In boxing, statistics don't always tell the whole story. Fighters with shorter reaches sometimes out jab their opponents, boxers' weights can often vary widely between official weigh-in and fight time, and even what is considered a win and loss can be the subject of much dispute. But when David Reid went out into a chilly Las Vegas parking lot to defend his WBA 154 lb. championship against Felix Trinidad, one statistic stood out above all others: Felix Trinidad had twice as many knockouts as David Reid had total fights. The vast disparity in experience between the two men went on to become the story of the fight.

As the fight began, one thing was immediately clear: Felix Trinidad looked considerably better at 154 pounds than he had at 147 in his last fight against Oscar DelaHoya. No longer looking skinny and emaciated, Trinidad looked every bit of the 164 pounds he was announced as weighing at fight time. The difference wasn't noticeable exclusively in appearance, as Trinidad was quicker and much stronger when he threw punches.

Trinidad didn't throw any punches for nearly a minute into the bout. Getting a feel for Reid's rhythm, Tito patiently studied the young champion. Uncorking a wicked left hook when he finally did throw, Trinidad's punches were blocked by Reid's tight defense but were thrown with power that he couldn't summon vs. the Golden Boy. As both men flicked out jabs and touched each other for the first time, it was Trinidad who edged the close round by being more active.

In the second round, Reid stood out of range and stretched his arms as though he were seeking a stance that suited him. Trinidad responded by aiming heavy right hands to Reid's side. A few landed on the belt, but many landed clean. Trinidad the seasoned pro was investing for a long fight ahead. Showing too much respect, and perhaps a bit overwhelmed by the "big fight" experience, Reid handed away another round by not throwing many punches.

Despite the admonitions from his corner, Reid didn't exactly pick up the pace in the third round. Feinting non-stop with his shoulders and feet, Reid was looking for an opening to get his game going. At mid-round Reid, having barely moved his hands up until then, uncorked a windmill overhand right hand that landed on Trinidad's face and made him take a few quick steps back. Trinidad was stunned, but held his ground, and when the fighters came together again Reid launched another right hand, this one a textbook straight right down the pike. The punch swiveled Tito's face and buckled his legs as he squatted down and put his glove on the canvas. Trinidad got up quickly and bounced across the ring, looking to revive his legs. Suddenly Reid was swelled with confidence, and after Trinidad took the mandatory eight he rushed at him making faces and doubling up on a lead left hook. Trinidad recovered quickly and survived the round, but he had forfeited his early lead.

Reid's inexperience was apparent as the fourth began when he let Trinidad off the hook. True, it was prudent to be patient and not rush for an early kayo against a fighter like Felix, but Reid was too patient. Again looking for the one perfect opening to land his Hail Mary right, Reid spent most of the round with his right hand cocked and ready, but still. For his part, Trinidad methodically fired the one-two and kept getting in his occasional body shots. His rights to the body were drifting lower, however, and the warnings piled up as a few Trinidad attempts landed on Reid's hip.

The fight lulled into a boring pace in the fifth, as Trinidad warmed up and threw more punches, but Reid slipped almost all of them with some masterful head movement. But Reid almost never paid Trinidad back for missing. Content with not getting hit, Reid's confidence was growing, but he wasn't providing much offense. Still, he won this round on ring generalship and by the fact that Trinidad could barely touch him in this frame.

In the sixth round, Reid kept up his unexciting defense and Tito switched to aiming at the part of Reid that wasn't moving: his body. Repeatedly burying his fists into Reid's sides, Trinidad was ensuring that the longer the fight went, the weaker Reid would get. For the time being, it wasn't spectacular, but it was effective. Although Trinidad finally lost a point when yet another shot drifted below the belt at the very end of the round, he was calm, cool, and scoring points. As he sat in his corner, his father reminded him to keep up what he was doing and not seek a knockout for a few rounds more. It's the type of advice that only a veteran of the ring can follow, and Tito followed it perfectly.

Reid decided he would hit the body in the seventh round, and he too was swinging low. Twice he was warned for low blows by referee Mitch Halpern. The round continued at the same unspectacular pace as the previous rounds when a Felix Trinidad left hook swung the fight in his favor. The punch was so quick and so well timed that almost no one saw it coming, least of all David Reid. Coming back up after ducking a prior punch, the hook swung under Reid's guard and caught him right on the chin. The punch hurt Reid, who wobbled in place. After a brief second of being out on his feet, Reid stepped back on his newly rubber legs and stumbled into the ropes. Trinidad stepped with him, looking to finish, but a flailing Reid bounced off the ropes and fell forward onto his hands and knees. He was stunned and still unstable after beating the count, but Trinidad did not have enough time left in the round to finish.

