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The Cyber Boxing Zone Newswire -- May 11, 2001
The Case for William Joppy v. The Case for Felix Trinidad
By Adam Pollack


The Case for Joppy

William Joppy is a true middleweight. Joppy is fast, throws a lot of punches, seems to have a good defense, and has demonstrated a good chin thus far in his career. Oscar de la Hoya, a blown up lightweight, made Trinidad look slow and boxed his pants off. Joppy is a natural middleweight who is as fast as Oscar, throws more, has a better chin, defense, and conditioning. David Reid, who has never progressed as a pro, had speed and a decent right hand, but was defensively vulnerable, had a suspect chin, and didn't throw many punches. Yet, even he gave Trinidad a tough fight until he got caught. Vargas was young and strong, but was not as strong as Trinidad, was not a real worker the way Joppy is, isn't real fast, and has never been a defensive, slick guy like Joppy. Joppy has a nice blend of speed, punch volume, defense, chin, and conditioning that the other boxers did not have. Keep in mind also, Trinidad took some bombs in his last fight and who knows how the wear and tear is affecting him.

Although Joppy isn't a killer puncher, Trinidad frequently has been dropped throughout his career, and he's stepping up yet another weight division against a guy who has fought at middleweight his entire career.

The Case for Trinidad

Looking at who Joppy has fought and how he has won, I am not all that impressed.

The first part of his career was spent drilling total bums.

The first decent guy he fought was Richard Evans, who had previously lost a six-round decision to Paul Vaden. Joppy won an eight-round decision. Subsequently, Evans was stopped in three by Bronco McKart.

The next decent guy he fought was Joaquin Velasquez. Prior to fighting Joppy, Velasquez had lost an eight-round decision to Gianfranco Rosi, stopped old Milt McCrory in seven, lost a ten-round decision to J.D. Jackson, been stopped in two by Charles Brewer, stopped in four by Lamar Parks, and lost a ten-rounder to old Howard Davis. Joppy beat Velasquez by ten-round decision. Subsequently, Velasquez lost in twelve to Steve Little, was stopped in two by old man Terry Norris, and stopped in six by J.C. Green.

Then Joppy drew with Rodney Toney. This was the first time I saw Joppy and I was not at all impressed. Toney had a ten-round win over Charles Brewer, but was stopped in twelve by Quincy Taylor. After the Joppy fight, Toney lost in twelve to Otis Grant and was stopped in two by Ole Klemetsen.

Joppy stopped Shinji Takehara in nine to win the title, but Shinji had fought only nobodies until winning a decision against Jorge Castro (in turn, Castro won the title by landing the lucky punch against J.D. Jackson.)

Joppy next fought Peter Venancio, who had a six-round draw with Lonnie Beasley, and a ten-round decison over Verno Phillips. Joppy decisioned him in 12. Subsequently Venancio was stopped in seven by Mads Larsen and then lost a ten-round decision to slow old Jorge Castro.

Joppy then lost a twelve rounder to J.C. Green, whose prior bouts included a ten-round decision against Eric Holland, a twelve round stoppage of Lonnie Beasley, and atwelve round decision loss to Carl Daniels. True, Joppy then decisoned Green in the rematch and then stopped Green in seven. Some look to these fights as indicators that Joppy can win against a tough guy. However, subsequently, Joppy has fought nobodies.

A near 50-year-old Roberto Duran still managed to go three.

Hassine Cherifi was just a human punching bag. True, he had previously decisioned in twelve Keith Holmes but was stopped in seven by Holmes in the rematch, and had lost a twelve rounder to Robin Reid. Cherifi managed to go the distance with Joppy.

Jonathan Reid fought absolute nobodies to build up a good record so that win means nothing.

Based on these wins, either Joppy doesn't have much of a punch or he doesn't know how to finish guys. I don't think he is much of a mover, and Trinidad looks like he has the height and reach advantage as well. Therefore, Joppy will probably be there to be hit. Trinidad is going to hit Joppy harder than any of these other guys have hit him and the judges appreciate his solid punches. This will affect Joppy's punch output. Even if Joppy outslicks/outspeeds Felix, I don't see him stopping Trinidad. Therefore Felix has a good chance of winning one via the greasy glove. That is, if the rounds are even arguable, they are going Trinidad's way because he is the money man.

Look for a controversial decision for Trinidad.

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