By Cliff Rold
I remember my first exposure to Fernando Vargas (26-4, 22 KO). It was in the summer of 1996, in the pages of a Ring Magazine with a cover question of whether Lennox Lewis was tough enough to face off with Mike Tyson. The issue previewed the impending Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia and highlighted the then 18-year old fireball from Oxnard, California. He already had a chip on his shoulder and was already talking about the chance to fight Oscar De La Hoya.
It was that clear, that early. Vargas had the makings of a star. On an Olympic team that also featured Antonio Tarver, Eric Morel, David Reid, David Diaz and a kid named Mayweather Jr., Vargas was the personality that stood out right away. He’s also, according to his words, on his way out towards retirement little more than a decade later. If he holds to that, it’s been a hell of a ride.
Vargas missed medaling at the 96 Games. He never claimed absolute supremacy during his long, perhaps too long, stay at Jr. Middleweight. He didn’t earn a bust in Canastota. But I’ll be damned if Vargas didn’t fight.
Whether it was against rough titlist-level guys like Ike Quartey, Yori Boy Campas and Raul Marquez or against men whose careers are marked with World championships like Oscar, Felix Trinidad, Winky Wright and Shane Mosley, Vargas came to give as good as he got.
This Saturday, in a bout whose appeal is generated as much by memory as expectation, “El Feroz” makes his 31st start against rugged former World Welterweight champion Ricardo Mayorga (28-6-1, 23 KO), it figures Vargas will fight some more. In flashes, he might even remind the world of what almost was.
Almost. Vargas is perhaps the ultimate example of a fighter missing greatness in the blink of an eye, in the whip of a single second. That’s about how long it would have taken to have his right hand just a little higher, to slip just a little farther back, in avoiding Trinidad’s first big left hook in the first round of their December 2000 classic. That hook changed Vargas’ life.
Prior to that shot, that life appeared destined for other things. The youngest titlist ever at 154 lbs., only 21 in his 1998 victory over Campas for IBF gold, Vargas seemed to be fighting well beyond his years. His April 2000 win over Quartey was particularly compelling, a thrilling and yet dominant victory over a veteran many felt had been jobbed a year earlier against Oscar.
Destiny though works its own magic and there was Vargas, flailing towards the mat first once and then again, at the hands of Trinidad. His survival past that first round, his own lethal left hook to put Trinidad on the mat in the fourth, were moments that delivered on all of the promise he showed up to that fight. Even as he slunk to the mat three times in the final round of what stands as arguably the greatest fight ever at Jr. Middleweight, defeat was seen by many, perhaps hopefully, as a stumbling block.
Little did the world know that it really was the end. Vargas never recovered from the fight or from that first lethal hook. He has lingered in the seven years since as a good fighter with fatal flaws. His long dreamed of bout with Oscar exposed those flaws in 2002, his chin failing him, and his hubris shaming him in the wake of a failed steroid test. Then his body began to fall apart as he struggled to maintain his weight and battled back ailments. His two bouts with Mosley both ended in losses, one close and competitive and the other not so much.
But I’ll be damned if Vargas didn’t fight.
Cuts, swells, knockdowns for and against him; through it all, Vargas has been a fighter. I noted already what Vargas didn’t get done, what accomplishments he may have missed and, well, when it comes to a guy like Vargas…
Who cares? Ten years from now, and longer away than that, Vargas will be remembered by those who love fights. Win or lose, Vargas never made the buying public say “What a waste.”
The pressing question today is whether he has enough fight left to make it worth a pay-per-view price tag to pick up Vargas-Mayorga?
That’s the debate boxing fans will be having with themselves as the fight draws near. Let’s face it: if you bought Miguel Cotto-Shane Mosley two weeks ago and plan to purchase Floyd Mayweather-Ricky Hatton in another couple of weeks, Vargas-Mayorga could really make that cable bill tough.
With free offerings like Hawaii-Boise State and Missouri-Kansas calling from the college gridiron, it would be easy, even for hardcore fight lovers, to push this fight aside. After all, the names involved might evoke great long term memories, but immediate memories of decisive losses to Mosley (for Vargas) and Oscar (for Mayorga) don’t speak highly of where each of these warriors is in their career.
So we ask if they are at a close enough place to each other to make this a worthy scrap. While never as skilled as Vargas, Mayorga has never been dull against world-class foes. Ask anyone who witnessed his brawls with Vernon Forrest and Felix Trinidad and you’re likely to get a smile. In their current states, each man is still likely to be motivated by, if nothing else, the scalp they can get on their resume. If that’s the case, and the pre-fight bravado seemed genuine enough, then while these aren’t necessarily top tier guys anymore, no one who watches will feel like they wasted their money.
Vargas has come a long way since the ‘96 Olympics even if the road wasn’t always as smooth as he’d have liked. He says this is his farewell fight. With everything he’s left in the ring over the last ten years, it might not be too much ask the fans to say thank you with their wallets.
No More Vacancy?: Due to the way their ratings shake out, he won’t get the Ring Magazine stamp of approval with a win but make no mistake: if Ukrainian Heavyweight Wladimir Klitschko (49-3, 44 KO, Ring #1, IBF titlist) defeats Russian Sultan Ibragimov (22-0-1, 17 KO, #6, WBO titlist) in their now signed February 23rd unification battle, he is it. Period. The Heavyweight champion of the world. After watching belts fly around and fights fail to emerge, the long, embarrassing road to a champion might finally be here.
Throw out all the ratings, sanctioning body and editorial. Ring’s title policy is one that I have been generally supportive of, with strong objections to their subjectively ignoring established history and established lineages at its inception. This will be a case where their policy prevents them from recognizing the end of a vacancy that might, on Feb. 24, no longer be in question. That’s because, of all the possible unification bouts Klitschko could have taken, this is the most significant for him historically in declaring himself the king.
