By Johnny Ortiz
"Whenever you’re down and out, the only way is up, and he’ll be up like a rosebud, high on a vine, Fernando’s a little bit short of the elbow room, but let him get him some, then look out world, here he comes." Lyrical words from a Broadway play that could very well apply to the return of the "Ferocious One," Fernando Vargas.
After a lengthy layoff due to a severe back problem, Fernando is ready to return to the ring wars in order to reclaim the jr. middleweight title that has twice slipped through his grasp. Claiming he has never felt better or stronger, he is anxious to prove to all that the old Fernando is back.
This Saturday on HBO at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, Fernando will take on former WBC Jr. Middleweight Champion Javier Castillejos. Fernando wanted to fight in Chicago where he remembered the warmth he once received when he fought there as an amateur. He recently said that since landing there last Saturday, the people of Chicago have shown him nothing but love, he went on to say that he is honored to be fighting in Chicago on August 20th, and that he was thrilled and glad he made the decision to bring the fight to the people of Chicago.
The fight fans in the Windy City showed their appreciation when on Friday afternoon; Fernando threw out the ceremonial first pitch before 40,000 fans at Wrigley Field in a game between the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals.
Later that evening, Fernando was presented with a personalized Chicago Fire jersey at Soldier Field previous to the soccer game between the Chicago Fire and the Los Angeles Galaxy. (I wonder who he rooted for?)
Rounding out the weekend, Fernando held a 2 PM public workout on Sunday before a capacity crowd. Fernando Vargas has been a great champion and a warrior worthy of all the adulation he received prior to the upcoming fight. After he beats Castillejo, I hope Los Angeles fans continue to honor him in the same manner…Fernando is a fighter who gives you all he has…no one is more deserving of the accolades he receives.
Breaking down the fight, it figures to be a good one. Javier Castillejo of Madrid, Spain has been a worthy former champion, as his record of 58 wins, 5 losses and 39 KO’s will attest. He has won 7 straight and 21 of his last 22 fights. His last defeat came at the hands of Oscar De La Hoya on June 23, 2001. An interesting side note is the fact that Castillejo holds a win over newly crowned IBF Jr. Middleweight Champion Roman Karmazin. On July 14, 2005, Karmazin defeated highly touted and favored Kasim Ouma. Fernando is himself, coming off a three-fight win streak. Oddly enough, his last defeat was also against Oscar. The Ferocious One is not going to have a walk in the park in this one. Nevertheless, I’m going with my guy Fernando.
I go way back with Fernando when he was preparing to make his pro debut on March 25, 1997, against Jorge Morales, a veteran fighter who had 33 fights going into the fight with "The Oxnard Kid." A legitimate boxing star was born the night he stopped Morales in only 56 seconds of the first round.
Fernando and I first met on my good friend, and newest member of the World Boxing Hall of Fame Board of Directors, Robert Raijar’s TV boxing show. He and I became instant friends. Over the years, our friendship has grown considerably. Fernando has the distinction of having been my in-studio two-hour co-host on "Ringside LA with Johnny Ortiz" when I made my radio debut on ESPN Radio 710. After a two-year stint at ESPN, I took my show to the Commerce Casino where on KMPC 1540, I did it before a live audience every Friday night; Fernando again was my opening two-hour co-host. Due to the huge turnout, the Casino put us in one of their larger rooms in order to accommodate all of the people who turned out to see and meet the "Ferocious One."
This fight should have been for the vacant WBC jr. middleweight title, but because Javier as WBC interim champion, refused to fight Ricardo Mayorga, he was stripped of the interim title, the WBC then mandated that Mayorga fight Michele Piccirillo for the vacant crown. The WBC has to be stopped! Both Fernando and Javier, besides being the interim champion, had winning records; Fernando was the logical challenger, not Mayorga. The professional-amateur Mayorga had lost 2 of his last 3 fights. Then the WBC actually had the audacity to call the Vargas-Castillejos bout an elimination fight. Not only are both camps refusing to accept their fight as an elimination bout, the Vargas camp went one step further, on August 12th, Fernando Vargas filed a lawsuit against the WBC in New York. Rolando Arellano, Fernando’s longtime manager, who also happens to be an attorney, when asked if Vargas would accept WBC sanctioning of his fight Saturday night, was quick to reply: "No. They can keep that fight, we’ll be pursuing the legal action." Rolando also stated that the WBC "violated Federal code and caused Fernando Vargas monetary damages."
