| Fernando Vargas | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Real name | Fernando Vargas |
| Nickname(s) | The Aztec Warrior Ferocious Fernando El Feroz |
| Rated at | Light middleweight |
| Height | 5′ 10″ / 178cm |
| Reach | 70″ / 178cm |
| Nationality | American |
| Born | December 7, 1977 Oxnard, California, United States |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 31 |
| Wins | 26 |
| Wins by KO | 22 |
| Losses | 5 |
Fernando Vargas (born December 7, 1977) is a retired Mexican American boxer 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", "The Aztec Warrior" and "El Feroz". Vargas was the youngest fighter to become world light middleweight champion until fellow Mexican Saul Alvarez won the vacant WBC belt in March 2011.
Some of Fernando's notable wins include victories over former world champions Raúl Márquez, Ike Quartey and Winky Wright. His losses to Félix Trinidad, Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley and Ricardo Mayorga remain his only career defeats and he is a favorite of American cable TV giant HBO.
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.
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Vargas was born in Oxnard, California. In his youth, Vargas trained by Eduardo Garcia at the popular La Colonia Youth Boxing Club in the Colonia neighborhood of Oxnard.[1] Fernando Vargas compiled an extraordinary 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.
Vargas lost a controversial decision in the second round of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Disappointed, but undaunted, Vargas set his sights on achieving greatness in the professional ranks.
Vargas 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.
In his professional debut on March 25, 1997, Vargas crushed Jorge Morales in just 56 seconds. Immediately, a star was born. Fernando blasted his next five opponents all within two rounds, eliminating four of his five challengers in one round each. After six professional bouts, Vargas had fought a total of only eight rounds. Vargas racked up an impressive record of 14 victories with 14 KOs against no defeats by the time he fought for his first world championship.
Vargas 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).
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.
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.
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.
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 self proclaimed 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.
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.[2]
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.
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.[3]
| 26 Wins (22 knockouts), 5 Losses, 0 Draw | |||||||
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Type | Rd., Time | Date | Location | Notes |
| Loss | 26-5 | Ricardo Mayorga | MD | 12 (12) | November 23, 2007 | Staples Center, Los Angeles, California | For vacant WBC Continental Americas super middleweight title. |
| Loss | 26-4 | Shane Mosley | KO | 6 (12), (2:38) | July 15, 2006 | MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada | |
| Loss | 26-3 | Shane Mosley | TKO | 10 (12), (2:34) | February 25, 2006 | Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada | WBA light middleweight Title Eliminator. |
| Win | 26-2 | Javier Castillejo | UD | 10 (10) | August 20, 2005 | Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois | |
| Win | 25-2 | Raymond Joval | UD | 10 (10) | March 26, 2005 | American Bank Center, Corpus Christi, Texas | |
| Win | 24-2 | Tony Marshall | TKO | 7 (10), (3:00) | December 12, 2003 | Casino Del Sol, Tucson, Arizona | |
| Win | 23-2 | Fitz Vanderpool | TKO | 6 (10), (2:36) | July 26, 2003 | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California | |
| Loss | 22-2 | Oscar De La Hoya | TKO | 11 (12), (1:48) | September 14, 2002 | Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada | For WBC & WBA (Super) light middleweight titles. |
| Win | 22-1 | Jose Alfredo Flores | KO | 7 (12), (2:59) | September 22, 2001 | Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada | Won vacant WBA light middleweight title. |
| Win | 21-1 | Wilfredo Rivera | TKO | 6 (10), (0:39 ) | May 5, 2001 | Don Haskins Convention Center, El Paso, Texas | |
| Loss | 20-1 | Felix Trinidad | TKO | 12 (12), (1:33) | December 2, 2000 | Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada | Lost IBF light middleweight title. For WBA light middleweight title. |
| Win | 20-0 | Ross Thompson | TKO | 4 (12), (1:07) | August 26, 2000 | Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada | IBF Light Middleweight Title. |
| Win | 19-0 | Ike Quartey | UD | 12 (12) | April 15, 2000 | Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada | IBF Light Middleweight Title. |
| Win | 18-0 | Winky Wright | MD | 12 (12) | December 4, 1999 | Chinook Winds Casino, Lincoln City, Oregon | IBF Light Middleweight Title. |
| Win | 17-0 | Raul Marquez | TKO | 11 (12), (2:00) | July 17, 1999 | Caesars Tahoe, Stateline, Nevada | IBF Light Middleweight Title. |
| Win | 16-0 | Howard Clarke | TKO | 4 (12), (2:29) | March 13, 1999 | Madison Square Garden, New York, New York | IBF Light Middleweight Title. |
| Win | 15-0 | Luis Ramon Campas | RTD | 7 (12), (3:00) | December 12, 1998 | Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City, New Jersey | Won IBF Light Middleweight Title. |
Vargas had a role in the Crime Drama film Alpha Dog where he played Poncho "TKO La Chula" Mireles.
| Preceded by Yory Boy Campas |
IBF Light Middleweight Champion 12 December 1998–2 December 2000 |
Succeeded by Félix Trinidad |
| Preceded by Félix Trinidad |
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 |