Fernando Vargas

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Fernando Vargas
File:Vargas2.jpg
Statistics
Real name Fernando Javier Vargas
Nickname(s) El Feroz
The Aztec Warrior
Ferocious
Rated at Light middleweight
Height 178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Reach 187 cm (74 in)
Nationality American
Born (1977-12-07) December 7, 1977 (age 46)
Oxnard, California, United States
Stance Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights 31
Wins 26
Wins by KO 22
Losses 5

Fernando Javier Vargas (born December 7, 1977) is a retired American boxer of Mexican descent and two-time world champion, who won a bronze medal as an amateur at the 1995 Pan American Games in Mar del Plata. His nicknames include "Ferocious",[1] "The Aztec Warrior" and "El Feroz". Vargas was the youngest fighter to become world light middleweight champion at 21 years old in the history of boxing.

Some of Fernando's notable wins include victories over former world champions Raúl Márquez, Yori Boy Campas, Ike Quartey, and over Winky Wright. His losses to Oscar De La Hoya, Félix Trinidad, Shane Mosley, and Ricardo Mayorga remain his only career defeats and he is a favorite of American cable TV giant HBO. He's also known for having problems with alcohol (and to a certain extent, drugs) which have been thought to have affected his career at times.

Fernando is very good friends with Julio César Chávez; Chavez has been part of Vargas' ring entourage in at least two fights (the fight with Trinidad and the fight with De La Hoya). Chavez was also present when Vargas proposed to his wife (and mother of his 3 boys and 1 girl) Martha Lopez Vargas.[citation needed]

Amateur career

In his youth Vargas compiled a remarkable amateur record of 100-5. In 1992, he won the 132 lb. championships at the Junior Olympics Box-Offs, and came in second at the Junior Olympics. In 1993, he captured the triple crown of amateur boxing: the Junior Olympics Box-Offs, the Junior Olympics, and the Junior Olympics International tournament. The following year he solidified his position as one of the premier amateur fighters in the world by winning the 132 lb gold medal at the Olympic Festival, seizing the U.S. Junior Championships at 132 lb, and by becoming the youngest fighter ever to win the U.S. Championships. In 1995, he was selected to the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team.[2]

Vargas lost a controversial decision in the second round of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He was scheduled to turn pro on November 1996, however, while training for his debut bout he broke his right hand. Eager to turn pro and begin his march toward a world championship, Vargas "ferociously" followed his physical therapy program, and within five months he was ready for his professional debut.

Amateur achievements

  • Won the 132-lb Junior Olympics Box-Offs; came in second at the Junior Olympics (1992)
  • Won the Junior Olympics Box-Offs, the Junior Olympics, and the Junior Olympics International tournament (1993)
  • Won the 132-lb Gold Medal at the U.S. Olympic Festival (1994), seizing the U.S. Championships at 132 pounds, becoming the youngest boxer ever to win the U.S. Championships (Seniors).
  • Participated at the 1994 World Junior Championships, losing in the quarter-finals.
  • 1995 Pan American Games Bronze Medalist in Mar Del Plata (ARG)
  • Selected to the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team, defeated Tengiz Meskhadze (Georgia) 10-4, but lost to Marian Simion (Romania) 7-8 in the second bout.[1]

Professional career

In his professional debut on March 25, 1997, Vargas crushed Jorge Morales in just 56 seconds. He quickly beat his next five opponents, spending only eight rounds in his first six bouts. By the time of his first world championship he won all his 14 bouts by knockout. He won his first world title in 1998, knocking out Yori Boy Campas in seven rounds for the IBF light middleweight championship. Vargas successfully defended the title throughout 1999, with victories over Howard Clarke (TKO 4), Raúl Márquez (TKO 11), Winky Wright (MD 12), and Ike Quartey (UD 12).