If Reid was showing respect before he was sent down, he was showing even more now. Reid regained his footing but backed up with each step Trinidad took forward. Again looking for the big right hand that had saved him in the Olympics, Reid's output was minimal as Trinidad stalked him from one side of the ring to the next. Half way through the round a crisp Trinidad straight right snapped Reid's head back. After a few more punches, referee Mitch Halpern stepped in and called a brief time-out. Reid had been cut over the right eye by a punch. Although Dr. Flip Homansky ruled him able to continue, it was another obstacle for the inexperienced Reid to overcome. Worse than the cut, Trinidad never let up on the body shots, breaking Reid down piece by piece with his consistent downstairs assault.

Reid fell woefully behind in the ninth round after throwing a low blow that resulted in a point deduction. To make matters worse, Trinidad was now warmed up and ready to up the pace. Trinidad continued firing body shots until he wobbled Reid again with 30 seconds to go in the round. As Reid closed his gloves over his face, Trinidad teed off on him. Many of the punches were blocked, but several got through, and Reid was lucky to survive the round. It was the type of one-sided beating that might have won Trinidad a 10-8 without a knockdown, PLUS the one point deduction for fouls. But it was about to get worse for Reid...much, much worse.

Trinidad showed the calm of a man who had been in control many times in the late rounds, while Reid showed the desperation of a young fighter who was unsure of how to turn back the momentum. Reid again settled on looking for the one big right hand bomb, but it never came. Instead Trinidad won a workmanlike round that was punctuated with a double right hand near the bell that definitely caught Reid's attention.

In the eleventh round, Reid looked lost. His movement was reduced to plodding steps, the result of the sustained body attack inflicted upon him. Trinidad merely picked him off, firing one shot at a time, landing most of them, and keeping Reid moving backwards with even the blocked shots. A minute into the round, Trinidad fired a left hook to the stomach and a beautiful right uppercut that hit Reid on the bridge of the nose and sent him down after a one second delayed reaction. Reid rose and tried desperately to hang on.

Clutching a Tito's midsection, Reid bought some time, but the round was not yet half over, and Trinidad battered him back to the ropes and sent him down to his knees. Reid looked alert, but his face told the story. His left eye was droopy as ever while his right eye was swelling badly and bleeding slightly into his line of vision. Somehow he was able to see, although it must have been getting dark. Trinidad continued to pummel Reid, and the end seemed imminent. Trinidad launched a punch low yet again, and another point was taken away from Felix, halting his highlight reel for a moment. Reid could have taken up to 5 minutes, but after only a few seconds opted to continue. As Trinidad came in to finish, Reid let go on of his trademark wild flurries, and for a moment it looked like the break had let him catch his breath. But Trinidad was patient, avoided Reid's desperation punches and sent him down for a third time with a straight right hand just before the bell to end the round. Reid got up and was allowed to continue...one of the few times in recent memory that a fighter has been allowed to go on after being down three times in one round.

Reid came out for the twelfth round looking only to survive. Placing his left arm around his waist, his right up to the side of his head, and leaning back, Reid was in a purely defensive posture for most of the round, content to slip the few punches Trinidad risked. Reid kept his right hand cocked in the last minute of the fight, giving a glimmer of hope to his contingent that his Olympic miracle might be repeated, but the it was never thrown. Instead Reid survived to hear the final bell, and eventually the wide decision that would be logged against him.

As expected, even in Las Vegas, the decision was clear: Trinidad on a unanimous tally of 114-106 and 114-107 twice (BoxingChronicle.com scored the fight 115-106 for Trinidad).

Trinidad turned in a masterful, confident performance that showed he is comfortable at 154 and a force to be reckoned with. The methodical breaking down of his opponent was a lesson that Reid learned the hard way. Adding the WBA 154 lb. title to his growing collection of belts, Trinidad improved his sterling record to 37-0/30, and set the stage for a number of attractive contests. The winner of Vargas-Quartey will make a lucrative and high profile challenge, as will another move up to 160 pounds to face fellow Don King fighter William Joppy. Although the richest match remains a return contest with DelaHoya, Trinidad will likely not cede much, if any, weight to the smaller welterweight. Obviously stronger at the higher weight, Trinidad will likely remain at junior middle as he finally realizes the potential his young career has so long promised. Trinidad was marked as a star years ago, but contract disputes and canceled fights plagued much of his welterweight reign. Now with yet another high profile victory, Trinidad is as marketable as he has ever been.

It's not the end of the world for David Reid. Understandably subdued after the fight as he nursed his cut and closed right eye, Reid is wise enough to realize that he has time in his young career to regroup and come back even stronger. At only 14-1/7, Reid's record might resemble that of many prelim fighters, but he still possesses some skills that will always make him dangerous. If he can maintain his focus and rediscover some of the fundamentals that brought him to the top, he may fight on to future world championships.

.....Chris Bushnell