After the beating that Bernard Hopkins put on Felix Trinidad during their September, 2001 encounter, no one would have been surprised if Trinidad had returned to the ring a changed fighter. Perhaps he'd be overly defensive, or not commit to his punches. Maybe his chin would pull a Vargas, or his style would pull a DelaHoya. After all, Trinidad didn't simply hand over his undefeated record to The Executioner... it was taken by force. So imagine Hacine Cherifi's surprise when he gets into the ring with Trinidad, and the Puerto Rican superstar is looking like September was only a dream: quick jabs, combination punching, concussive power. The shock might be enough to make someone quit, which Cherifi did shortly after peeling himself off the canvas for the third time. That's right: Trinidad is back. Middleweights beware. Cherifi, himself a former claimant to the world middleweight title, has not made a career out of making other guys look good. His long arms punch from bizarre angles and seem to be able to tie up opponents who aren't even range to be clinched. The challenge for Trinidad was to solve this puzzle while working through whatever psychological wounds the Hopkins fight had left behind. It took about 90 seconds. Trinidad approached Cherifi quickly, but threw few punches in the first minute of the second phase of his career. Cherifi gave Trinidad plenty to look at, jerking his upper body in a series of spastic feints designed to make Tito flinch. Feeling brave after a minute of circling, Cherifi threw the first significant punches of the night. He twice glanced a wide hook off of Trinidad's temple. Unfazed by the blows, Trinidad answered the assault with a sharp straight right that cracked Cherifi on the jaw and sent him back a few steps. Hands high, Trinidad pressed in after his early success, landing another solid lead right before the bell brought the first comeback round to an end. Trinidad not only established his dominance in speed and power in the first, but he also apparently completely figured out Cherifi's timing. Opening the second round quickly, Trinidad pumped his jab and began unleashing quick three punch combinations in Cherifi's direction. Cherifi tried his best to retreat in the smaller-than-average ring, but Trinidad effectively cut off the ring with his feet before unloading with his fists. The adoring San Juan crowd, who had begun chanting "Ti-To" before the bout even started, raised the decibel level with each Trinidad flurry. The fighter and crowd seemed to push each other, and by mid-round Trinidad was fluidly peppering Cherifi with every weapon in his arsenal. Cherifi ate straight rights, double hooks, and a couple of left uppercuts that found their target. During the attack, Trinidad looked as calm and collected as ever. Even when Cherifi finally landed in return (and he did clip Trinidad with a pair of clean two-punch combos as the pace slowed in the final minute), Trinidad simply kept coming forward while throwing and landing. Trinidad continued to look sharp in the third. Pacing himself a bit more, Tito controlled the pace behind a wicked jab. Doubling up with the stick, Trinidad would expertly move his feet closer to Cherifi as he threw, making his follow-up right all the heavier when it landed. But Trinidad's jab was more than just a set-up punch. Delivered on it's own, it violently snapped Cherifi's head back. Three times at mid-round, Trinidad suddenly thrust his jab through Cherifi's tight guard and landed loudly. Cherifi tried to make an adjustment, and began ducking low as Trinidad would jab or feint. With 35 seconds remaining in the round, Cherifi ducked one such feint only to stand up into the path of Tito's right hand. The punch dropped Cherifi onto the seat of his pants. He arose slowly but steadily, taking a deep breath as referee Ismael Quinonez Falu completed the mandatory eight. Trinidad took a few bounces and then came at Cherifi, immediately landing an identical chopping right hand. Cherifi retreated to the ropes, and then to a neutral corner, with Tito chasing and throwing all the way. Felix managed to score a few more heavy shots before a bell saved Cherifi from further harm. Cherifi had been unable to block Trinidad's jab in the third, and it was little surprise when Tito began pumping it again in the fourth. Cherifi tried to cope, but Tito's jab was ruining everything. If Cherifi stood still, he ate jabs. If he threw punches, the jab tilted his head and made him miss. As long as Trinidad started with the jab, he could throw almost anything else he wanted. He punished Cherifi with the right, but also mixed in uppercuts and a few hooks to the body. But it was an upstairs hook that ended the fight. Cherifi was trying to return fire when he swung around into Tito's hook. The punch rocked Cherifi's head and he again fell back onto his shorts. Cherifi tried to push himself up, but his knees could not hold him and he fell back into the ropes. Turning around to a kneeling position, Cherifi used the ropes to pull himself up. There he found the ref completing the count of eight. Trinidad now moved in to finish. Cherifi alternately covered up and ran, but it was no use. Trinidad was all over him, throwing punches from angles without pause. After eating a series of heavy shots, Cherifi moved to a neutral corner and managed to bob and weave his way around a half dozen wildly thrown Trinidad haymakers. As the crowd rabidly cheered him on, Trinidad steadied himself, let Cherifi move away, then more patiently approached him. Trinidad launched a long right hand that nicked Cherifi. Tito followed the momentum of that punch forward, and then swung with a shorter left hook. Again, Cherifi's head spun around and he fell to the canvas. Cherifi again beat the count, but this time his face showed complete resignation. After Falu reached eight, he looked at Cherifi, realized that he did not want to continue, and waved the fight off. Trinidad KO4. An elated Trinidad soaked in the adoration as credentialed personnel quickly filled the ring. As the celebration tapered off, Trinidad (now 41-1/34) called for his next fight to be with Hopkins. Although an interim fight with the DelaHoya-Vargas winner might be more likely, Trinidad showed that a Hopkins rematch is not out of the question. Following the first fight, it seemed as though Trinidad would need as much recovery time as Fernando Vargas needed after his first loss. Not so. Trinidad looked fresh, strong, and most importantly: unaffected. He may or may not be able to turn the table on Hopkins... but at least we now know that he isn't damaged goods. That's bad news for everyone at 160. 