By Rick Reeno

One man will move on to meet WBC junior middleweight champion Ricardo Mayorga, the loser drops to the back of the line. Fernando Vargas (25-2, 22 KOs), a two-time junior middleweight champion will face two-time junior middleweight champion Javier Castillejo (58-5-0, 39 KOs) at the AllState Arena in Chicago, IL.

Vargas has not lost a fight since an 11th round TKO loss to Oscar De La Hoya in September of 2002. Coincidentally, Castillejo's last loss was also to Oscar De La Hoya, by way of a 12 round unanimous decision in June of 2001.

Castillejo has been on a major run since the loss to De La Hoya, winning 6 of his last 7 fights by knockout. The only fighter to last the distance with Castillejo since 2001 was new junior middleweight sensation, Roman Karmazin. Although Karmazin was able to last the distance, he was soundly defeated by Castillejo.

This bout is the second time in two years that Vargas is stepping into the ring. A reoccurring back injury forced Vargas to stay away from the ring for 15 months. Vargas made his return this past March and scored a ten round unanimous decision win over the durable Raymond Joval.

The performance of Vargas in this bout will be a indicator as to how far Vargas will go in the junior middle weight division.

The undercard will feature Rocky Juarez (23-0, 16 KOs) taking on Humberto Soto (36-5-2, 21 KOs) for the WBC Interim Featherweight Title.

Round by Round Coverage has begun, the first bout of the evening is Juarez vs. Soto.

The HBO crew feel that Vargas' fight tonight with Castillejo will tell us where he stands in his career, win or lose.

Sound like a huge Mexico chant and no fighters have come down to the ring. Juarez is 138 pounds tonight, Soto is 137 pounds.

Soto is coming to the ring and receives a huge response from the crowd. Juarez will obviously play the villian in the bout.

As predicted, Juarez is getting plenty of boos on his way into the ring.

Juarez told HBO that he wants Injin Chi next, then Juan Manuel Marquez.

Round 1 - Juarez is moving, Soto is pumping his jab and lands about several of them. Soto is using his reach advantage and winning the jabbing contest. Soto misses a few punches as he rushes in and Juarez lands a right. The two exchange a few power shots and Juarez lands a short left. Juarez chant starts and is drowned out by the Mexicans in the crowd. Juarez with a right hand. Soto trying to land the left and starts jabbing. Soto landing some vicisous body shots on the inside and comes upstairs. I gave a close first round to Soto.

Round 2 - HBO gave the last round to Soto. The start jabbing, Soto getting the better of the jabbing contest. Ref tells Juarez to keep his punches up. Soto dictating the action with his jab. Rocky chant starts, Mexicans drown it out. Soto just walked through a Juarez right. Juarez with a left. Soto counters with about 7 punches, uppercut backs Juarez up. two rights by Soto, partially blocked. Right by Soto, Soto landing some shots on the inside. jab by Juarez, Soto with some body damage. Soto with a big uppercut and left hook. Juarez with a left. Another round I scored for Soto.

Round 3 - Soto is jabbing hard again. HBO scored the last round for Soto. Soto backs Juarez into the ropes and starts landing some good blows. Juarez with a left. Soto with some bodyshots. Right and left for Soto. Uppercut on the inside for Soto. Juarez with a big lefthook. Juarez trading jabs, but Soto is getting off better. Soto with a combo to the head. Juarez jabbing and Soto jumps in with a lefthook. Another round I gave to Soto.

Round 4 - HBO gave the last round to Soto. Fight has slowed down. Soto is stalking and landing the jab to the head and body of Juarez. They exchange bodyshots. They trade on the inside and Soto landing some good uppercuts. Right on the inside by Soto. Juarez and Soto trade some big powershots. Juarez trying to go around Soto and jab, but Soto cuts off the ring. The two men are now trading shots on the inside. Mexico chant breaks out. Juarez and Soto trades rights. Close round that I will give to Soto. Soto has doubled Juarez's punch output so far, according to Compubox.

