SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Felix Trinidad retired from boxing, ending a career in which he won titles in three weight classes and was embraced like few athletes in Puerto Rico.
With no rematch looming with Bernard Hopkins, and the possibility of avenging his only loss gone, the 29-year-old Trinidad decided to leave the ring Tuesday.
"Tito has finished his career healthy, with a brilliant record and thanks to God with an economic future that guarantees peace for him and his family for the rest of his life," said the fighter's father, Felix Trinidad Rodriguez, who served as his son's trainer and manager.
The boxer could not immediately be reached for comment. His retirement was announced by his lawyer, Nicolas Medina.
After his last bout, a victory over France's Hacine Cherifi in May, Trinidad sounded as if he planned to keep fighting.
"If my next fight is with Hopkins, I assure you that I'm going to make him pay for everything he did and said," Trinidad said after stopping Cherifi.
Trinidad Rodriguez told The Associated Press that he and his son made the decision Tuesday after speaking with promoter Don King. He informed them there was little chance of a rematch with Hopkins.
Trinidad was knocked out by Hopkins in the 12th round to lose his middleweight title.
"Today a chapter closes in the history of sports in Puerto Rico," Medina told The Associated Press by phone. "Puerto Rico has made great fighters, and Tito was the first to be recognized as No. 1 in his sport."
Trinidad, 41-1 with 34 knockouts, took part in 21 title fights. He competed in multimillion-dollar fights and won middleweight, welterweight and super welterweight titles.
In his native Puerto Rico, fans surged into the streets to celebrate his victories and his face appeared on billboards and in television commercials.
After Trinidad beat Cherifi, Hopkins refused his requests for a rematch, as did Oscar de la Hoya, who lost a previous bout to Trinidad.
Trinidad began his professional career in 1990 at age 17. On July 19, 1993, he won his first championship — the IBF welterweight crown — when he knocked out Maurice Blocker in the second round. He defended that title 15 times.
Trinidad beat the previously undefeated de la Hoya in September 1999, adding the title of WBC welterweight champ. A year later, he gained weight and beat promising Americans David Reid and Fernando Vargas in super welterweight bouts.
In 2001, Trinidad moved to the middleweight division and beat William Joppy, paving the way for his unification fight against Hopkins.