4-18-2002

Five-time world champion Felix “Tito” Trinidad will make his first hometown appearance in three years when he faces former World Boxing Council middleweight champion Hacine Cherifi at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum on May 11 in a scheduled 10-round middleweight attraction.

The bout is being promoted by Don King Productions in association with Angelo Medina Enterprises. Tickets priced at $35, $45, $75, $100, $200 and $750 are on sale now and can be purchased by phoning Ticket Center at (787) 759-5000.

Trinidad (40-1, 33 KOs) was undefeated and had earned world championships in three weight divisions before tangling with Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins at Madison Square Garden in New York on Sept. 29 in a valiant attempt to become the undisputed middleweight world champion. Hopkins derailed Trinidad's dream in round 12 by scoring a technical knockout to win the bout and Trinidad's World Boxing Association 160-pound crown.

Trinidad would like an opportunity to avenge his first loss to Hopkins, and Oscar De La Hoya has said that he would like to have the same opportunity against Trinidad, but those matters will be moot unless Trinidad can rebound with a victory against the former champion Cherifi.

Cherifi (32-5-1, 20 KOs), from France, defeated Keith Holmes to win the WBC middleweight title on May 2, 1998, but gave it back to Holmes in a rematch the following year. He earned the right to another title shot by peeling off four consecutive victories, this time against WBA king William Joppy in May of 2000. Cherifi fought valiantly but lost the decision.

Cherifi finds himself at a career turning point after losing to Harry Simon in his last outing on July 21. The undefeated Simon went on to decision Armand Krajnc to become the World Boxing Organization middleweight champion on April 6.

Another sensational world championship fight has been added as the co-featured main event, which will also be shown on the HBO telecast beginning at 9:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. PT, as Miami knockout artist and current WBA interim champion Randall Bailey (25-1, 25 KOs) meets Diosbelys Hurtado (34-2-1, 22 KOs), a Cuban defector now living in Miami, for the WBA Super Lightweight title.

Bailey is also a former World Boxing Organization 140-pound champion, and all of his wins have come by knockout. A devastating puncher, Bailey turned out the lights on the respected Demetrio Ceballos early in the third round in his last outing on Feb. 2 to win the interim WBA title.

Diosbelys Hurtado brings a respectable set of credentials to the table. Twice, Hurtado has come close to changing the course of boxing history by knocking down a pair of future Hall of Famers, twice each. He faced the man most people considered the best pound-for-pound boxer in the sport in 1997, WBC welterweight champion Pernell “Sweet Pea” Whitaker. He dropped Whitaker in the first and sixth rounds before getting into trouble in round 11 where the fight was halted, a decision that Hurtado and many boxing fans still question today.

His second brush with history came when he shocked Kostya Tszyu by dropping him twice in the opening round of their November 1998 meet for the interim WBA junior welterweight title. Tszyu survived the first round and rallied to stop Hurtado in round five. In his last appearance, Hurtado won the vacant International Boxing Association 140-pound title in a war of attrition against gritty veteran Ricky Quiles.

A full under card will be included and announced when the matches are confirmed.