Rdoun 5 - HBO gave the last round to Soto. Soto getting off with his jab. Juarez trying to jab with Soto and losing. Jabs by Soto and a right. Crisp jabs by Soto. They both miss right hands. Soto attacks Juarez and drives him into the ropes with hard punches. They trade lefthooks and Soto lands better. Right hand by Juarez knocks Soto's head back. Huge bodyshot by Soto. Juarez with a right, Soto jumps on him and starts throwing some shots to the body. Juarez with a right, Soto to the body. Very hard round to score, but I think Soto dictated the round and I scored it for him.

Round 6 - HBO gave the last round to Juarez. Juarez with some big power shots. Juarez is now jabbing, Soto starts with his jab. Soto attacking Juarez against the ropes and Juarez holds on. The trade on the inside, Soto getting the better of the inside fight. Soto getting off with some good punches. Juarez is bleeding under the left eye. Combo by Soto, Juarez with a right and Soto with a left. Lefthook by Juarez. Scored the round for Soto.

Round 7 - HBO gave the last round to Soto. Soto starts getting off with the jab. Soto gets Juarez against the ropes and lands some big shots as Juarez misses. Soto gets Juarez against the ropes again and starts landing some big puynches. Juarez now starts coming back with some big shots. The lefthook stuns Soto, Soto is hurt and Juarez is teeing off with some big shots. Soto is holding. Scored the round for Juarez.

Round 8 - HBo gave the last round to Juarez. Juarez lands a big left and Soto hurts Juarez with a big bodyshot. Jurez cutting off the ring and gets Soto against the ropes and starts landing some good shots. Juarez is now landing the jab and moving to the left. Soto missing a flurry of punches. Juarez flurries in the last ten seconds and wins the round on my card.

Round 9 - HBO gave the last round to Soto. They are trading jabs and Soto is getting the better of him again. Right hand by Soto. Juarez to the body and Soto with a combo. Juarez misses a lefthook. They trade on the inside. Ref is taking a point away from Soto for hitting to the back of the head and the crowd is going crazy. HBO is complaining over the point deduction. Soto is mad, lands a big left and now landing some big shots on Juarez against the ropes. Ref breaks up the action to fix loose tape on Juarez's glove. Crowd goes nuts at the ref breaking up the action. Juarez staring back up and Soto chasing. Juarez with a lefthook, Soto to the body. I gave the round to Soto, because of the point deduction it is a 9-9 round.

Round 10 - HBO had the last round 9-9 even. Ref breaks the action to fix a wet spot in the middle of the ring. Juarez's face is busted up. They start trading in the ring, ref is taking another point away from Soto for hitting to the back of the head. The two men are now trading good shots on the inside. They trade uppercuts on the inside and Soto tees off with a 4 punch combo. Juarez with a right-cross, Soto with a three punch combo. They are trading on the inside and Soto is getting off better and backing Juarez up. Soto pumping shots at Juarez against the ropes as Juarez is countering off the ropes. I have the round even again and scored it 9-9.

Round 11 - HBO had the last round even at 9-9 as well. Soto is pumping the jab. Soto with a three punch combo. Uppercut by Soto and some jabs. Juarez to the body and Soto with a right. They trade bodyshots. Soto jabbing, Juarez to the body and misses a hook. Soto with a four punch combo, Juarez with a left to the body. Juarez with a huge lefthook to the body. Juarez with a few more lefthooks at the end. I gave the round to Juarez.

Round 12 - Both corners are telling theri fighters that they need the final round. HBO gave Juarez the last round. They touch gloves. Flurry knocks Juarez off balance and Soto goes after him. Soto with a big lefthook. Soto now with a right. They start jabbing, Soto with a combo. They trade some big punches close and Soto is landing better. Huge Mexico chant. They are trading on the inside. Soto with two straight right hands to the face of Juarez. They brawl in the last ten seconds, crowd is on their feet. A great fight and I gave the final round to Soto.

HBO has Soto winning 115-111. I gave it to Soto 116-110. Official score is coming up.

114-113, 114-112 and 114-113 fo the winner....HUMBERTO SOTO WITH A HUGE UPSET! Crowd is going crazy for Soto.

Next up is Vargas vs. Castillejo.

Soto threw 435 more punches then Juarez. 1106 to 571.

