Tito talking about two fights in '09

Tito Trinidad is talking about fighting two more times in 2009, and then walking away for good.

That all sounds well and good, I suppose (actually, I think it sounds like crap, but I'll indulge), but then you find out that Trinidad wants to fight Bernard Hopkins and Oscar de la Hoya, and you start questioning it, even if you weren't already.

Or at least, you should start questioning it.

Trinidad was awful against Roy Jones, Jr., this past January. There are no two ways about that. He stunk. He didn't carry the weight well, he wasn't anywhere near strong enough to even dent Jones, who felt Tito out for a few rounds before beating the crap out of him the rest of the way, and I'll always truly believe that Roy eased up so as to not embarrass Trinidad by knocking him clean out.

Thinking he could fight Hopkins at 170 pounds is just silly. Bernard whipped Trinidad's ass seven years ago when they were both in their prime and at middleweight. And when Oscar was searching for an opponent for December, he and Tito were about 10 pounds apart on weight.

It's not so much that he's totally too old to fight competitively. He turns 36 in January. But he's shot. Against Jones, he couldn't done anything when Jones chose to begin laying in. He was dropped twice, and entirely overmatched against a bigger, stronger man. Jones even looked faster than Trinidad.

I'm not the type of sports fan to get all obsessed with the idea of legacies. I don't think Trinidad fighting on and losing makes him any less of a Hall of Famer-to-be. But this is simply about money, and his fights will be overpriced pay-per-views that basically pander to the hardcore Puerto Rican audience and Tito's other long-time fans, as well as the boxing fan that just plain loves the sport enough to pay. And you know what that does? It takes our money and gives us very little enjoyment in return. Did anyone feel good about their cable bill when they saw that Jones-Trinidad fee on there?

I like Tito, but I'm all but completely disinterested in ever seeing him fight again. There's not enough bang for the buck.