..FERNANDO VARGAS: Too Much Heart, Too Much Fight...

[KESSLER]

Vargas he had more heart and balls than anyone, seriously. He was an excellent boxer/puncher, fearless in the ring. Regardless of his chin, he would still stand toe to toe and trade with some heavy handed fighters.

He fought top guys from a very early age, becoming the youngest Juinor Middleweight Champion in boxing history. Now, I don't care if you turn around and say he lost against De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, Felix Trinidad, Mayorga (Although Vargas was shot). All fights were still competitive except for Mosley II.

A win that is underrated on Vargas' resume is Ross Thompson, whom he knocked out in the 4th round. Thompson came in at 175lbs for that fight, Vargas was 154. He was the first man to ever knock him out, and he did it when the odds were pretty much stacked against him. A Jr. Middleweight vs. a Light Heavyweight and Vargas destroyed him, a man who went the distance with prime fighters such as Jeff Lacy and Kelly Pavlik years later.

I remember Vargas saying for his pro debut that when he looks back at his career when he is retired, he wants to tell himself 'Fernando, you fought the best'. And with names on his resume such as:

Yori Boy Campas
Ross Thompson
Javier Castillejo
Ike Quartey
Oscar De La Hoya
Shane Mosley x2
Raul Marquez
Ricardo Mayorga
Winky Wright
Felix Trinidad

I think it's safe to say he did, win or lose, Vargas came to fight and was never knocked out clean. He always got up, because he is THAT badass and he has got more heart than anybody.

And that's why Fernando Vargas is my favorite of all time and has been for years.

[dde91]

Vargas had a dodgy chin imo. I mean lets be honest he was knocked out by 3 welterweights.

3 of the greatest welterweights of all time.

Trinidad had Middleweight power.
DLH left hook has middle weight power.
Mosley hits like a monster.

At least he lost to the best of our era.

[ragingvic]

I don't know about his potential, but I was never very impressed with Vargas. To this day his biggest win (Wright) was either a Loss or at best a draw in my eyes. And how can we forget the steroid situation.

[Golden Boy 360]

Balanced response from essentially a non-fan. Ironically, voting while using your head and not your heart. He could have learned from you. Lol.

great sig dude.......

[Grand Champ]

Vargas he had more heart and balls than anyone, seriously. He was an excellent boxer/puncher, fearless in the ring. Regardless of his chin, he would still stand toe to toe and trade with some heavy handed fighters.

He fought top guys from a very early age, becoming the youngest Juinor Middleweight Champion in boxing history. Now, I don't care if you turn around and say he lost again De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, Felix Trinidad, Mayorga (Although Vargas was shot). All fights were still competitive except for Mosley II.

A win that is underrated on Vargas' resume is Ross Thompson, whom he knocked out in the 4th round. Thompson came in at 175lbs for that fight, Vargas was 154. He was the first man to ever knock him out, and he did it when the odds were pretty much stacked against him. A Jr. Middleweight vs. a Light Heavyweight and Vargas destroyed him, a man who went the distance with prime fighters such as Jeff Lacy and Kelly Pavlik years later.

I remember Vargas saying for his pro debut that when he looks back at his career when he is retired, he wants to tell himself 'Fernando, you fought the best'. And with names on his resume such as:

Yori Boy Campas
Ross Thompson
Javier Castillejo
Ike Quartey
Oscar De La Hoya
Shane Mosley x2
Raul Marquez
Ricardo Mayorga
Winky Wright
Felix Trinidad

I think it's safe to say he did, win or lose, Vargas came to fight and was never knocked out clean. He always got up, because he is THAT badass and he has got more heart than anybody.

And that's why Fernando Vargas is my favorite of all time and has been for years.

End of Essay.. You can turn in your paper now..!

Nah bro, I feel you..! He's a warrior and you make a lot of valit points.

[rebmogul]

A lot of times, when a fighter, ESPECIALLY a young fighter, has too much of anyting it's a bad thing. When you have too great of a chin, it can damage you. When you have too much power, you can rely on it too much. When you have too much speed, you can work with your reflexes for too long and can cost you down the road. But, in my opinion, the worst thing to have too much of is HEART. Too much fight in you.

