On this day back in 1993, a star was born, a power-packed destroyer who would often go down himself only to get back up and return fire with real venom was crowned champion for the first time. Felix Trinidad, one of the purest punchers the sport has ever seen – “Tito” being right up there with the likes of Thomas Hearns, Julian Jackson, Gerald McClellan, and other noted bangers – wiped out an accomplished fighter to win his first world title.

Maurice Blocker, the defending IBF welterweight champion, had been in with numerous excellent fighters, including: Lloyd Honeyghan, Marlon Starling, Glenwood Brown, Simon Brown, and Terry Norris, in a fight that took place up at 154 pounds. Norris and Simon Brown had stopped Blocker, so Trinidad, yet to become a real fixture on the global stage, must have felt his power would get the job done.

And so it was. At just 20 years of age, a 19-0 Trinidad flattened the 34-3 Blocker. Dubbed “The Thin Man,” Blocker, who stood well over six-feet tall, was a fine boxer but he couldn’t live with a pure puncher like the Puerto Rican. Trinidad pretty much jumped right on Blocker from the off, and at the end of the opening round he had the champion shaken up and fighting whilst on wobbly legs. Trinidad’s right hand had done the damage.

And there would be more damage to come. In the second round, Trinidad unleashed a deadly combination, his left hook to the body, his hook to the head, followed by a right hand over the top, with another left hook and then one final right hand behind it sending Blocker into another dimension. Blocker did what all the badly hurt fighters do, and that’s fall flat on his face. No count was administered. No count was necessary. Blocker was out for some minutes.

The sport’s latest star has arrived in ultra-violent fashion. For the following six years, Trinidad would remain as one of the sport’s pound-for-pound best in the world. Trinidad could be hurt himself, at least he could be knocked down, but this only served to wake him up, with him regularly returning from a brief trip to the mat to knock the other guy clean out. In short, Trinidad was can’t-miss entertainment.

Blocker never knew what hit him. Nor did a good few many fighters who fell victim to “Tito” and his sizzling punching power.