Omar Trinidad is just 16 fights into his professional career, but it speaks volumes that the soft-spoken power hitter is already being called the “King of LA” when it comes to the boxing scene in his hometown.
That’s quite the kingdom.
“It’s a big place, man,” he laughs. “And with a lot of culture, too. It’s surreal being called that, and it’s an honor that the people are saying that. I never asked for it, and coming from them, it is truly an honor.”
Hailing from the Boyle Heights neighborhood, the 28-year-old featherweight headlines Friday’s 360 Promotions show at Commerce Casino against Viktor Slavinskyi. It’s a test for him, but that’s been the story of his career thus far, and it’s why he’s so highly regarded by fans in the area. He’s fighting quality opposition; he’s exciting while doing it, and he’s focusing on his craft, not how many Instagram likes he gets. In other words, Trinidad is doing things the right way, and it’s paying off.
“It’s very satisfying,” he told BoxingScene. “I was always a fighter, and I get adrenaline and a thrill from putting hands on somebody and being very competitive. And now I’m in this position, and having gone through everything I’ve gone through, it’s surreal. I never took nothing lightly and I never tried to take the easy route. I trained hard, I believed in myself, and my team believed in me. And it is very satisfying because I don’t think nobody’s really doing it like this nowadays. If they do, it is really rare. A lot of people tend to take the easy route, but not me. I like to acknowledge the ugly and the good, and I’m all for it. Boxing is my sport, and I’m here to put on a show every time I step into the ring.”
In a lot of ways, Trinidad is a throwback to an era in LA boxing that we could use again. In the 60s and 70s fighters fought at the Grand Olympic Auditorium and left a lasting impression on the locals. One of them was Trinidad’s father, who passed his love for boxing down to his son.
“My pops grew up on boxing,” said Trinidad. “He was always a fanatic, and he would always bring up all those great names. Boxing has always been in the family and my pops always told me that I fight like his favorite old-school fighters. And you could believe how my dad is, having his own son in his favorite sport. I’m pretty sure he’s happy every day.”
That may be worth more than a world championship for a son to hear that from his father, especially in the case of this rising star, who found salvation in the sport his dad put him into when it looked like young Omar was drifting into some unsteady waters.
“When I was a young kid, he saw that I was falling off the rails a little bit, so he put me in boxing to keep me out of the streets,” he said. “He knew I always had talent; that’s why he tried to keep me in boxing and show me fights and try to make me relate to boxers on the come-up and all that.”
The plan worked in keeping Trinidad on the straight and narrow, but at 13 he walked away from the sport and didn’t return for a decade.
“Honestly, I didn’t know what I wanted,” he said. “I was pretty young, and when I was 18, 19, I didn’t really know what to do. I was just working warehouse jobs. I gave college a shot and it wasn’t for me. I doubled down on working and I had two jobs at times – sometimes three. And then I found out that it wasn’t my calling, and I made a decision. I woke up and I was like, you know what? I’m just going to go for it. I’m just going to go and put on the gloves and see what gives.”
Trinidad turned professional in July 2018, and after a draw with Gerardo Yescas in his Tijuana debut, he’s won 15 straight. In January he won his first regional professional title, knocking out Jose Perez in the eighth round for the Continental Americas belt, and while it was nice to put a green WBC belt on the shelf, it was even better to know that he’s heading in the right direction.
“It just solidifies for me that I’m made for this,” Trinidad said. “I can’t wait to continue going up the rankings and getting good fights in the future. It means the world to me. I proved myself that night and I’m here for a reason.”
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