HD. HBO Pay-Per-View is the leading supplier of event programming to the pay-per-view industry. For your Trinidad vs. Jones fight week updates, log on to www.hbo.com.
The event will be distributed internationally by KingVision, available through DK International Sales, a division of Don King Productions, Inc.
The event is being promoted by Don King Productions in association with Madison Square Garden.
MSG Sports Properties is part of Madison Square Garden, L.P., owned by Cablevision Systems Corporation, which includes the New York Knicks (NBA); the New York Rangers (NHL); the New York Liberty (WNBA); the Hartford Wolf Pack (American Hockey League); MSG Entertainment, which includes concerts and events at Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden, WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden, and the Beacon Theatre; MSG Media, which is comprised of MSG and FSN New York; and the Madison Square Garden arena complex, located in the heart of the New York metropolitan area.
Don King Productions has promoted over 500 world championship fights with nearly 100 individual boxers having been paid $1 million or more. DKP also holds the distinction of having promoted or co-promoted seven of the 10 largest pay-per-view events in history, as gauged by total buys, including three of the top five: Holyfield vs. Tyson II, 1.99 million buys, June 1997; Tyson vs. Holyfield I, 1.6 million buys, November 1996; and Tyson vs. McNeeley, 1.58 million buys, August 1995
DKP has promoted or co-promoted 11 of the top 15 highest-grossing live gates in the history of the state of Nevada including four of the top five: Holyfield vs. Lewis II, paid attendance: 17,078, gross: $16,860,300 (NOTE: Also second-highest live-gate gross for any event in history.), date: Nov. 13, 1999; Holyfield vs. Tyson II, paid attendance: 16,279, gross: $14,277,200, date: June 28, 1997; Holyfield vs. Tyson I, paid attendance: 16,103, gross: $14,150,700, date: Nov. 9, 1996; and Tyson vs. McNeeley, paid attendance: 16,113, gross: $13,965,600, date: Aug. 19, 1995