FELIX TRINIDAD SR. IS RETIRING TOO By Elisa Harrison

In a stunning chain of events, it has been announced that Félix "Tito" Trinidad is retiring from the sport of boxing. This announcement came in the form of a press release, only hours after it was also announced that Bernard Hopkins had declined an offer to stage a rematch with Trinidad in his next fight. It was indicated that both situations were intertwined.

"We negotiated, we tried, we made every attempt," explained Trinidad's legal eagle José Nicolás Medina, "but when Don King informed us that Bernard Hopkins did not want the immediate rematch, we chose the only intelligent option: we decided that it wasn't worth it for Tito to continue to risk his well being in ordinary fights."

"Actually, what I wanted to say was what we already stated in the press release," said Félix Trinidad, Sr., Tito's trainer and manager, who also implied that he, too, is approaching the end of his managing/training career.

"It has been a tough decade, I don't think there has been a team like this one, with honest, responsible management, always up front," said Félix Sr. "Don King knows of my intentions. There is going to be a transition which will allow for my fighters to be passed along to other people who have worked closely with us."

Trinidad Sr. manages and trains, among others, Nelson Dieppa, mini-fly WBO champ; heavyweight Fres Oquendo and featherweight challenger Daniel Seda, who has a pending title fight against Derrick "Smoke" Gainer this coming August 24.

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