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De La Hoya Teaches Vargas a Lesson
By Doug Fischer (September 14, 2002)
First 2 Photos Chris Farina / TopRank
Last 2 Photos © Tom Hogan

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LAS VEGAS, Sept. 14th — That old Oscar De La Hoya magic is still there, and the sport of boxing might have a chance return to some of its former glory after all. De La Hoya, the one fighter who transcends the fight game (in a positive manner), is back and he says he's taking on the best in the sport for as long as he decides to stay in this brutal business.

In typical dramatic fashion, De La Hoya, now 35-2 (28), withstood a punishing assault from Fernando Vargas over the first five rounds of their see-saw battle before a sold-out crowd at the Mandalay Bay Events Center to storm back in the late rounds to stun, drop and overwhelm his Southern California rival one minute and 48 seconds into the 11th round. Judges Paul Smith and Doug Tucker had De La Hoya ahead 96-94 at the time of the stoppage; judge Patricia Jarman-Manning had Vargas ahead 97-94. MaxBoxing.com had the bout even, 95-95, after 10 rounds.

The victory was a strong statement from De La Hoya, who unified the WBC and WBA 154-pound titles, but more importantly won universal recognition as the junior middleweight champion of the world from The Ring magazine and the majority of fight fans. To stop Vargas, now 22-2 (20), De La Hoya had to prove that he was every bit as tough as the Oxnard, California native, as well as the better boxer over the championship distance.

Since turning pro in '96, Vargas had angled for a showdown with De La Hoya and never missed an opportunity to disrespect the Golden Boy in the media, challenging everything about De La Hoya from his Mexican heritage to his manhood.

After the fight, De La Hoya said in Spanish that he dedicated the fight "to the Mexican people and to his wife" and he added that he "taught [Vargas] a lesson". It was a brutal lesson. Vargas was taken to a nearby hospital for precautionary measures immediately after the fight and was not able to attend the post-fight press conference.

Both fighters learned something in Saturday night's fight.

If De La Hoya took this fight thinking Vargas was damaged goods, he thought wrong. If Vargas thought De La Hoya was not a real junior middleweight — or worse, some kind of a sissy — he was dead wrong.

Although the loss has to be the most crushing moment in Vargas's life, the fight — which was reminiscent of some of the dramatic clashes between Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns and Roberto Duran during the '80s — is a victory for boxing. After a year of postponements and close, controversial decisions, boxing needed a great fight with a definitive conclusion. It needed a star to emerge.

Boxing has a real star with De La Hoya, at least for a few more fights. De La Hoya's promoter Bob Arum said the short list of future opponents include Felix Trinidad (should the Puerto Rican idol decide to end his recent retirement), Shane Mosley (the only man to decisively beat the Golden Boy), and perhaps even Vargas in what would be a highly anticipated rematch (after a year or so has gone by).

De La Hoya and Arum also said they are open to the challenges of IBF 154-pound titlist Ronald "Winky" Wright and world welterweight champion Vernon Forrest, but only after the dangerous duo fight a few interim bouts against Hispanic fighters (read Arum's boxers) to raise their profile in that important market. Arum even mentioned world middleweight champ Bernard Hopkins as a final bout for De La Hoya before mulit-division champ calls it a career.

But enough about the future. Right here, right now, boxing witnessed one a hell of a fight.

Vargas, egged on by loud chants of his name by a surprisingly pro-Feroz crowd, took the first round after landing a counter body shot that caused De La Hoya to stumble against the ropes. Vargas instinctively pounced on De La Hoya, punishing the object of his obsession with a number of heavy blows, most of which were partially blocked (but not all of them). De La Hoya sported a scuffed up right cheek after the barrage, but he smiled at the angry young man after the bell.

De La Hoya opened the second round with a necessary hard hook to re-establish respect. Vargas landed a counter right in return, prompting De La Hoya to use his legs to box in and out, zipping quick-but-light combinations.

At this point, De La Hoya's jab was his best punch. Vargas found a home for his straight right, which he landed to the body near the end of the round, causing De La Hoya to backpedal.

In the third and fourth rounds both fighters attacked the body, although Vargas's punches seemed to have more steam. At this point, Vargas was almost as fast and De La Hoya and his timing also seemed to be more on point. De La Hoya wisely used his legs to avoid Vargas's follow up punches. The busier, sharper jab of De La Hoya kept Vargas at bay for the most part, but the bigger man's sporadic jab snapped the veteran's head back.

