Reid hopes to weather the storm

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Feb. 24, 2000 | 10:44 a.m.

David Reid was only 16 years old at the time, but he remembers seeing the fight.

The date was Dec. 7, 1989, and it was Roberto Duran vs. Sugar Ray Leonard at the Mirage. The bout, the third between the two former champions, had a certain attractiveness to it except for one small thing: It was held outside and it was cold.

With Reid's outdoor fight with Felix Trinidad only 10 days away, he admits to paying some attention to Southern Nevada's weather map. He's aware that it has been raining and it certainly is still chilly at night, when the fight will be held.

"I'm going to have to come out properly warmed up and I'm bringing a blanket," Reid said by phone from his training camp in Denver. "I've been running in the cold weather here, so I'm sort of used to it. And I'm from Philadelphia, so I know how cold weather can be.

"But, like it or not, the show must go on."

Reid and Trinidad will be taking part in a pay-per-view card March 3 from an arena being constructed on the Flamingo Road side of Caesars Palace. The competitive main event matches Reid, the World Boxing Association junior middleweight champion, with a man who possesses a pair of welterweight belts and is moving up to 154 pounds from 147.

Trinidad, 36-0, is the betting favorite yet Reid is 14-0 and an Olympic gold medalist.

"I've got to win this fight for the other gold medalists that he beat," Reid said, referring to Trinidad's earlier victories over former gold medalists Pernell Whitaker and Oscar De La Hoya. "He's 2-0 against us, but after I beat him he'll be 2-1."

Reid called winning the Olympic gold in 1996 as a welterweight "my greatest accomplishment," yet he may revise that opinion if he can upset Trinidad in a fight that legitimately could go either way.

They're scheduled for 12 rounds although Reid is hoping he can take care of business within four.

"Three or four rounds would be perfect," he said. "The reason I think it could end that quick is that I don't think he's going to respect my power at the beginning of the fight. He's going to disrespect me until I make him respect my power."

Yet Reid's power has come under question of late, as he has now gone 51 consecutive rounds without a knockout. That's four straight 12-round wins since his last KO, which came in the fourth round against the shopworn Simon Brown some 21 months ago.

"What I say to people is this, 'Look how well I boxed those guys I beat by decision,' " Reid said of his wins over James Coker, Laurent Boudouani, Kevin Kelly and Keith Mullings. "I'm not worried about not having knocked anyone out lately, because I've been beating guys who were good competition and who weren't overmatched.

"Against each of those guys, I found ways to win."

Nor does Trinidad intimidate him, in spite of the fact he's coming off a decision win over De La Hoya.

"If I hadn't been in this position before, I would be scared," Reid said. "But I'm used to fighting guys like Trinidad.

"I'll fight him the same way De La Hoya did, except I'm going to be the hunter and he's going to be the hunted."

De La Hoya boxed Trinidad and tried to keep away from any serious exchanges. He also coasted through the final three rounds, believing he had the fight won, when, in fact, that strategy cost him the victory.

"I think Oscar fought a good fight and I personally think he won," Reid said. "But he just simply lost the last three rounds and that's what decided it.

"But I'm glad it went the way it did, because I'm happy to be fighting Trinidad and De La Hoya wasn't going to fight me for a while."

Reid, 26, has fought a succession of quality opponents in his still young career, although his lack of significant power and the fact he has been dropped by both Coker and Kelly has drawn some criticism. Yet he's confident in himself and says neither the times he has been knocked down nor the five times Trinidad has tasted the canvas will mean much come fight time.

"The fact he's been down a few times means absolutely nothing until I knock him down," Reid said. "I want to knock him down and have him stay there. That's never happened in the past; he's always gotten up and won, which shows that he's always in great shape and that he's a great champion."

Likewise, Reid puts no stock in being the established fighter at 154 pounds.

"I don't think it means anything," he said. "You can see Trinidad's natural weight is around 154, so I don't think I have any real advantage there. He would have moved up to 154 earlier if it wasn't for the money and popularity that goes with fighting De La Hoya."

Reid, who expects to fight only once more at 154 before moving up in weight class himself, said he noticed from studying Trinidad that he plants his feet before launching a big shot. Naturally, he hopes to be able to recognize it when Trinidad is going for paydirt.

"You see it on film and you say, 'I see it, I see it,' " Reid said. "I'm hoping I'll be able to see it that easy when I'm in there fighting him. But planting both of his feet to throw a power shot is something he always does."

Of course he's also counting on not being frozen by the elements when the time comes to avoid Trinidad's crisp deliveries.

"I remember that Leonard and Duran fight that was outdoors," he said. "Oh boy, it was cold.

"I hope it isn't that cold for my fight."