That's exactly what Fernando Vargas had. Too much hear.

As an amateur, he went 100-5 and had some incredible credentials. In 1992, he won the 132 lbs. championship in the Junior Olympics. He was a triple crown amateur in 1995, winning the Junior Box-Off, Junior Olympics and International Junior Olympics. He won a bronze at the Pan-Am games. He made the 1996 Olympic team, only to lose a controversial decision in the second round. He was also the youngest to ever win the U.S. Championship.

Once he turned pro at the age of 20, he went on an impressive KO streak that lasted 17 fights, ending with Winky Wright, where he won a majority decision. However, he continued to win and was undefeated up until he fought the great Puerto Rican fighter, Felix Trinidad. He was 19-0 before Tito.

He beat Yori Boy Campas for the title in his 15th pro fight. He was the youngest champion in history, winning a world title at the age of 22 years old. Stopping him and going on to stop Raul Marquez as well. After Winky Wright, he also beat Ike Quartey, even more convincingly than Oscar De La Hoya, in most peoples minds.

His problem was when he was thrown in with the wolves, fighting Felix Trinidad at such a tender age and fighting with his heart and not his brain. Realistically, he's a better BOXER than Trinidad, but during that fight, you couldn't see it. He fought moronically and tried to out punch the puncher.

You must give credit to Vargas for hurting Tito and getting in his shots. However, he tried for the KO too hard, fought with an attitude of 'I'll go out on my shield' and didn't even seem to try and box until it was too late. Though you could make the argument that Trinidad went low on purpose and stopped Fernando's momentum, the fact remains that he fought the wrong fight, regardless.

After Trinidad, he was never the same. He was damaged goods. He had trouble with weight his whole career, but it began to take over. He took a couple of gimmies and then went right for De La Hoya. He did well enough for the first 8 or 9 rounds, but ended up getting stopped in that fight, as well. The effects of the Tito fight showing up, and his heart being too involved in this personal battle. In his last five fights, he went 2-3, beating Raymond Joval, Javier Castillejo and then losing two straight to Shane Mosley, both by stoppage and losing his final fight to Ricardo Mayorga by decision. The only fight he lost in that fashion, way out of his prime.

Here's the sad part. He fought in only 8 title fights, losing his two unification fights with Trinidad and De La Hoya. He had 4 stoppages within his wins. He fought such great competition, so early. Within a span of ten fights, he fought Campas, Marquez, Wright, Quartey, Trinidad and De La Hoya, going 4-2 with the six. He ended his career on a bad note, losing to a much less talented fighter and he had a relatively short career, tracking about ten years.

He could have been so much more if he was just a bit smarter, and moved up just a bit slower. Nonetheless, he gave us a great decade, fought the best and never ducked a man. Say what you want about his 'cheating,' his antics out of the ring, his disrespect of opponents. He was a fight-fans fighter.

Much respect to Fernando Vargas, and much thought into who he could have became.

Vote. Discuss.

his manager, trainer and promoter screwed him and themselves over by putting him in so young w/ a killer like trinidad. vargas should have been at least a superstar and possibly an ATG.

he was kicking oscar's ***** ass until oscar caught him with a lucky left hook......

[BennyST]

He was the youngest champion in history, winning a world title at the age of 22 years old.

Great article mate, but, what do you mean by this? You mean in the 154 division? Because Benitez is the youngest champ in history at 17 years of age.

Edit: Don't worry about the above. I just went and checked myself.

Nonetheless, maybe he is at 154 pounds. It's kind of sad but he had a pretty amazing career anyway, and maybe nothing would have been different even if he had been brought along slower and more carefully.

The fact he beat Quartey, Wright and Campas basically showed that he was more than ready for the elite fighters. He had just beaten three very fine ones after all. I think it was his weight fluctuations that ruined him more Tito.

[BROOKLYN CESAR]

Im a huge fan of Fernando!!! IMO if he had boxed against Tito i might not have taken too much interest in him!!! i mean i always liked him early on but i was a bigger tito fan at the time of there fight!!! even still the heart that he showed in a losing effort made him my fav fighter!!!