Vargas-Castillejo is set for 154 punds but both men are heavy tonight. Vargas is 167 pounds and Castillejo is 172 pounds. A super middleweight vs. a light heavyweight.

Castillejo is hearing it from the pro-Mexican crowd. Arena erupts for Fernando Vargas as he enters the ring.

HBO says that a rematch with De La Hoya is very close to being a done deal for May 2006, should Vargas win this fight.

Round 1 - They come out, Castillejo comes out with a jab. Castillejo misses a right and lands to the body. Vargas seems to be looking for an opening. Very slow pace right now. Castillejo throwing, but not landing much. They trade some jabs. Castillejo jabs to thebody. Crowd begins to boo as there is little to no action. Left hook to the body by Vargas and starts throwing shots as the ten second signal hits. Vargas misses most of the shots, but barely does enough to win a boring first round on my card.

Round 2 - HBO gave the last round to Vargas. very slow round as both men are jabbing and moving. Castillejo with a godo right, now a good left. Both men are missing and slipping a lot of punches, neither man has landed anything big. I gave the slow round to Castillejo, again it was not by much as neither man did much.

Round 3 - HBO gave the last round to Vargas. JC knocked off balance by a Vargas left. Vargas goes to the body as JC adjusts his trunks. JC with a good right, Vargas pumps the jab. JC with a short right and starts jabbing. Vargas combos to the body. Both men are jabbing, Vargas with a nother combo to the body. Huge right hand stuns JC whoi s out on his feet and two more right send him to the ground. JC is badly hurt but the round ends. Big 10-8 round for Vargas.

Round 4 - HBO gave Vargas the last round 10-8. Both men come out fast and Vargas is getting the better of the exchanges and pushing JC back with hard punches. Vargas jabbing to the head and body of JC. JC starts jabbing, Vargas allows JC to lead. JC misses a right and Vargas lands a 4 punch combo, JC misses a 3 punch combo. JC is jabbing Vargas back. Mexico chant breaks out. Vargas with a short right. Another round for Vargas.

Round 5 - HBO gave the last round to Vargas. JC jabbing well and misses shots against the ropes. JC pushes Vargas back with a bodyshot. JC is jabbing, Vargas with a hard jab. Solid right hand by Vargas. Grazing right by JC. Vargas to the body. They exchange bodyshots. JC with a three punch combo. Vargas with a good lefthook. The mouth of Vargas is bleeding. Another round for Vargas.

Round 6 - HBO gave Vargas the last round. They jab and Vargas slips. Vargas with a right and another right. double hook to the body by Vargas. JC with a double lefthook to the body. They trade on the inside. Vargas with a combo to the body. Vargas with a combo the head and body as JC counters with his own left-right combo.

Round 7 - HBO gave Vargas the last round. Vargas with a combo to the body. JC follows Vargas to the ropes and lands a combo and uppercut. Combo by Vargas and JC lands an uppercut. JC with a combo and is pushing Vargas back. JC with a 4 punch combo. Vargas with a 6 punch combo to the head and body. Close round that I gave to Castillejo.

Round 8 - HBO gave the last round to Castillejo. JC is now walking Vargas down and Vargas lands a big left to the body. Vargas landing some rights to the body of JC. Crowd is booing due to the lack of action. Vargas jabbing to the body of JC. Uppercut by JC. JC with some good combos ending with uppercuts. Vargas with a huge rally in the final ten seconds as he busts up JC with big shots. Another round for Vargas.

Note that this is only a ten round fight.

Round 9 - Vargas is now going to the jab and following up wth the right hand to the head of Vargas. Triple left hook for JC. They both jab, Vargas going back to the body. Vargas with a big four punch combo. JC with a bodyshot and uppercut. Close round that I give to JC.

JC needs a KO to win this fight.

Round 10 - HBO gave the last round to Castillejo. They are trading bodyshots. Vargas now jabbing and turning. JC with a combo. Vargas is coasting right now and the crowd boos. Vargas with a some good boyshots. JC jabbing and trying to get close. Vargas with a right. Vargas jabs to the body. JC misses a few punches in close. Round ends and Vargas wins an easy decision on my card and HBO' card. Official scores are coming up.

97-92, 97-92 and 98-91 for the winner Fernando Vargas.