Trinidad vs. Vargas

Vargas lost the title to Félix Trinidad in 2000. Vargas was knocked down twice in the first round, he was able to fight his way back by knocking down Trinidad in the fourth round until finally being knocked out in the 12th and final round.

Legal Troubles

In 2001 Vargas was sentenced to 90 days in House Arrest stemming from a 1999 assault charge. Vargas and four friends were originally charged with assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit a crime stemming from a July 25, 1999 altercation at a Summerland, California home. The defendants were accused of assaulting Doug Rossi, 23, who had broken up a fight between Vargas and a female friend's ex-boyfriend.

De La Hoya vs. Vargas

  • On September 14, 2002, Vargas surrendered his WBA title to Oscar De La Hoya in a historical light middleweight championship unification showdown that filled the Mandalay Bay Events Center to capacity and sold approximately one million pay-per-view buys.
  • In the early rounds Vargas bullied De La Hoya against the ropes and landed right hands to the head and body; however, in the middle and late rounds Vargas fatigued and De La Hoya's hand speed took over. After hurting Vargas at the end of round 10, De La Hoya dropped Vargas in the next round with a left hook to the head, and stopped him moments later with a flurry at the 1:48 mark of the round.
  • During the mandatory drug testing after the de la Hoya fight, Vargas tested positive for the banned steroid stanozolol better known as Winstrol. Vargas said the steroids were given to him without his knowledge, but he accepted full responsibility. The Nevada Athletic Commission announced on November 20 of 2002 that it would fine Vargas $100,000 because of his use of steroids. Fernando Vargas was suspended for nine months.

On the comeback trail

Despite these problems, Fernando remained an accessible and popular celebrity, known for signing many autographs. After his knockout win over Fitz Vanderpool on July 26, 2003, he stood in a corner and yelled "I love you guys!" to his fans. Vargas continued his comeback, on December 12, with a seventh round knockout of Tony Marshall that was shown live nationwide from Tucson, on Telemundo. During that fight, Vargas injured a disc in his back, and his doctor recommended surgery, but Vargas chose to rehabilitate his back himself without having the procedure. This caused him to spend almost two years in inactivity, but, on March 26, 2005 he returned to boxing with a ten round unanimous decision win over Ray Joval in Corpus Christi, Texas.

On August 20, 2005, he returned to the boxing ring to fight fellow former world light middleweight champion Javier Castillejo of Spain. Vargas dropped Castillejo in the third round, but he apparently broke his right hand and went on to win by a ten round unanimous decision.

Mosley vs. Vargas I & II

On February 25, 2006, Vargas once again returned to the ring to face fellow Southern California boxer Sugar Shane Mosley. In a tightly contested battle, Vargas' left eye became grotesquely swollen and referee Joe Cortez decided to stop the fight in the 10th round to minimize further damage, granting a technical knockout (TKO) victory to Mosley. The reasoning behind the stoppage, explained Nevada State Athletic Commission czar Marc Ratner, was that the referee and the fight doctor deemed that Vargas was unable to defend himself adequately against Mosley's right-hand shots. At the time of the stoppage, two judges had Mosley winning the fight 86-85. One judge had Vargas winning the fight 86-85. Fightnews.com had the bout scored 86-85 for Mosley. In the post fight press conference, Vargas made it clear that he would resume his boxing career and stated that a rematch with Mosley should be in order because the match was stopped on a technicality. ESPN boxing expert Dan Rafael wrote: "Vargas is so utterly delusional about what actually happened in his first fight with Mosley that we think he might have a concussion. When will he stop lying to himself -- and when will his team stop going along with him? He needs to admit that: (a) The swelling around his eye was caused by a clean punch, not a headbutt; and (b) He was not winning the fight when it was stopped in the 10th round."