20 pounds south, two great 140 lb. fighters waged a power struggle on the Trinidad-Cherifi undercard. Hard hitting Randall Bailey got up off the canvas to drop his opponent, Diobelys Hurtado in an exciting contest. Unfortunately for Bailey, however, the fight didn't end until Hurtado returned the favor, getting up from the knockdown and again dropping Bailey... this time for the count. Bailey was looking for new life in the junior welter division after his 25-0/25KO record was snapped by Ener Julio. He stormed out against Hurtado in the opening round, pressing Hurtado into the ropes and firing heavy haymakers. A few of these bombs landed, including a hook that rocked Hurtado back on his heels in the opening seconds, and a stiff right hand near round's end that sparked a mini-flurry before the bell. Hurtado looked to be in more trouble in the second round, as he circled away from the charging Bailey only again to find himself trapped on the ropes. Bailey dug several hard shots to the body as Hurtado cupped his gloves over his face for protection. At first Hurtado looked like he might stay folded up on the ropes until Bailey dropped him. But then all of a sudden, the opposite happened. As Bailey took a step towards an all-defense Hurtado, a quick right hand shot out of Hurtado's shell and slammed into Bailey's jawbone. The punch landed with a loud crack, and Bailey fell to one knee. Bailey easily beat the count, but now it was Hurtado's chance for an attack. Swinging wildly, Hurtado tagged Bailey behind the ear, sending him again staggering into the ropes. Hurtado continued his assault, landing another right and a long left hook that opened a short gash over Bailey's right eye. Bailey managed to force a clinch and buy some time to get out of the round, but his early lead had instantly evaporated. As round three began, Bailey tried to maintain the pressure, chasing Hurtado away from center ring and into the ropes... but he couldn't follow-up his footwork with meaningful punches. For his part, Hurtado welcomed the bulrushes. He countered Bailey off the ropes with a series of short rights that mirrored the one from round two, and mixed in more than a few counter hooks and body shots. At first, Bailey walked through the punches and tried to fire his own big blows. But Bailey was head-hunting, and while he was able to land a few good shots, he was being outworked by Hurtado after each attempt. Hurtado continued to counter off the ropes in round four. Bailey started strong by punishing Hurtado with an overhand right and following with a short shoeshine to the body, but soon Hurtado was again countering with two or three punches at a time. Bailey usually came at Hurtado while crouching low, leaving himself wide open not only for Hurtado's downward right hand, but also his upward hooks and uppercuts. By round five, Bailey had taken so many counterpunches that his own offense began to dwindle. Bailey continued to chase Hurtado from one side of the ring to another, but was now rarely following up with punches. Hurtado responded by taking a bit of a breather himself, and the fifth round was much slower than the round that preceded it. Hurtado was having such an easy time on the ropes, especially after Bailey's inactive fifth round, that he got a little lazy. Early in the sixth round, Hurtado was again fighting off the ropes when he dropped his left. The opening was filled with a windmill Bailey right hand. The punch slammed into Hurtado's ear and made him bounce off the ropes. At first Hurtado looked fine. Then, a full second after he looked unfazed, Hurtado's right knee suddenly buckled and he dropped to the canvas in a seriously delayed reaction. Hurtado beat the count, but was looking a bit unsteady. Using his amateur experience to full advantage, Hurtado managed to keep Bailey off him with a series of thrusting upper body feints. As Hurtado bounced life back into his legs, Bailey mostly stayed away. By round's end, Hurtado had returned to countering Baileys' one-at-a-time offense, although not often enough to prevent a 10-8 for Bailey. Hurtado's corner implored him to not blow the fight, and so the Cuban defector stormed out to start round seven with both fists flying. At center ring, Hurtado repeatedly flung a wide right and left at Bailey, and managed to catch at least part of Bailey's face with each punch. Each time he was hit, Bailey seemed to curl up for a second. When two, three, and eventually four one-twos went unanswered, Hurtado allowed his rally to snowball into a full-fledged flurry. As Bailey crouched and curled up to defend himself, he exposed his sides. Hurtado pounded Bailey on the right side before standing him up with an uppercut to the belly. Bailey partially tied Hurtado up, and referee Luis Pagon called for a break. Hurtado took a step back, readied himself, then let his entire weight fly into a wide right hand. Expecting the punch was aimed at his head, Bailey again covered up. But the blow was headed south, and it sank directly into Bailey's undefended ribs. The punch buckled Bailey's knees and he fell downwards to the canvas. The left hook that Hurtado landed as Bailey was going down was irrelevant. It was the body shot that had done the damage. Pagon leaned in and began his count. But as four turned into five, Bailey wasn't looking up at the ref, but further burying his head in his arms. He was in pain. At nine he half-heartedly tried to stand up, but it was not happening. The ref reached ten, waved the fight off, and Bailey collapsed back down to the canvas and spit out his mouthpiece. He was still grimacing when he was raised onto a stool a minute later. Hurtado KO7. Diobelys Hurtado, a great contender who until now had been best known for almost derailing Whitaker-DelaHoya, and for dropping Kostya Tszyu twice in the first round before being knocked out, has finally made his mark. With this win, he not only picks up an impressive victory, but a bogus WBA title belt. Because Tszyu holds the WBC and IBF belts in addition to his WBA trinket, that organization has declared him "super-champion." In the bizarre world of boxing politics, this designation leaves the WBA "regular" championship at this weight vacant. That vacancy has been filled now by Hurtado, who doesn't need a phony title belt to prove that he's one of the best. We'll definitely be hearing more from him. .....Chris Bushnell (Please send comments to us at: BoxingChronicle@aol.com)