As for his career id say it was an 8 almost a 9!!! He mayve never really lived up to his potential too most people but the heart he showed made up for that imo!!! A Coward dies a 1000 deaths Fernando will not have this problem thats for sure!!!

[KostyaTszyu44]

Vargas had a dodgy chin imo. I mean lets be honest he was knocked out by 3 welterweights.

oh come on.....

mosley- former lightweight yes, but carried his power up well, terrific puncher...knocked margarito out

DLH- oscar has always been a strong puncher who was very accurate and sharp with his shots right until the end of his fights

trinidad- need we say more?

and he took a serious amount of punishment in all those fights until they were stopped, he wasnt ever spraked out and stopped by a light puncher

on paper it would seem his chin wasnt that great, but when you dig deeper and take into consideration the men that KO'd him were all heavy punchers (especially trinidad) and he took plenty of blows before they got him out of there, i'd say his chin was fairly good

[rorymac]

A lot of times, when a fighter, ESPECIALLY a young fighter, has too much of anyting it's a bad thing. When you have too great of a chin, it can damage you. When you have too much power, you can rely on it too much. When you have too much speed, you can work with your reflexes for too long and can cost you down the road. But, in my opinion, the worst thing to have too much of is HEART. Too much fight in you.

That's exactly what Fernando Vargas had. Too much hear.

As an amateur, he went 100-5 and had some incredible credentials. In 1992, he won the 132 lbs. championship in the Junior Olympics. He was a triple crown amateur in 1995, winning the Junior Box-Off, Junior Olympics and International Junior Olympics. He won a bronze at the Pan-Am games. He made the 1996 Olympic team, only to lose a controversial decision in the second round. He was also the youngest to ever win the U.S. Championship.

Once he turned pro at the age of 20, he went on an impressive KO streak that lasted 17 fights, ending with Winky Wright, where he won a majority decision. However, he continued to win and was undefeated up until he fought the great Puerto Rican fighter, Felix Trinidad. He was 19-0 before Tito.

He beat Yori Boy Campas for the title in his 15th pro fight. He was the youngest champion in history, winning a world title at the age of 22 years old. Stopping him and going on to stop Raul Marquez as well. After Winky Wright, he also beat Ike Quartey, even more convincingly than Oscar De La Hoya, in most peoples minds.

His problem was when he was thrown in with the wolves, fighting Felix Trinidad at such a tender age and fighting with his heart and not his brain. Realistically, he's a better BOXER than Trinidad, but during that fight, you couldn't see it. He fought moronically and tried to out punch the puncher.

You must give credit to Vargas for hurting Tito and getting in his shots. However, he tried for the KO too hard, fought with an attitude of 'I'll go out on my shield' and didn't even seem to try and box until it was too late. Though you could make the argument that Trinidad went low on purpose and stopped Fernando's momentum, the fact remains that he fought the wrong fight, regardless.

After Trinidad, he was never the same. He was damaged goods. He had trouble with weight his whole career, but it began to take over. He took a couple of gimmies and then went right for De La Hoya. He did well enough for the first 8 or 9 rounds, but ended up getting stopped in that fight, as well. The effects of the Tito fight showing up, and his heart being too involved in this personal battle. In his last five fights, he went 2-3, beating Raymond Joval, Javier Castillejo and then losing two straight to Shane Mosley, both by stoppage and losing his final fight to Ricardo Mayorga by decision. The only fight he lost in that fashion, way out of his prime.

Here's the sad part. He fought in only 8 title fights, losing his two unification fights with Trinidad and De La Hoya. He had 4 stoppages within his wins. He fought such great competition, so early. Within a span of ten fights, he fought Campas, Marquez, Wright, Quartey, Trinidad and De La Hoya, going 4-2 with the six. He ended his career on a bad note, losing to a much less talented fighter and he had a relatively short career, tracking about ten years.

He could have been so much more if he was just a bit smarter, and moved up just a bit slower. Nonetheless, he gave us a great decade, fought the best and never ducked a man. Say what you want about his 'cheating,' his antics out of the ring, his disrespect of opponents. He was a fight-fans fighter.

Much respect to Fernando Vargas, and much thought into who he could have became.

Vote. Discuss.

Just like Naz had too much power.