By Miguel Rivera
Former four division world champion Erik Morales is very pleased with last month's performance by Jessie Vargas, who lost a twelve round unanimous decision to Timothy Bradley at the StubHub Center in Carson, California. Morales trained Vargas for the fight.
Vargas lost the majority of the rounds, but in the final moments of the twelfth and final round - he landed a big hook to the chin of Bradley and had the two division world champion in very serious trouble.
The referee, Pat Russell, accidently stopped the fight about eight seconds early as Vargas was attempting to finish Bradley off.
"Everyone is saying that it's a mistake made by the referee, but what a mistake. He didn't take away a point or failed to call a low blow, it was a situation where a knockout hung in the balance and in two or three more seconds - the entire story could have been changed. But regardless, I think it was evident that Jessie can compete at that level," Morales said.