By Jim Cawkwell
Fernando Vargas turned professional as a boy thrust into a man’s world, where many of those men often fall prey to sinister temptations. Eight years later, much of what remains of Vargas’ infamous reputation comes from his own encounters with those seductive influences. However, as quick as Vargas was to court controversy outside of the ring in years past, inside the ring it cannot be denied that when greatness called, he was ready to answer.
Few fighters of Vargas’ young age can claim to have made such a precocious stand with such success. Vargas took the IBF light middleweight championship in his second professional year, in only his fifteenth fight, and pressed on into consecutive defenses against world class fighters Raul Marquez, Ike Quartey and Ronald “Winky” Wright.
His achievements during his early twenties should be regarded as one of the finest performance runs in modern times, and an irreplaceable chapter in the history of the light middleweight division. However, in making such an indelible impact, a high price would not go unpaid.
Recently, Shane Mosley’s trainer, John David Jackson, touched upon a valid point when outlining the physical destruction from Felix Trinidad and the mental damage from Oscar de la Hoya visited upon Vargas. It has seemed as if the indomitable aura that surrounded Vargas diminished as a result of those fights.
Vargas resumed his career with an air of caution, negotiating his way past fighters that would once have struggled to live with him. Everything about Vargas resembled an unfathomable retreat from all that had made him a star. Today, the bravado and bluster of Vargas’ press conference and interview appearances may be just that, but for the first time in so long, it feels as if the “El Feroz” of old has returned.
Vargas’ dedication to his craft and the trust that he shares with trainer Danny Smith cannot subdue the notion that Vargas is now at the crossroads of his career. Vargas refers to Smith as “the truth,” but the reality for Vargas is that twice he has challenged the elite fighters of his day, and twice he has failed to conquer them. To stray back into defeat against Mosley might mean the end of Vargas’ fighting days.
With such a desperate consequence in the balance, one would expect Vargas to take risks. Perhaps he envisions a perfect hybrid of his old aggressiveness and newfound maturity, but just as he intends to honor the teachings of Smith, he must not betray the instincts bred into him as a Mexican warrior. As the rounds progress, and if Mosley remains before him undeterred, Vargas may come to realize that each passing moment, each opportunity upon which he fails to capitalize, is one more nail in the coffin of his fighting life.
Vargas understands that even through his failures in the ring, he is beloved because he dared to challenge those great fighters; he wanted greatness and dared to risk all to find it. If this is to be Vargas’ end as a professional fighter, his pride and faith in his heritage cannot allow him to accept it being revealed to him through the tabulation of points. If Mexican warriors must lose, they do so having fought to the last. If Vargas must go out on his shield, then so be it.
In Mosley, Vargas finds a man that fights on, but many suspect is also impeded by the effects of time and trial. Nonetheless, Mosley, also at the crossroads, faces a similar dilemma to Vargas and will fight to prevent the premature end of his prizefighting days.
Of course, their desperate causes cannot rival those of fighters that never achieved success or monetary rewards during their careers. Even when Vargas and Mosley are finished in the fight game, they will have the comforts of financial security and enduring fame that elude those fighters occupying the less glamorous end of the boxing spectrum. Vargas’ investments in real estate and his clothing company have long established his grasp of life beyond the ring, as does Mosley’s induction into the power structure that is Golden Boy Promotions.
However, the desire for more glory grows evermore insatiable within those who have known it so well. They collide as fighters and former champions whose deeds have already cemented their legacies in the sport, but without a war to fight, what becomes of the warrior? The answer to that question is one that neither of them wants to feel on Sunday morning.
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