In their highly anticipated July 15, 2006 rematch, Vargas was stopped in the 6th round via TKO. When the sixth round began, Mosley landed a huge left hook that sent Vargas crashing to the canvas. Vargas rolled over onto all fours and was unsteady, but after stumbling twice he finally beat referee Kenny Bayless' count. Moments later, Mosley unleashed another flurry as Vargas could only protect his face, and the referee stopped the fight at 2:38 as a beaten and disoriented Vargas staggered back to his corner.

Showdown with Ricardo Mayorga

It was confirmed on May 13, 2007 that Vargas would face Ricardo Mayorga on September 8, 2007, on Showtime PPV for the vacant WBC Continental Americas super middleweight title. However the fight was postponed after it was discovered during a routine blood test that Vargas was suffering from a severe iron deficiency. Doctors ordered Vargas not to participate in the upcoming bout until he received the necessary weeks of treatment to correct the problem. When the bout eventually took place it would be fought at 162 pounds, a weight that neither boxer has ever fought at. Many sources claim that Vargas had complained about fighting at the Jr. Middleweight limit of 154 pounds, stating that it's "too much for his body to take". Vargas has stated that fighting at that weight was the reason he did poorly against Mosley in the second fight.[3]

Vargas claimed that this would be the last fight of his career regardless of the result. He warned Mayorga that he would not tolerate any insults from him like the ones he hurled at Oscar De La Hoya in their press conferences. Vargas stayed true to his promise when at the first official press conference for the fight, Mayorga said some offensive things towards Vargas and attempted to slap him. Vargas immediately jumped up from his seat and retaliated with punches and a brawl broke out between the two fighters' camps, though order was quickly restored. Vargas also recalled the time when Mayorga said Vargas was scared of him when he had defeated Javier Castillejo, then was stripped of his WBC light middleweight title rather than face Mayorga, who then defeated Michele Piccirillo for the vacant title. Ultimately the contestants faced off, and Mayorga defeated Vargas by majority decision on November 23, 2007. The scores were 113-113, 114-112, and 115-111. Crucially, Vargas was knocked down in the 1st round and again in the 11th round. Post-fight Ricardo Mayorga apologized to Vargas and the two forgave each other. Vargas officially declared his retirement soon after.

Return To Ring in 2011

It was confirmed that after a three-year hiatus, former world champion Fernando Vargas would return to the boxing ring against super middleweight Henry Buchanan on April 16, 2011 at Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas. However, the fight was cancelled for unknown reasons.[4]