To add insult to injury, Mayorga, since winning the title, has been shooting off his mouth (what else is new) that he wants Fernando to win so he can get him into the ring. This is what he had to say" "I never thought much of him anyway, and now he is really getting on my nerves talking so much. I think he has always been a coward, and when he gets hurt, he doesn’t even know how to recover." Right! Ricardo did such a great job of recovering against Tito Trinidad. Speaking of recovering, I guess Mayorga must have forgotten one of the greatest comebacks in boxing history when Fernando Vargas, all but killed in the first two rounds against the same Tito Trinidad, came all the way back to get back into the fight, even dropping Tito with a vicious left hook. Inexperience on Fernando’s part, and Tito’s experience saved Trinidad from getting KO’d when he was visibly hurt.
After saying how stupid Piccirillo was to take the fight against him, and adding that he was going to score the quickest knockout Chicago has ever seen by knocking Piccirillo out in the first 14 seconds, Ricardo had to go the full twelve rounds to defeat Piccirillo. Mayorga scored several knockdowns on his way to victory, but not before being hurt a few times himself along the way. Piccirillo is not known as a puncher, Fernando is. Be careful Ricardo, you may get what you wish for.
When told of Mayorga’s ripping him, Fernando had this to say: "Right now I’m thinking about one person, I’m never thinking about anyone else. I’ll fight anyone. Everyone knows that, my fans know that. The thing is right now, the only person on my mind is Javier Castillejos, I’m ready to go ten, twelve rounds, but I don’t think it’s going to go that far." He also expressed a desire that if successful Saturday night, he would welcome a rematch with Oscar De La Hoya. Fernando was also quick to praise new trainer Danny Smith. On the Mayorga subject, Arellano added: "With respect to Mayorga making comments, he shouldn’t really be making comments, he should be concentrating on his performance against Piccirillo. Everyone saw his performance and that’s all we have to say about that. With respect to the WBC, we will not be accepting Saturday’s bout as an elimination fight.
I would love to see Fernando fight Mayorga, just to shut him up once and for all. Getting back to Saturday night’s fight, and knowing Fernando, he will not be taking Castillejos lightly. In order to win, Fernando has to use his head and employ the beautiful boxing skills he was once known for. The key to victory for Fernando is his educated jab. I remember Oscar having a lot of success with his jab when he fought Javier. Fernando knows that everything comes off the jab, he knows how to use the ring, and that will give him the openings he must capitalize on. Javier, who I am sure has studied film on Fernando, must avoid getting hit with Fernando’ jab, getting hit with it, he must be prepared for what is surely to follow. Javier has to try and outthink him while throwing fast combinations whenever he gets Fernando in range.
I look for a good, technical fight, with Fernando prepared to go a hard fought twelve rounds if need be, he is ready to win either way. Javier Castillejos has been stopped only once in 63 fights and that was ten years ago, he lost his European (EBU) jr. middleweight title to Laurent Boudovani via a TKO in the 9th round on January 3, 1995.
So you see, Castillejos is a hard man to put down. Fernando will have his work cut out for him, but if anyone can put Javier on his backside…it’s Fernando! I’m picking my boy to win; I think boxing fans will see a rejuvenated, young man with winning big on his mind.
Welcome back, boxing has missed the excitement of…"El Ferroz!"
HBO has two great fights on their hands, besides Vargas-Castillejos, the great little warrior, Rocky Juarez (23-0 w/16 KO’s), will take on # 2 WBC featherweight contender Humberto Soto (36-5-2 w/ 21 KO’s). Rocky who is billed as the # 1 guy, was supposed to fight WBC champion Injin Chi, but due to an injury to the champion, Soto was penciled in.
The winner Saturday night will face Chi for the world title after he recovers from his misfortune. I am a big Rocky fan, after beating very good fighters in Hector Velasquez (W12), Zahir Raheem (W12) and Joe Morales (W 10), Rocky picked it up big time in his last two fights, stopping a terrific former champion, Guty Espadas, in two rounds. Rocky then duplicated the feat by a round in halting title challenger Juan Carlos Ramirez in one.
In Humberto Soto, Rocky will be facing one tough customer who has been in with the best. Humberto comes into Saturday’s fight with his last six fights coming by way of knockout. It should be a barnburner while it lasts, at 5-8; Soto is a tall drink of water for a featherweight. He has an unbelievable 73-inch reach, and he is skilled at using it. He has been known to land as many as 43 jabs a round, Rocky at 5-4 and possessing a 67-inch reach, is going to have to get inside Soto’s long jab if he is to land his hard, lethal punches. This figures to be an intriguing fight, but I’m going with the undefeated Juarez, Rocky just seems to be getting better and better with each fight while Soto with 43 notches on his fight belt, is in all probability, as good as he ever will be. That, and given the fact that he beat Zahir Raheem rather convincingly, Raheem, a former Olympian, goes up against the great Mexican warrior, Erik "El Terrible" Morales on September 10th at the Staple Center in Los Angeles.
