Oscar's Smoke Gets in Media's Eyes
"When Your Heart's (and Belly's) On Fire, You Must Realize,
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" -- The Platters, 1959

By Will "The Thrill" Trillo
Foto Folly: Bret "The Threat" Newton
 

In May, Boxing2006/Pound4Pound.com revealed that Oscar De La Hoya was throwing the name of Felix Trinidad around with the sole purpose of using Tito as bargaining leverage with his apparent final foe, Floyd Mayweather Jr.

 

Four months have passed, and we are here to tell you that Oscar's sly plan remains the same, but the smoke-blowing tactics are becoming more obvious, although not to some who are paid to know better.

 

During the last week of August Oscar invited hand-picked media members to a Manhattan restaurant for breakfast to discuss his plans for his farewell fight on May 5^th of 2007. Again the meal Oscar served was one meant to assure all that "Pretty Boy" wasn’t the only fight out there for him, but in fact, Felix Trinidad was a very viable opponent.

 

Basking in the glow of being Oscar's hand-picked boys, the media who ate on De La Hoya's dime delivered. They were more than happy to regurgitate what De La Hoya had fed them, without so much as doing even a little research. 

 

Boxing2006 wasn't invited, so we had to gather our news the old fashioned way, by working. Once again we are here to tell you the smoke Oscar was blowing with his Tito Trinidad cigar has little or no validity at all.

 

Here's a sampling of what Oscar's money can buy:

 

According to one report, De La Hoya said, "The rumblings I'm getting on the island (Puerto Rico) is he's running everyday.''

 

Boxing2006 found out that on the very week that quote was reported, Trinidad was attending a Special Olympics event and local Puerto Rico papers ran a quote from Tito saying, “If I have ran twice in the last month, that’s a lot.”

 

More "reported" from Oscar: "I ran into Tito a few days ago. He looked trim. He's not done."

 

Boxing2006 sources who saw Trinidad this weekend say although Tito is not extremely overweight, to call him “trim” is an enormous -- pardon the pun -- stretch. Most agree Tito looks to be walking around at about 190 right now which is a far cry from the 154 pounds Oscar insists will be the weight fought at in his farewell bout.

 

One Oscar quote that is more bloated than Tito: …”I know I can make a deal with Trinidad easy, because he really wants the fight."

 

That must be news to Tito, who has said no such thing. So, what's Oscar's game? Does he really want to fight Tito? A source who recently spoke to Tito said Trinidad is sure Oscar doesn’t really want to fight him! Ah, the games people play, even new promoters like Golden Boy, who formed his company to be squeaky clean, no lies, no baloney, just the facts, mam.

 

And the last quote of note,  "When I saw Tito , I said, 'It's possible.' Now I have another option."

 

Sorry, Oscar's options are just two. Either he fights Floyd, or retires. Those close to Felix report how he jokes about making a big comeback in 2007, and then just when he has his audience convinced that he will, winks and they all break out in laughter.

 

Tito is happy and content with the way his life is going now. Ask him what his plans are and he will tell you he wants to become a philanthropist, and by his work with the Special Olympics and the work he was doing with the kids on the Island, it looks as though Trinidad is set in his outside the ring lifestyle.

 

Oscar knows this. The only "special" work he is doing is blowing smoke rings to “chosen” media, who inhale like James Toney and write fat stories with no meat to them. What's next? Oscar putting the media officially on his payroll to help negotiate favorable terms with Mayweather?

 

We don't dine with Oscar, nor do we dance with him. Tito is nothing more than a convenient bargaining chip for Oscar right now and when the smoke clears he will see that all there is left for him is Floyd Mayweather Jr.

 

Questions or Comments? Please Contact Will "The Thrill" Trillo