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The sound of congas in rhythm grew louder as it permeated throughout Madison Square Garden. Slowly, the congas were joined by a trumpet, a trombone, a piano, and finally a voice. As Puerto Rico's Felix “Tito“ Trinidad made his way through the tunnel of the world's most famous arena, with each step, the music began to drown to the sound of a crowd. A crowd of over 17,000 fans awaited the return of their hero. When he finally stepped on the arena's floor, the legendary fighter looked up at the crowd surrounding him, and a smile grew across his face. Trinidad basked at the roar of the Madison Square Garden audience, a majority of which were fans from his island nation, Puerto Rico. The cheers invigorated him as he pounded his chest toward the ring, ready to go to war. He had finally returned to what he loved. And the fans loved him back—the quintessential relationship between warrior and fanatic. After two years and 143 days since his last battle inside the ring, three-division world champion Felix Trinidad ended his retirement against former welterweight champion Ricardo “El Matador“ Mayorga. He would return on October 02, 2004, at Madison Square Garden in New York City in what turned out to be his swan song, his last great showing. A reminder of what would eventually induct him into the Boxing Hall of Fame. His Grand Finale. What led to Trinidad's retirement took place three years earlier, in September 2001. In the finals of Don King's middleweight tournament, Trinidad suffered the first loss of his career at the hands of longtime middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins. At the time of the fight, Trinidad was rated as one of the best fighters in the world pound-for-pound and entered as the favorite with recent stoppage victories over Fernando Vargas and William Joppy. During the press tour for the fight against Hopkins, the stakes were raised for Trinidad when his opponent, in the ultimate sign of disrespect, grabbed the Puerto Rican flag out of his hands and threw it on the ground. The mental dynamics changed from merely being a boxing match to a must-win situation for Trinidad. Dealing with the skill of Hopkins' was already a mountain to climb, but adding on the mental warfare of his opponent, the rescheduling of the fight due to the events of September 11 was a hurdle a veteran like Trinidad couldn't overcome. Even so, Hopkins fought a perfect fight, executing a masterful game plan from beginning to end, stopping Trinidad in the 12th round. “All that was riding Trinidad's back was too much pressure for one man,“ Hopkins recalled to Ring Magazine. “To have to fight for his country, to fight for his family, to fight for what I've done to his flag, and then 9/11. It takes a special person…it takes a special performance to be able to execute like The Executioner did. That was a perfect, perfect fight.“ Following the loss to Hopkins, Trinidad fought in his native Puerto Rico in May 2002, stopping Frenchman Hacine Cherifi in four rounds. A few months later, Trinidad decided to retire at the age of 29. The decision was due to frustration from an inability to secure rematches with Hopkins and former rival Oscar De La Hoya. The three-division champion viewed fights with De La Hoya and Hopkins as the only ones that could add to his legacy. Trinidad wasn't interested in pursuing other fights when they didn't come together. “After carefully evaluating all present factors and listening to the recommendation of his father, manager, and trainer, he has decided to retire as a professional boxer,“ said Trinidad's then-lawyer Nicolas Medina to the Los Angeles Times. The only fights remaining would not add anything to his career but would cause great risk to his health.“ The announcement stunned fans especially those in Puerto Rico. Despite the loss to Hopkins and already amassing enough credentials to be considered one of the island's greatest fighters, Trinidad was still relatively close to his peak. He retired as the longest reigning welterweight champion in history with 15 title defenses, a former unified champion at welterweight and junior middleweight, and a former middleweight titleholder, all before the age of 30. In spite of Trinidad's insistence that his retirement be permanent, the itch grew too strong for him to resist. After missing all of 2003, in the summer of 2004, Trinidad announced his return against the braggadocious former WBC welterweight champion Ricardo Mayorga. B
