WBC Plans to Take Belt From Trinidad

President Jose Sulaiman of the World Boxing Council is expected to announce Monday that his organization is stripping Felix Trinidad of the welterweight belt he took from Oscar De La Hoya in September.

“It is a very difficult decision,” Sulaiman said by phone from his Mexico City home.

But a very convenient one for De La Hoya and his promoter, Bob Arum, who is closely allied with Sulaiman.

Should Trinidad indeed lose his belt for failing to defend his title against No. 1 contender Derrell Coley, De La Hoya will step in and fight Coley, thus getting an easy shot at regaining his belt.

The fight will be held at either Staples Center on March 11, if a hockey game between the Kings and Calgary Flames can be moved from that date, or at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Feb. 26. Arum is also hopeful of matching De La Hoya against another local superstar, Shane Mosley, on June 17 at Staples Center.

After winning the 147-pound title, Trinidad, who also holds the International Boxing Federation welterweight belt, announced that he is moving up to 154 pounds to challenge World Boxing Assn. champion David Reid on March 4.

What might have hurt Trinidad’s chances of holding onto the WBC’s 147-pound title even longer was his announcement at Las Vegas last Sunday that, if he is successful at 154 pounds, he wants to move up to 160 to challenge for the middleweight championship, and then move even further up the scale to take on light-heavyweight champion Roy Jones.