THE MASTER CLASS
emerge: If Hopkins was successful with a particular tactic the previous round, he would invariably do something completely different for the next one. In Round 2, Hopkins circled the perimeter and kept Trinidad moving. Hopkins: “Blame it on the great Bouie Fisher (Hopkins’ trainer). We wanted to give him different looks. The first look was great. But we weren’t going to let Trinidad get acclimated to that first round, even though that first round was mine. We were going to give him different looks every round.” Round 3 During the third round, HBO Boxing commentator George Foreman observed that Hopkins was constantly making Trinidad reset so that he couldn’t load up on punches. Round 3 featured a lot of lateral movement from Hopkins, who continued to get the better of the action with his jab and pinpoint power shots. Hopkins: “We wanted him constantly lifting his leg, moving his feet, not being
punches throughout the first two minutes. But Hopkins came back and dominated the last minute of the round, countering Trinidad’s left hooks with his own hooks. Hopkins: “There was some concern about hooking with the hooker. When you’re in the heat of battle, you don’t need that much space to get the left hook in. So yes, it was a risk, but it was only a slight risk, the way I saw it, because of my right- hand positioning on my cheek bone. “I felt his left hook round by round, even when I was catching it on my wrist or my glove. I understood that I could not fall asleep or throw a lot of punches without being aware of that left hook, because that left hook could land anywhere. It was not coming from the top. It was coming from the floor, where you don’t see it. “I don’t think I won the sixth. I thought that Trinidad was more aggressive, that he threw more meaningful punches. But he never hurt me. I would say that he was more active in letting his hands go.”
younger and supposedly harder-hitting fighter throughout the match and won by a 12th-round TKO. It was a masterful performance that demonstrated all facets of Hopkins’ game in the ring. In his words, Bernard Hopkins takes us round-by-round through the fight: Round 1 Hopkins started the fight on his front foot, inching forward behind his jab. His initial aggression was a surprise to many. For many boxing observers, Hopkins’ only path to victory against Trinidad was to be evasive. Hopkins: “I had seen Trinidad’s past fights, and I saw that if I gave him the chance to be the aggressor, he had better tools to use against you. He had better offense and defense coming forward. But when you back him up, when you keep that stick in his face, he had to reset. Putting pressure on him was part of the game plan, but with that stick in his face.” Round 2 Throughout the fight, a pattern would
in a position to load up with that left hook. But often the movement was subtle. Subtle was the key word.” Round 4 With two minutes left in the fourth round, Hopkins showed for the first time his ability to grapple on the inside. Even during clinches, he got work done while Trinidad was tied up. Hopkins: “As the rounds went on, I felt stronger. I felt Tito getting more frustrated, looking to hit me with one big left hook. I understood that I could rough him up on the inside and take away his left hand. But if you’re watching closely, I kept my right hand glued to my cheek throughout the fight. It was not glued to my chin; it was glued to my cheek.” Round 5 The last minute of the fifth round demonstrated brilliant infighting from Hopkins, who dominated Trinidad with punches at close range and in the clinch. Hopkins was both faster and had a larger punch variety during these sequences. Hopkins: “I could get him off-balance when I’m in close. He kept trying to set up before he punched, but I wouldn’t let him.” Round 6 Trinidad had his best spell of the fight in this round, successfully backing up Hopkins and landing solid power
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