The Remarkable Career of “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas

Published

4 years ago

March 21, 2020

The Remarkable Career of “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas

Back in the 90s the sport of prizefighting in Southern California was centered in the major cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego.

Along came a small group of aspiring boxers including a fiery youngster named Fernando Vargas who hailed from Oxnard, California.

“Top of the food chain baby!” was the rallying cry of Vargas and others.

Vargas simply stood out among the others from the farming community of Oxnard. He quickly rose up the ranks in a weight division not common for Mexican-Americans and became an Olympian and later a super welterweight world champion as a pro.

He also was tabbed by the nickname “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas, a moniker he earned throughout his boxing career. Last week the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame added Vargas name to their honored list.

“It’s a tremendous honor,” Vargas said.

When he was a youngster in junior high he admitted to having a quick-trigger when it came to unleashing those quick fists.

“I wasn’t a bully but if somebody wanted something I wouldn’t hesitate,” said Vargas via phone in Las Vegas.

After a junior high suspension, he was forced to stay home and by accident, or serendipity, the fiery youngster happened to see a TV news clip of youngsters boxing in Oxnard. He didn’t know fighting was allowed or even practiced. He wanted to be a part of it so he hunted it down and discovered the gym three miles away from his home.

“I walked there every day three miles,” said Vargas. “I never missed a day.”

The fighter quickly became part of the Garcia clan that was sparking interest in Oxnard boxing. The head of the family, Eduardo Garcia, quickly became the father figure of Vargas and taught him the rudiments of boxing.

“He’s my jefe and will always be my jefe,” said Vargas. “He has always been like a father to me.”

La Colonia Gym

It was either 1993 or 1994 when a Los Angeles Times reporter was sent to investigate a boxing club that was making noise in Southern California. It was unusual to hear that several boxers from the Ventura County area were slicing through boxing competition in the amateur levels. One boxer, Robert Garcia, was considered a prize prospect in the professional ranks and had been signed by Top Rank promotions.

While interviewing Garcia, the reporter was urged to talk to a youngster, Fernando Vargas, who was blowing by competition in the amateurs. It was the first time I met him; he was about 16 years old at the time.

“He is really good, he’s going to do things,” said Garcia that day of Vargas.

We shook hands and Vargas resumed his training. There were about two dozen youngsters training outside because the new La Colonia Gym was being built.

By 1996, Vargas was making headway in the national amateur boxing scene and after fierce competition captured a position on the USA Olympic Boxing team. Though the Oxnard youngster did not win a medal in the Atlanta Olympics due to strange scoring, he was primed and ready for the professional ranks.

“We were always taught the pro style, not that pitty-pat stuff,” said Vargas. “We were taught to throw three and four-punch combinations and nothing more than that. Once in a while maybe five but all of our punches connected.”

It was that pro style that first enabled Robert Garcia to win the first world title by an Oxnard fighter in March 1998. Vargas soon followed by capturing the second world title by stoppage against Mexico’s Yory Boy Campas in December 1998. Vargas had just turned 21 years old. He was the youngest fighter to win a super welterweight title.

Campas was a revered Mexican warrior and the victory by Vargas sent shockwaves through the boxing community. But for Vargas his sweetest victory took place seven months later against Raul Marquez in the Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

“I was at my best against Raul Marquez. I don’t know how to describe it but I never felt better before a fight. Everything was working, even during training things were perfect. I made weight easy and felt good during that fight,” said Vargas. “I walked in there feeling I could not be beat. I felt invincible.”

He defeated Marquez by technical knockout in the 11^th round and then out-battled Winky Wright to win by majority decision. At the time, few knew the abilities of Wright and a few skeptics arose doubting Vargas’ talent. In his next fight, the doubters would be silenced.

Bigger Game

One man feared in the welterweight and super welterweight division was Ghana’s human battering ram Ike “Bazooka” Quartey. He had just faced Oscar De La Hoya and lost a back and forth battle with the East L.A. fighter but had raised his profile as a dangerous foe for anyone.

Vargas accepted a fight with Quartey.

Instead of seeking easy opposition, the fiery Vargas sought out fights that his rapidly growing legion of fans preferred. Quartey fit that prerequisite perfectly. He was avoided, feared and had only lost once to a fighter widely respected. Vargas wanted that respect too.

A crowded arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino awaited them on April 15, 2000. Fans for both packed the seats for the IBF super welterweight title clash in Las Vegas. The Oxnard fighter’s eagerness to prove his mettle quickly gained him admiration and a quickly growing legion of “El Feroz” rabid fans. The loud and boisterous Vargas fans arrived in droves and made their presence known.

But could Vargas defeat Quartey?

Though Vargas was known as a boxer-puncher he seemed to prefer slugging it out. All of those watching on television and those in the arena expected a battle of machismo, but instead Vargas showcased his polished ability to box and give angles against Quartey’s seek and destroy style. It also proved the Oxnard fighter was more than just a slugger, but a skilled warrior capable of sustaining a disciplined attack for 12 tense rounds. Vargas won by unanimous decision to the joy of his fans.

Parties erupted all over Las Vegas that night wherever fans of “El Feroz” gathered. In the coming weeks celebrations were still taking place including a planned bash in Montebello, California. Vargas and his crew arrived and the partying continued.

