In the wake of his knockout victory over top-20 type middleweight Hacine Cherifi there is good news and bad news for Felix Trinidad fans. First the bad news: He is the same old Tito, which means he is not capable of beating Bernard Hopkins, so long as Hopkins still performs at the level he has in recent years. Now the good news: He is still the same old Tito, which means that he is capable of beating anyone 160 pounds or below not named Bernard Hopkins.

Settling down in their seats ringside, or on their couches at home in front of the television, veteran Tito watchers knew what to expect from him in his comeback. Tito would look unspectacular for the first round or two, and would be hit a few times in the process. As he found his rhythm, Tito would begin to smoothly pour it on, hurting and then quickly stopping his overmatched opponent. Sure enough the fight unfolded exactly that way. Cherifi landed a few shots in the first couple of rounds, but by the fourth Trinidad had found the range with his own punches, and Cherifi didn't make it to the bell ending the round.

After the fight the question of the day seemed to have been whether Trinidad would go after a rematch with Hopkins or instead pursue a fight with the winner of the upcoming Oscar De La Hoya-Fernando Vargas showdown. Seems like a silly question. It is not as if his first fight with Hopkins was close. Trinidad was basically shut out and ultimately knocked out. Unless Hopkins gets old overnight why should we expect the rematch to go any differently?

On the other hand, a rematch with the winner of De La Hoya-Vargas is a different story. Let us consider a rematch with De La Hoya first, since he is favored to beat Vargas. In his first fight with De La Hoya Trinidad was outboxed until Oscar stopped boxing and started running in the middle of the ninth round. Had the fight been scheduled for the old 15-round championship distance it appeared that Tito would have had enough time to catch up on the scorecards and pull out a decision.

As it turned out, he did not need 15 rounds, as he was awarded a controversial split decision victory in a fight he appeared to have lost. The point is, not only was Tito coming on over the last third of the fight, but he was doing so despite being obviously weakened by making weight for a division he had obviously outgrown. Trinidad was a middleweight fighting at welter and his performance suffered as a result. At 154 or 160 pounds, rather than at 147 where their first fight took place, Trinidad would have to be the favorite.

Should Vargas beat De La Hoya, his most logical opponent (other than De La Hoya in a rematch) would be Trinidad. Vargas is a very proud fighter and he has been itching for a chance to avenge his knockout defeat to Tito. Trinidad has already knocked out Fernando once, and since then Fernando has looked like damaged goods. Unless Vargas blows out De La Hoya, Trinidad would rightly be a substantial favorite in a rematch. Especially if that rematch is contested at 160 pounds, where the taller and older Trinidad would seem to have the advantage.

On the undercard to Trinidad-Cherifi, Diobelys Hurtado scored an impressive knockout win against the powerpunching, once-defeated Randall Bailey. As much as I have criticized Hurtado in the past for the way he fights (I find his pot-shotting and clinching style boring), I must give him the credit he deserves for the level of success he has achieved as a professional.

The only two pro losses he has sustained have come at the hands of Pernell Whitaker and Kostya Tszyu. Pernell Whitaker was the legitimate, linear welterweight champion of the world when he put his belt on the line against Hurtado, who rose in weight from his natural junior welterweight division for the title shot. Whitaker had to rise from two knockdowns in a fight he was losing to miraculously knock out Hurtado in the 11th. No shame there. Kostya Tszyu was considered by most the best junior welterweight in the world when he put his belt on the line against Hurtado. He too had to rise from two knockdowns to retain his title. No shame there either. Whether I like to watch him or not, Hurtado can give a good account of himself against any 140- or 147-pounder in the world.

Max Kellerman is a studio analyst for ESPN2's Friday Night Fights.