In these early rounds, De La Hoya often took the lead in exchanges, while Vargas was content to lay back and wait to counter with harder punches. At the end of the fourth round, Vargas was hurt by a wicked left hook to the body followed by a left uppercut-right hand combination. In the fifth round, the two combatants went tit for tat, trading powerful lead right hands, but the round ended with De La Hoya, again, finding himself pressed and punished along the ropes.

It was a competitve fight, but the consistent pressure and naturally heavier hands of Vargas gave him a decided edge after five rounds (the MaxBoxing score card had it 4-1 in rounds for Vargas, scoring only the fourth round for De La Hoya, although the second could have gone either way). At this point, Vargas was proving that he could be just as smart and calculating as the media darling, and De La Hoya was showing the young man that behind his golden smile beats the heart of a true champion, one who is as tough and gritty as any of the old timers who came before both men.

Over the next four rounds, De La Hoya would exhibit a near perfect blend of both heart and savvy as he gradually wore down the tiring Vargas with an effective jab (which opened a nasty cut under his right eye) and quick inside hooks. A counter right that landed a split second after the bell sounded to end the sixth was harbinger of things to come for Vargas. Although Vargas took the punch well, he was not able to effectively stalk De La Hoya in the following rounds.

Bouncing on his toes, hands at his side, De La Hoya lured Vargas in and then bounced right hand after right hand off the younger man's stubborn skull in rounds seven and eight. Vargas was unable to get off, cut off the ring or close the gap. But the fight was still on. In the ninth, Vargas landed two hard rights to De La Hoya's body, pressing his elusive foe enough to take the round. However, De La Hoya resumed control in the 10th, working everything off his sharp jab, which he doubled and tripled up — counter hooks, body shots and straight rights. All Vargas could do was absorb the punishment and continue to come forward.

Perhaps sensing that Vargas has run out of gas (and perhaps ideas), De La Hoya seized the moment (and the fight) before the end of the 10th with a Sugar Ray Leonard-esque shoe-shine combination to the body that was immediately followed by a quick left hook that stunned Vargas in a manner that was reminiscent of his disasterous first round against Trinidad. Vargas struggled to maintain his balance as he stumbled back to his corner.

The fight was over at this point, and De La Hoya — veteran champion that he is — knew it.

The electricity in the Events Center was tangible at the start of the 11th round. Vargas sleepily, stubbornly lunged at De La Hoya (in much the same way he pressed forward against Trinidad in the 12th round of their classic battle in the same venue), while De La Hoya watched and waited for just the right moment — BOOM!

A lightening bolt of a left hook dropped Vargas hard on his back. The young warrior struggled to his feet but was thoroughly dominated by De La Hoya, who backed him into a corner and forced referee Joe Cortez to step in and end the fight after a blinding flurry of straight punches landed with deadly accuracy.

It was sudden. It was electric. It was dramatic. It was brutal. It was beautiful. It was boxing at its best.

A lot of attention was paid to the differences between the two Mexican-American boxers during the obligatory pre-fight hype to "Bad Blood", but now that both men have given their all to provide boxing fans with a spectacular fight maybe the public can recognize some similarities between the two Southern California natives.

Both men are professionals in the ring. Both men are born warriors. Both men have lived up to the rich boxing tradition of their Mexican heritage.

Both have that special, almost magical quality, that enablees them to pull out victories late in tough fights. De La Hoya did so versus Ike Quartey. Vargas did so against Ronald Wright. This past Saturday night, Oscar De La Hoya had more magic than Fernando Vargas.

ON THE UNDERCARD

Junior welterweight prospect Miguel Cotto improved to 12-0 (9) with a lop-sided unanimous decision over veteran John Brown, who fell to 23-10 (11). Brown was game as usual, but the former title challenger at 130 and 135 pounds was too small (and perhaps too old) to contend with the bigger, stronger, and faster man.

Cotto punished the smaller man with hard jabs and hooks, and debilitating body shots throughout the 10-round contest.

Nate Campbell improved to 22-0 (20) with a crushing third-round knockout of Daniel Alicea to capture the NABF 130-pound title (to go along with NABA belt he already owns). Campell, who forced a standing eight count in the second round with a concentrated body attack, ended the bout with an over-the-top counter right that put Alicea, now 27-5-2 (20) on his back so hard that the Puerto Rican bounced off the canvas.

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