25 Years On: The Felix Trinidad – Oscar De La Hoya “Robbery”

As was written by scribes at the time, Felix and Oscar made up no ‘odd couple.’ However, after the 12 rounds Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya boxed at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, there was much written about how odd the scorecards were. To this day, a quarter of a century on from the monstrously hyped welterweight unification showdown, fans argue about who really won, while some fans say De La Hoya was just plain robbed on the night of September 18th, 1999.

Going into the super-fight, Mexican-American superstar De La Hoya was 31-0(25), he was in his prime, and “The Golden Boy” was the reigning WBC welterweight champion. Puerto Rican superstar Trinidad was also in his prime, he was also unbeaten, at 35-0(30), and he was the reigning IBF champ at 147 pounds. This was a genuine pick ’em fight, and fight fans, along with experts and historians, expected a classic battle.

Instead, we got a chess match. Both men were very cautious early, and De La Hoya built up a lead with his smart boxing. This was no Hagler-Hearns-type slugfest the way some had anticipated and hoped it would be. De La Hoya was in control, he was piling up points, while Trinidad was growing frustrated as he was handed a veritable boxing lesson. It could be argued that De La Hoya deserved all of the first nine rounds of the fight. De La Hoya sure felt he was comfortably ahead, yet as we later learned, it was close on the cards after nine rounds – with one judge having it 86-86, and the other two having Oscar leading but only just, at 87-84 and 86-85.

Then De La Hoya stopped fighting, and he stopped punching as he attempted to box his way to the finish line. Trinidad came on strong, sweeping the final three rounds of the fight. De La Hoya was later criticized for “running” in the championship rounds. But De La Hoya felt he had done enough, so why mix it with a banger as dangerous as Trinidad and run the risk of getting tagged when tired?

At the bell, both men claimed victory, but the decision, a majority decision, went to “Tito.” To this day, those 115-113, 115-114, 114-114 scores remain the subject of fierce debate. Mike Tyson at the time said that “the decision stunk,” with Tyson, along with so many other people, feeling De La Hoya had been robbed of his belt and an unbeaten record. Amazingly, there would be no rematch.

De La Hoya was down after coming up short, with his mood made even worse due to the mauling he was given by most of the media. This fight is not quite as debated and forever argued as is the Sugar Ray Leonard-Marvelous Marvin Hagler fight and its divisive split decision, but, boy, it’s pretty close.

All these years on, and who do YOU think won the Trinidad-De La Hoya fight?