Omar Trinidad has known his opponent Jose Perez for some time.
The two fighters based out of the Los Angeles, California area will fight this Saturday, January 27th, at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, California, a show which airs on UFC Fight Pass as a part of Tom Loeffler’s 360 Boxing Promotions.
Trinidad reflected on when he first met his opponent.
“Yeah, at the start of my career I met Joey,” he told ProBox TV.
“He had like seven [pro] fights and was an up-and-comer. We met. We sparred a couple of times. We have been in the gym a couple of times. Yeah, I see him around, at the fights, and I think he helped out one of my stablemates, Danny Roman for sparring at some point.
“We have been around each other. I actually know his father, he knows mine. We are considered friends, but that night inside the ring there is no friendships.”
He continued: “Since I knew we were in the same division, I knew we were always going to fight. As long as he stayed active, and stayed healthy, and likewise myself. I knew we were going to face-off at some point.”
The bout has a form of the WBC title at stake — the regional WBC Continental Americas featherweight title.
This is no small feat for Trinidad, who stepped away from boxing at the age of thirteen only to return years later.
Trinidad recalled the following about his first pro fight which was a draw.
“I was coming off a long layoff. I hung up the gloves at thirteen, I came back at twenty-two. They had offered me a fight, and honestly I wasn’t even taking boxing seriously at the time. I just took the fight to experience a boxing professional fight. Maybe something will come out of it, maybe not. I just did it for the experience. So I didn’t have regrets later on in life.”
Trinidad had his first main event spot against another local, Adan Ochoa.
He recalled his hard work ethic that now has him in position to be one of Tom Loeffler’s breakout fighters to his new stable.
Loeffler was instrumental in the success of Gennadiy Golovkin and the Klitschko Brothers, and is helping push Callum Smith into the mainstream.
“I tried to go to school, but I didn’t like school. I was working at a warehouse then I was helping out some buddies. They had a business helping people [move]…I liked staying distracted, and I feel it transitions well into boxing. I am glad I choose boxing instead of a nine-to-five [job] now.”
Trinidad’s neighborhood is tough. A lot of the stereotypes of East Los Angeles are what he had to endure. Yet, Trinidad is quick to remind us that is the blue-collar nature of his home region that inspire him the most.
“It is known for being tough. A tough neighborhood with a lot of gang activity. Besides the gang activity there are a lot of blue collar people that work hard that I get inspired from. I wake up at five in the morning to run, and they wake up at five in the morning to clock in. That is a big inspiration, and of course, there was always temptations. I had a lot of buddies of mine that unfortunately passed away due to the streets, some of them are serving life [in prison]. I am glad I was able to make a switch and put my focus into boxing.”
360 Boxing Promotions will be having Trinidad headline his second card. If successful, Trinidad will vault up the rankings.
