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Tito Trinidad: "I always want to
fight great fighters and I am coming back to fight Roy Jones
Jr. because he is one of the greatest in the sport."
Don King: "The fight will take place at 170 pounds. We are
leaning toward Madison Square Garden but nothing is set at
this time."
Tito: "I am going to feel very good at that weight and I
feel that I will feel great at that fight."
Don King: "Tito Trinidad and Roy Jones will be doing color
[on the pay-per-view telecast] for Vargas vs. Mayorga on
September 8, and Chad Dawson on September 29, and Maskaev
vs. Sam Peter on Oct. 6. Roy Jones will be his inimitable
self as only he knows how to do it. And Tito will do the
Spanish version. And they will be on Juan Diaz vs. Julio
Diaz, the double D. Roy Jones will be doing rap music and
Tito will be doing Reggaetón. Then they will go in the ring
and fight. It is taking my breath away. This is a fight
made in heaven... quality and competitiveness."
Tito Trinidad: "One month ago, I was not clear whether I
would come back to boxing. But right now I have made up my
mind. I have conversations with my manager and Don and
finally everything has come together. Everything has been
agreed... that I am ready to fight Roy Jones and Roy Jones
is ready to fight me."
Don King: "Papa Trinidad didn't want his son coming back
into boxing if he was going to fight anybody less than a Roy
Jones Jr. So he raised the bar real high in honor of Puerto
Rico and the Puerto Rican people. He told me Roy Jones. So
my job was to go get Roy Jones. Roy Jones agreed to do
business and be involved in history in the making."
Tito Trinidad: "It is true that I said in the past that I
would not come out of retirement. But I have been a great
fighter throughout my career and I am still healthy and I
know that I have too much boxing inside of me and I want to
show the world that I am still one of the best boxers. This
is a great challenge to fight Roy Jones who is one of the
greatest of the era and I never turned down a great fight
and I am coming out of retirement for a great fight, with a
great fighter like Roy Jones.
It is a huge purse, but at this time that is confidential."
Don King [interjects]: "Mucho Grande, muchas gracias."
Tito Trinidad: "There is no next fight. Right now I am
focused on fighting Roy Jones, one of the greatest fighters
I will ever face. He is a great fighter. After I fight
Jones, then I may think of another fight."
QUESTION: What do you think
about Mayweather?
Tito Trinidad: "There was talk about fighting Mayweather
but because of the difference in weight that fight really
could not happen. It will never happen. This fight is at
170 and I will feel great at that weight and it will be a
great fight.
I had always said that I will be in boxing as long as my
father is. It is 100-percent true that I would only come
back if my father did. The only reason I came back is
because my trainer, my manager and my friend is back. He is
supporting me and we are back together."
Don King: "It is a great day. Papa gave me a hard task to
get Roy Jones. Papa said, 'Don’t bring me a mortal man,
bring me Roy Jones.'"
Tito Trinidad: "It is just my comeback. I am going to fight
Roy Jones."
QUESTION: What
about Bernard Hopkins?
Tito Trinidad: "I fought Bernard Hopkins the first time and
we won the jackpot. He has been running around ever since.
I have been trying to get a rematch with him but it never
happened. So right now I am focused on Roy."
QUESTION: What
TV will this be on?
Don King: "This fight just came about. So we haven’t
gotten that far yet. Papa knows, Roy Jones knows, I know
and Tito knows, so it is not an original deal. This is
creative, this is history. We have to discuss where the
fight will be shown. We have to talk to HBO and we have to
talk to SHOWTIME and we have to talk to ESPN and Rupert
Murdoch, who is taking over everything. This is the first
time since Rumble in the Jungle, where you make the fight,
and we didn’t even have television. But right now we have
both combatants just sitting here looking at each other and
it is just remarkable. Shades of yesterday, fights like
that were made 35 years ago."
Roy Jones Jr.: "Tito is a great champion and I know that
and he has left behind a great legacy. If someone like that
comes to challenge you, how can you turn that down? I’d be
stupid to turn that down, I fight for a living, that’s what
I do. Great fights are made just like what we did here.
You make a big fight to give the fans something to come
watch. It’s not like the Floyd Mayweather-De La Hoya fight
where they gave the fans a dance."
QUESTION: What
about fighting at 170?
Roy Jones Jr: "I don’t like it, but for a big fight you
have to do those things. It is a wonderful fight and I’m
not going to let a few pounds ruin it. Of course it is
going to be very difficult. Of course I’m not going to like
it. But this is a big fight and the people want it. So we
have to make it happen."
QUESTION: Are
you too big or fast for Trinidad?
Roy Jones Jr: "Too fast, I may agree with. Too big? He is
bigger than me right now. But [me being] too fast [for
him], I am going to agree with. We are both powerful
punchers, and when you have two powerful punchers it all
depends on who is going to get there first. But there is
one thing I will guarantee, it will not be like Winky Wright
and Bernard Hopkins, two guys that are superior boxer but
have no bombs in their tank. We both have bombs in our
tank. Plus, we are phenomenal boxers on top of that. So
you have everything it takes to make a great fight here.
You’ve got two beautiful punchers. You’ve got two beautiful
boxers. I am probably the quicker of the two, but
pound-for-pound, he is probably the more powerful of the
two. So it makes for a great fight."
QUESTION: How
much convincing from Don did it take for you to do this?
Roy Jones Jr. "It takes a lot of convincing for me to do
anything. It’s how you convince me to do it. He [Don King]
just called me and said, 'Hey, Trinidad wants you.' If he
wants me then do what you’ve got to do and make it happen.
So I came in and we made it happen."
QUESTION: Have
you looked at the contract?
Roy Jones Jr.: "I just got here for the press conference
and I will look at it now. And I will sign it shortly.
I take my hat off to him for respecting me that much. And
now we have two guys who stood up and said they want to
fight each other. It didn’t take much to make the fight
happen. I don’t change for pretty much anybody. Don King
is going to treat me right so I am along for the ride."
QUESTION: Are
you going to be OK doing all of that TV stuff?
Roy Jones Jr: "It is OK if I am working for myself. It’s
another thing when you’ve got to work for somebody. I’m not
going to do what they want me to do all the time, because
that’s not how it works. But I’ll do what you want me to do
if we do it right. But if you go crazy and do things that I
don’t want to do, I am not going to do that."
QUESTION: How
hard will it be to get to 170?
Roy Jones Jr.: "God works in mysterious ways. After my
last fight, I stayed slim because I thought something crazy
may come my way. So I am slim. And this fight is worth
getting there for."
QUESTION: Roy,
you told Don not to put Trinidad in with Hopkins…
Roy Jones Jr: "What I told Don was that Hopkins had
everything to gain and nothing to lose. Hopkins is really
nothing without a guy like Tito. Now Tito have everything
to lose and nothing to gain. Hopkins was going for broke,
he was going to do everything he had to do to win the
fight. I knew he was a hungry fighter, but I could have
been able to deal with him a little better."
Don King: "I want to work with Jim Dolan and Madison Square
Garden. Jim Dolan is trying to bring boxing back to America
when everyone else is running away from it."
8-17-2007
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