SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Felix Trinidad moved a step closer to a middleweight title fight Saturday night, stopping French journeyman Hacine Cherifi in the fourth round.

        Trinidad landed a right to the face that sent Cherifi to the canvas in the fourth. Cherifi got up, but Trinidad ended the fight by flooring Cherifi again with a right and a left hook to the jaw.

        Trinidad, fighting for first time since losing to Bernard Hopkins in September in a bid to unify the middleweight titles, improved to 40-1 with his 34th knockout.

        “I want Hopkins!” the 29-year-old Trinidad said. “I will chop his neck. Tito Trinidad is back.”

        Trinidad outboxed Cherifi (32-6-1) from the opening bell to the delight of his home fans at Roberto Clemente Colisseum, knocking him down in the third with a right hook to the face.

        Trinidad weighed in at 160 pounds, the maximum for the middleweight division, while Cherifi weighed 159.

        Trinidad said that his main goal is to get a rematch with Hopkins before the end of the year, although that could change depending on his promoter's plans.

        “There could be a change if Don King wants me to fight Oscar De La Hoya, but I want Hopkins”, Trinidad said. “I'm not saying I don't want De La Hoya, because I do, but I want Hopkins first.”

        Trinidad, who has held the welterweight, super welterweight and middleweight crowns, handed De La Hoya his first loss in 1999.

        Hopkins has said that he's willing to give Trinidad a rematch.

        On the undercard, Cuba's Diobelys Hurtado stopped Randall Bailey in the seventh round for the vacant WBA junior welterweight title.

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