The man some view as the second-best heavyweight right now, Nigerian Sam Peter (29-1, 22 KO, #2, WBC interim titlist), lost nine rounds easy to Klitschko in September of 2005 and Wlad has been on a tear since. Rumors of Peter’s incredible improvement as a fighter off of one decisive victory against veteran James Toney in two tries appeared to be just that when Peter was scraping himself off the canvas multiple times against Jameel McCline en route to a decision in September.
Peter and Kazakhstan’s Oleg Maskaev (34-5, 26 KO, #3, WBC titlist) are slated to finally get their business done in the ring on February 2nd. If Maskaev sneaks a victory, it would be his first notable victory in the Heavyweight upper tier against someone not named Hasim Rahman. To the sports detriment, the winner might be tied up after their bout with the wait for the next Vitali Klitschko injury cancellation (big brother Klitschko still holds the WBC’s emeritus status after all). Let’s presume it’s Peter all the way through; as long as he and Klitschko both hold belts, Klitschko’s will be the one that matters more by, say, a score of 9-3.
The real #2 heavyweight in the world, Ruslan Chagaev (23-0-1, 17 KO, #4, WBA titlist) of Uzbekistan, has been sidelined with an illness but makes the best case against the significance of Klitschko-Ibragimov. Prior to his medical issues, he was slated for an October 2007 bout with Ibragimov himself, an unfortunate missed opportunity. Outside of Klitschko, he has the best resume of any of the division’s top contenders with decisive victories over Vladimir Virchis (23-1, 19 KO, #8), former titlist John Ruiz, and then WBA-titlist Nicolay Valuev (47-1, 34 KO, #5). If Klitschko beats Ibragimov, he’ll need a number one threat and Chagaev can plug in nicely.
Those who follow boxing less than religiously might be scratching their head right about now, wondering if all these records and resumes are some sort of complex quadratic equation. I assure you, they’re not.
Let’s make it simpler by beginning with Klitschko’s last loss, a fight for a vacant WBO title against Lamon Brewster in 2004. Here’s why a Klitschko victory in Klitschko-Ibragimov settles the question of the record-long Heavyweight title vacancy (almost four years since Lennox Lewis’s retirement and, no, Vitali Klitschko’s Ring Magazine title, awarded in 2004 after his first win against a legit top ten contender, does not count):
Since Klitschko’s loss to Brewster, the WBO title has traveled a circuitous but straight line through Brewster (33-4, 29 KO, unrated), Sergei Liakhovich (23-2, 14 KO, #7), and former World Heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs (47-5-1, 42 KO) before finally settling with Ibragimov. That makes Sultan the man who beat the man who beat Klitschko. Wlad entered the first fight with Brewster staking his claim to the vacant title and can never be truly considered champion without settling this line. But…
Because the title has been vacant so long, Klitschko has had the chance since the first Brewster fight to garner the victories necessary to be regarded as the World’s best in the interim. He’s already, for the most part, the de facto champion based on recent wins and certainly the biggest money draw. He followed the Peter win with a seventh round knockout of then universally recognized number-one contender Chris Byrd (40-4-1, 21 KO, unrated) and avenged the Brewer loss with an easy sixth-round stoppage last July. Throw in a November 2006 victory over undefeated contender Calvin Brock for good measure and the question becomes, seriously, how many fights does one have to win? So…
The only real question for Klitschko is to resolve, permanently, his last title loss. Ibragimov gives him that chance.
It won’t make Wlad a great fighter. He’s still the same flawed guy many have been skeptical of and his chin and stamina will always be questions. A win here though would make five top ten wins in his last six, one against the number-one contender and one against his presumed top threat. If all his available revenges are exacted along with his healthy string of consecutive wins, what else is there to prove?
The answer is nothing. It doesn’t get much simpler than that. Finally, there might be something to look forward to in the Heavyweight division. Finally, the division might start looking forward.
Cliff’s Notes…
Bad Judges: For those wondering what consequences await the judges who turned in all-time bad scores in robbing Jose Armando Santa Cruz of the World Lightweight title two weeks ago against Joel Casamayor, here’s you answer: Jean, aka Eugenia, Williams, 117-111, Joan Guzman over Humberto Soto. My point? If the judge who thought Evander Holyfield beat Lennox Lewis in their first 1999 fight, at the same Madison Square Garden where Casamayor-Santa Cruz went down; if that judge is still working, Ron McNair and Frank Lombardi are safe…
Guzman: Speaking of Guzman, I thought he turned in a fine performance last Saturday against Soto and thought both fighters would be a welcome sight in the ring again anytime. Guzman-Edwin Valero anyone…
Final Flurries: On the Vargas-Mayorga undercard, we get the latest outing from Welterweight bomber Kermit Cintron (28-1, 26 KO, #6, IBF titlist) as he prepares for a unification bout with Paul Williams (33-0, 24 KO, #2, WBO titlist) on February 2. The workout comes against Jesse Feliciano (15-5, 9 KO), stopped thrice already by fighters with nowhere near Cintron’s power. Should be a nice highlight…Current Middleweight and former World Jr. Middleweight champion Javier Castillejo is having a thrilling run for a guy near forty who was always seen as a mid-level talent. Who does the Spaniard think he is? Glen Johnson? His rematch win earlier this week over Mariano Carrera is YouTube search-worthy…Can Abner Mares become the first undisputable bantamweight champion in over two decades? I liked what I saw last Saturday on HBO…Everyone have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