Soto is a very good defensive fighter, he will have to be to keep Rocky off his tail, Juarez is a fast starter and will be pressing the action from the get-go. I just believe it is Rocky-Time, the way he destroyed a very good fighter in former champion Espadas, I do not see Humberto standing in his way to the featherweight crown. I think Rocky might even score a KO. Nevertheless, fight fans are in for a real treat with this fight card.
One fighter to be sure to keep an eye on is welterweight sensation Joel Julio (23-0 w/20 KO’s), very rarely do I get excited about a new fighter, I have seen him fight twice and both times, he blew me away. I had the same feeling when I first laid eyes on Franciso "Panchito" Bojado, with Panchito, it was too much, too soon, it just got away from him. I still have not written Panchito off, if he ever gets it back together, Panchito, with so much natural talent for one so very young, can still one day be a champion. Getting back to Julio, check him out Saturday if he gets on TV, you will see what I mean, he’s totally exciting!
"PATH TO GLORY: THOMPSON BOXING PROMOTIONS KEEPS ROLLING ON!
As I wrote for his last fight card on July 29th, Promoter Kenneth Thompson’s runaway boxing promotional train keeps gaining speed. His fight cards play to standing room only crowds; he is the most active fight promoter in the business. He will have put on ten fight cards by the time the year 2005 is up. That, my friends, is unheard of in the fight promotion world. I have been in the fight game all of my adult life; I cannot remember anyone going to bat so often as Ken Thompson. The reason there is standing room only is the fact that he and his reliable matchmaker, Alex Camponovo, strive very hard to bring their loyal fans the best fights available. That’s why they keep coming back.
Francisco Salazar, a terrific boxing writer, covers the fights in his boxing column, his take on last month’s card, especially the main event that featured super featherweight Jose Lopez going against Leonardo Resendez, was superb. Every fight was a war; it will be no different when, on August 26th, Thompson Promotions will bring another stellar fight card to Omega Products International BOXING UNDER THE STARS, Corona, California. One of my favorite fighters who is excitement personified, Carlos "El Elegante" Bojorquez, a jr. middleweight, will test wills against up-and-coming Brian Davis in the main event. If you have never seen a Bojorquez fight, you are really missing something. He has all the ability needed to fight for a world title. Brian, a worthy opponent should give Carlos all he wants. As I said, there is a reason for the standing room only crowd, and that reason is that all of the fights are competitive and often electrifying. In the semi-main, local fan favorite, Timothy Ray Bradley "The Desert Storm," fresh off his big win on July 29th, will face a fighter TBA. Take my word for it; who ever it is, he will be more than a suitable opponent for Timothy the Storm. Matchmaker Camponovo will see to that.
To get tickets and information on how to get to the fight site in Corona, California, please call: (714) 935-0900 or visit: thompsonboxing.com to view the fight card, directions, or just to plain get acquainted with the fastest growing boxing promotions in Southern California.
Before I sign off, I would like to write something that does not pertain to boxing. My very good friend, Bill Adams, is helping to hold a charitable event titled, "THE BROOKLYN—L.A. CONNECTION" this Saturday morning, August 20th. It seems that the Corona High School Gridiron Club, which is a non-profit organization, is going to hold an autograph signing session featuring the two great former Dodgers, Duke Snider and Bill Russell, in order to help the educational and physical development of their student athletes. The Gridiron Club’s responsibility is to pick up where the schools funding stops.
The event will feature a VIP breakfast with "The Duke" at 9:00 A.M. With the public signing at 11A.M.—1:00 P.M.
For more information please call: Bill Adams at (951) 279-5065 or Rick McLaughlin at (951) 737-4044. They hope to have a few more famous guests on hand.
If you can make it, it would be highly appreciated. It is for a very good cause, it also sounds like a lot of fun and you will still have plenty of time to catch "El Ferroz!" On behalf of the Corona High School Gridiron Club…we thank you!
Johnny Ortiz is a member of the World Boxing Hall of Fame Board of Directors and a former co-owner of the world famous, legendary Main St. Gym