í nótt fór fram bardagi ársins, Felix Trinidad var að koma til baka eftir að hafa ekki barist í 2 ár gegn hinum vilta Ricardo Mayorga og sýn sem hefði átt að vita að þetta yrði virkilega góður bardagi sýndi hann ekki!

En svona fór hann, og þakka þér sýn frá notanda sem borgar sýn í hverjum mánuði fyrst og fremst vegna hnefaleikanna þið sviptuð mig og íslenska box aðdáendu reynslunni að sjá besta bardaga ársins jafnvel undanfarinna ára beint!!

In a battle of walking weapons of mass destruction that left ringsiders breathless, winded and emotionally drained, Felix ‘Tito’ Trinidad overcame a dangerously defiant Ricardo Mayorga in eight fantastic rounds of all out power-punching.

Mayorga won perhaps only two of the completed seven rounds but most definitely had his big moments - he hurt Tito several times and even scored a third round knockdown for the Puerto Rican superstar - but not only did Trinidad have the higher-yield nuclear bombs but he also had the superior delivery systems. That won him one the fight of 2004 and also served notice that he is back to his thunderous best.

The Don King promoted bazooka-fest was everything boxing fans wanted it to be. Tito and ‘El Matador’ blasted each other with broadside after broadside, the likes of which have been unrecorded since the days of the ironclad. This was perhaps the most exciting fight I've been ringside for in my two decades of following this sport.

The Garden fans were massively pro Trinidad. Even as the card kicked off at 18:15, there were chants of “Tito! Tito! Tito!” and the reception the former three-division world champion got from the estimated 17,000 fans was deafening. The fans erupted with excitement at the opening bell and waved flags, t-shirt and homemade signs throughout.

Clearly revelling in his ring return, Tito entered the arena smiling and waves to the crowd as if about to make an Oscar acceptance speech. In fact, Trinidad seemed to enjoy the pre-fight cheers a little too much; he didn't settle down to his work in the opening two minutes of the scheduled 12 rounds (the vacant NABF middleweight title was at stake) and paid a price.

Mayorga crashed in some wicked looking hooks to Trinidad's face in the opener and you could feel the Puerto Rican fans suck in deep intakes of air as their hero, who had not fought since ‘retiring’ in May of 2002, was drilled by some real humdingers by the former unified welterweight champion.

And, almost unbelievably, the Nicaraguan nutter actually dropped his guard and allowed Trinidad to smash him with three left hooks to the chin. But Trinidad is not Vernon Forrest and seconds after Mayorga did the phoney “wobbly knee” routine Tito cracked in two right hands right down the pipe which visibly stunned Mayorga.

The cigar smoking bad-boy didn't try that stunt again and Trinidad, reminding us why we've missed him so much, immediately went for the finish but the bell sounded to end a sizzling opening round. Tito's round.

War had been declared; war had been accepted. In the second, Mayorga hurt Trinidad again with a lightning fast left hook, moments later Tito responded in kind and snapped his foe's head around on his neck. Trinidad was slightly ring-rusty and Mayorga was surging forward with his characteristically barbaric assaults

But, minute by minute the rust was falling off the Puerto Rican powerhouse. Gradually, Trinidad began to find room to fire his long ranged shots with the accuracy of old, his footwork improved step by step and the combinations which annexed world titles in three different divisions began to land with increased regularity.

The 31 year-old Tito's jab was heard from in the third but Mayorga stormed forward and clipped Trinidad right on the top of the head with a swinging cross/hook. Trinidad wasn't hurt but he touched down with his right glove and a count was given against him. Despite that, I still couldn't give Mayorga the round and scored it 10-10.

Mayorga was buoyed by his success and blasted away with abandon at the start of the fourth; this time, though, he was countered beautifully and was badly hurt by a jab, cross, left hook combination against the ropes. By now most of the Garden crowd had decided to watch the entire fight on their feet, screaming at the tops of their lungs. A sickening sounding hook to the body and good right cross won ‘El Matador’ the round, though.

Trinidad took over in the fifth. He hurt Mayorga early with a pulverising left hook which would have ended many a fighter. Instead Mayorga pressed his right glove against his chin to protect against another hook - so Tito stabbed him with two mighty right crosses. Rocked to his boots, Mayorga still fired back but was almost swept aside by a Dessert Storm like bombardment. The fight was very nearly over in the fifth and Mayorga suffered a deep gash below his left cheekbone.

In the sixth Trinidad went right after Mayorga. However, Mayorga made a meal out of a low blow to the hip and bought himself some valuable time. After calling Trinidad all the names under the sun Mayorga was prepared to fight on to the end and you could see it in his eyes that he never stopped believing that he could end the fight with one single shot.

But he was now getting outclassed, despite making every and all efforts to fight fire with fire. In rounds 4 though 8, Trinidad outlanded his rival 142-54 in powershots and that is something you just can't do with one of the hardest hitting fighters of his generation.

Mayorga also neglected the jab; that is to say he hadn't developed a sufficiently decent one in preparation for this fight to stop Trinidad marching in. It was now a matter of time for a desperate Mayorga, who was taking an absolute pasting.

Nearly knocked out in the seventh, a Tito bodyshot had the former WBA and WBC welterweight champion rolling in agony on the canvas in round eight. He got up and - bravely - tried to fight back but a right hand turn off his lifts and a left hook put him down on all fours. Most fighters - even some of the great ones - would have stayed down but Mayorga groped himself to his feet one last time. Another massive right, another arching left hook and another knockdown later and referee Steve Smoger waved it off at 2:39 of the eighth round of a modern classic.

Afterwards, Trinidad paid tribute to his fallen nemesis: “I respect him. I think everyone has to respect him. He took some many great shots and hit very hard. He came to fight and I thank him. We had a $100,000 bet and he signed that (wager); I expect to collect but we will see. I want to thank my fans for giving me the energy to return.”

And, responding to questions on how long he plans to continue in the sport, he smiled and said: “I told you in May that I'd be back. I am now back and I intend to stay.”