Omar Trinidad routs Mike Plania as Rafael Espinoza looks on

COMMERCE, California – There’s nothing like auditioning for a title fight with the champion watching your every move.

Such was the situation Friday night for featherweight contender Omar Trinidad as he dominated Mike Plania by unanimous decision scores of 100-90, 99-91, 100-90 at Commerce Casino.

Trinidad, 18-0-1, is ranked the No. 2 IBF contender, No. 6 by the WBC and No. 14 by the WBO.

It just so happened that WBO featherweight titleholder Rafael Espinoza was in the building to watch his roster mate and WBO junior bantamweight titlist Mizuki Hiruta defend her belt.

Trinidad, of nearby Boyle Heights, California, produced a workmanlike effort, often repeating a double-jab, power-punch routine that discouraged Plania, 31-5, who hails from Manny Pacquiao’s hometown of General Santos City in the Philippines.

Plania didn’t have the offensive weapons to convince Trinidad from backing off. So much of the fight looked the same, with Trinidad’s power right setting the tempo.

“Ten solid rounds, I felt great,” Trinidad said. “He has a chin.”

Espinoza said before watching the bout that he would be more than willing to one day meet Trinidad as long as it fits with Espinoza’s mission to stand as undisputed champion of the division that counts Brandon Figueroa (WBC), Angelo Leo (WBA) and Nick Ball (IBF) as titleholders.

“[Trinidad] just needs to keep winning,” Espinoza said.

Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.