Professional record

26 Wins (22 knockouts), 5 Losses (4 knockouts), 0 Draw
Res. Record Opponent Type Rd., Time Date Location Notes
Loss 26–5 Nicaragua Ricardo Mayorga MD 12 2007-11-23 United States Staples Center, Los Angeles, California For vacant WBC Continental Americas (Super) Middleweight title.
Loss 26–4 United States Shane Mosley KO 6 (12), 2:38 2006-07-15 United States MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
Loss 26–3 United States Shane Mosley TKO 10 (12), 2:34 2006-02-25 United States Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada WBA Light Middleweight Eliminator.
Win 26–2 Spain Javier Castillejo UD 10 2005-08-20 United States Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois
Win 25–2 Netherlands Raymond Joval UD 10 2005-03-26 United States American Bank Center, Corpus Christi, Texas
Win 24–2 Guyana Tony Marshall TKO 7 (10), 3:00 2003-12-12 United States Casino Del Sol, Tucson, Arizona
Win 23–2 Trinidad and Tobago Fitz Vanderpool TKO 6 (10), 2:36 2003-07-26 United States Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California
Loss 22–2 United States Oscar De La Hoya TKO 11 (12), 1:48 2002-09-14 United States Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada For WBC & WBA (Super) Light Middleweight titles.
Win 22–1 Mexico Jose Alfredo Flores KO 7 (12), 2:59 2001-09-22 United States Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada Won vacant WBA Light Middleweight title.
Win 21–1 Puerto Rico Wilfredo Rivera TKO 6 (10), 0:39 2001-05-05 United States Don Haskins Center, El Paso, Texas Vargas down in round 2.
Loss 20–1 Puerto Rico Félix Trinidad TKO 12 (12), 1:33 2000-12-02 United States Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada Lost IBF Light Middleweight title.
Win 20–0 United States Ross Thompson TKO 4 (12), 1:07 2000-08-26 United States Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada Retained IBF Light Middleweight title.
Win 19–0 Ghana Ike Quartey UD 12 2000-04-15 United States Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada Retained IBF Light Middleweight title.
Win 18–0 United States Winky Wright MD 12 1999-12-04 United States Chinook Winds Casino Resort, Lincoln City, Oregon Retained IBF Light Middleweight title.
Win 17–0 United States Raúl Márquez TKO 11 (12), 2:00 1999-07-17 United States Caesars Tahoe, Stateline, Nevada Retained IBF Light Middleweight title.
Win 16–0 United Kingdom Howard Clarke TKO 4 (12), 2:29 1999-03-13 United States Madison Square Garden, New York, New York Retained IBF Light Middleweight title.
Win 15–0 Mexico Luis Ramon Campas RTD 7 (12), 3:00 1998-12-12 United States Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City, New Jersey Won IBF Light Middleweight title.
Win 14–0 United States Darren Maciunski TKO 6 (10), 2:57 1998-08-22 United States Atlantic City Convention Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Win 13–0 United States Anthony Stephens TKO 5 (10), 2:33 1998-06-23 United States The Blue Horizon, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Win 12–0 United States Ron Johnson TKO 4 (10), 2:40 1998-05-09 United States Arco Arena, Sacramento, California
Win 11–0 United States Romallis Ellis TKO 2 (10), 1:56 1998-04-14 United States Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, Connecticut
Win 10–0 United States Dan Connolly TKO 2 (10), 0:40 1998-03-13 United States Miccosukee Resort & Gaming, Miami, Florida
Win 9–0 Mexico Eduardo Martinez KO 2 (8) 1997-12-13 United States Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, Connecticut
Win 8–0 United States Jose Miguel Fernandez TKO 1 (8) 1997-11-22 United States Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Win 7–0 Cuba Alex Quiroga TKO 6 (8), 2:53 1997-10-04 United States Caesars Atlantic City, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Win 6–0 United States Kevin Payne TKO 1 (4), 1:47 1997-08-19 United States Austin Convention Center , Austin, Texas
Win 5–0 United States Eugene Lopez KO 1 (6), 1:42 1997-07-12 United States Caesars Tahoe, Stateline, Nevada
Win 4–0 United States Jim Maloney KO 1 (6) 1997-06-20 United States Bally's Park Place, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Win 3–0 United States Bill Burden KO 2 (6), 2:29 1997-06-07 United States Arco Arena, Sacramento, California
Win 2–0 United States Claude Staten TKO 2 (4), 1:24 1997-04-26 United States Atlantic City Convention Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Win 1–0 Mexico Jorge Morales KO 1 (4), 0:56 1997-03-25 United States Oxnard Civic Auditorium, Oxnard, California

Acting career

Vargas had a role in the Crime Drama film Alpha Dog where he played Tiko "TKO" Martinez.

Reality television series

In 2014, Vargas and his family became the subjects of a reality show on Mun2 television station, Welcome to Los Vargas.[5] He also participated, alongside Judith Grace, Maripily and Pedro Rivera; and Sissi Fleitas, among others, in the Telemundo reality contest, Top Chef Celebrity.[6]

Title History

Preceded by IBF Light Middleweight Champion
12 December 1998–2 December 2000
Succeeded by
Félix Trinidad
Preceded by WBA Light Middleweight Champion
September 22, 2001– September 14, 2002
Lost bid for super title
Succeeded by
Santiago Samaniego
Interim champ promoted to regular
Succeeded by
Oscar De La Hoya
as Super Champion

See also

References

External links