How good could Fernando Vargas have been had he not been fed to the wolves so young?

Yea Id love to disagree with this as a Tank fan, but Ive seen too many lil guys be done before they hit 30. And idk how Tank doesnt become one of them when hes living or dying on his KO ability. Tank needs to be having more meaningful fights to secure his place better in boxing. One of the issues with some of these Al guys is they seem too into the money & less into reaching the heights they can reach. Tank kinda seems like that kinda guy. And while I get it if I was in his shoes, as a fan it makes me disinterested more & more in what these kinda guys. Good points but he paid a physical price for it as he's punch drunk now days.

By the current metric of many fighters, it’s a career trajectory of feast on journeymen until it becomes unavoidable to fight legit competition. In that, yes, Vargas was a great champion. He went for the blood and guts. Gave it all. Reminds me of Gatti. But as a shrewd businessman/athlete, no, he was an abysmal failure, who wasn’t handled/managed properly. He should have interwoven his shopworn battles with manageable opposition. And the Winky decision in ‘99 could have gone either way. Winky was trouble back then.

I don't think he was thrown to the wolves. He was a world champion with wins over excellent fighters Ike Quartey and Winky Wright. Treinidad asked for a fight and he said yes. What was he supposed to say? I am not ready for you yet. Come back in a few years and maybe I'll fight you then. if you are a world champion you are supposed to be the best at that weight and ready to fight all worthy challengers at that weight. Vargas was a good champion who accepted Trinidad's challenge and lost after fighting well and bravely. He also fought well and bravely against Oscar and lost. He just was not as good as Trinidad and Oscar. He was a boxer who peaked early and would still have lost if he had fought Tito and Oscar later in his career. I agree 100% I used to be in the camp of people who thought he was thrown in too early. The truth is he was damn good and he was the champ. He was a champ who was willing to fight the best and that included other champs. Sometimes you win those fights and other times you don't. He always gave his best and didn't cherry pick his way to the top or evade any real competition.

This guy was washed up by the time he was 25 years old. What was it that ruined him? The steroids? Alcohol abuse? Partying? Ballooning up in weight? The De La Hoya fight?I don't think he was thrown to the wolves. He was a world champion with wins over excellent fighters Ike Quartey and Winky Wright. Treinidad asked for a fight and he said yes. What was he supposed to say? I am not ready for you yet. Come back in a few years and maybe I'll fight you then. if you are a world champion you are supposed to be the best at that weight and ready to fight all worthy challengers at that weight. Vargas was a good champion who accepted Trinidad's challenge and lost after fighting well and bravely. He also fought well and bravely against Oscar and lost. He just was not as good as Trinidad and Oscar. He was a boxer who peaked early and would still have lost if he had fought Tito and Oscar later in his career.

Within a year he fought Winky, Quartey and Trinidad. Then Oscar and Mosely 2x. That’s a wrecking crew.

Gosh, i cannot even imagine what that would be like. If he was built up properly, made to fight bum - half bums like Wilder and then step up around 45 - 0 fights! He would probably more crossover star especially to the latino fans. And if he wins any big fight then gosh through the roof star.

He and David Reid were not ready for Trinidad yet.

People were saying he was partying and drinking too much. I think that and his mental weakness lead to his downfall. Plus his genetics wanted him to balloon up in weight if he didnt work hard. He wouldnt have gotten much farther anyways, that would eventually catch up to him. Canelo lost at 23 to mayweather, he just kept going on with his career. Sure after the first DLH fight they could have managed him better and not fed him to Tito but I dont think it would make much difference. Look at someone like Barrera who had back to back losses to Junior Jones and Mosley who had back to back losses to Forrest, they just kept pressing on with their careers.

The guy was definitely on PED's. No way he did what he did that young without them. Also didn't live a healthy lifestyle at all yet was so strong come fight night.

He was also one of those fighters who peaked young. This is why I worry for guys like Tank Davis. I feel like he is peaking now, but it is being squandered. Once you reach top level, you are then running on borrowed time especially if you are an aggressive fighter. You need to make the most of it. Vargas did just that and gave us some great fights.

What ruined him was his lack of discipline in between fights. He would ballon up to over 200lbs and party a lot.

Main Events had no choice by cashing out because he was acting like Adrien Broner outside of the ring. He was the verge of getting his ass locked up and sent away to prison at a very young age just hanging out with street gangs in the barrios. He was a street thug.

Vargas was fed to the wolves too soon. The kid hadn't learned to properly defend himself against a left hook yet. Tito, ODLH, and Moseley crushed him with left hooks. Had Team Vargas shown just a bit more patience, I think Fernando could've become a monster.