Vargas fans were drunk with pride at his victory. Who would be next?

Tito

One of the biggest names in boxing was Felix “Tito” Trinidad who had defeated De La Hoya by majority decision in September 1999 and followed that up by moving into the super welterweight division. Knockout wins over David Reid and Mamadou Thiam gained the popular Puerto Rican slugger the WBA super welterweight title. It was a perfect match for Vargas who held the IBF version.

Both champions met at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on December 2, 2000 before a raucous packed arena. Puerto Rican and Mexican flags were scattered throughout the stands. Vargas fans were confident as were Trinidad’s.

Vargas, 22, was just days before turning 23 and was the natural super welterweight. Trinidad was 27-years-old and in his prime when he stepped in the boxing ring for their unification bash.

It was a horrible start for Vargas who was dropped twice before the first minute of the first round by Trinidad’s vaunted left hook. The Puerto Rican celebrated after the second knockdown thinking the fight was over. It was far from over, as Vargas showed that tremendous heart he was famous for.

“I came back and I knocked him down and he hit me in the balls. It was f****n crazy but I gave everything that I had in me and left everything in the ring,” said Vargas.

After six rounds the Oxnard fighter had managed to pull even with a furious and ferocious counter-attack including a knockdown of the Puerto Rican champion. It looked like Vargas had pulled out a miracle. But those knockdowns and the persistent attack by Trinidad saw the fight tip in his favor and in the 12^th and final round Trinidad connected again with that lethal left hook and down went Vargas three more times before the fight was stopped. Trinidad had defeated Vargas.

“To this day I don’t even remember that fight after the first knockdown,” said Vargas. “My wife told me I had been knocked down five downs and I said what? I only remember one knockdown.”

Regardless of the loss Vargas remained a fan favorite because of his willingness to fight the best and do it with guts. Hardcore fight fans loved his style and throughout his career his fans remained loyal and devoted. He was a true warrior and for many boxing lovers that’s what prizefighting is all about.

Today, Vargas owns a gym in Las Vegas and has three sons competing in the amateur boxing program. All three sons are outstanding boxers and groomed to fight in a style similar to his own.

“I teach my sons to be able to fight a variety of styles and not be just one dimensional,” said Vargas whose sons are named Fernando Jr. Emiliano and Amado. “That’s how you get beat.”

At his gym called the Feroz Fight Factory in North Las Vegas, several dozen youngsters train regularly. It’s one of the premier gyms in the new Mecca of boxing Las Vegas.

Vargas was one of the primary reasons for the resurgence of boxing in not only Southern California but the entire southwestern region of the U.S. All fans of boxing remember “El Feroz.”

When the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame announced the selection of this year’s class of 2020 many fans applauded the choice of Fernando Vargas. The induction ceremony is scheduled to take place on August 7^th and 8^th at the Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas.

“Aw man, it was a blessing. I’m grateful I did some things in the sport to be inducted. I was humbled and to be enshrined with the likes of Roberto Duran, Mike Tyson, Thomas Hearns and Oscar De La Hoya is truly a blessing,” said Vargas.

And for those who forget Vargas and where he came from, just remember his war cry: “Top of the food chain. Oxnard stand up.”

Welcome Fernando Vargas to the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame.

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David A. Avila

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Fast-Rising Omar Trinidad KOs Slavinskyi at the Commerce Casino

Published

5 hours ago

July 26, 2024

David A. Avila

Fast-Rising-Omar-Trinidad-KOs-Slavinskyi-at-the-Commerce-Casino

East L.A.’s Omar Trinidad knocked out Ukraine’s Viktor Slavinskyi to retain the WBC Continental America’s featherweight title on Friday in a strategic but entertaining contest.

Fighting in front of frenzied crowd of supporters Trinidad (16-0-1, 13 KOs) defeated southpaw Slavinskyi (15-3-1, 7 KOs) with a measured and careful attack at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif.

Fans familiar with Trinidad (pictured over the right shoulder of promoter Tom Loeffler) are familiar with his aggressive pressure fighting style, but the Boyle Heights pugilist took a careful approach against Slavinskyi. Instead of a pounding assault Trinidad kept the fight at a distance and used his reach advantage to perfection.

It was reminiscent of long-armed fighters of the past like the late great Mando Ramos of the late 1960s who could punch or box. Pick your poison.

Trinidad employed a constant jab and well-placed counter shots. The right hand, in particular, was especially effective.

“I couldn’t miss with the right,” said Trinidad

For seven rounds Trinidad dominated with counter-punching. Then, Slavinskyi increased the pressure and forced the East L.A. fighter to come along. He did.

“If I could get a knockout I’d put him in the blender,” Trinidad said.

From the eighth round until the end Trinidad engaged in his usual fast and furious style and was especially effective with uppercuts in ninth round. Slavinskyi walked into a right uppercut that sent him across the ring and into the ropes. Referee Ray Corona ruled it a knockdown.

In the final round Trinidad wasted no time in looking to unload with an uppercut and Slavinskyi walked into a right hand version. There was no escape as he was ruled unable to continue by Corona at 2:31 of the 10^th and final round.

Trinidad keeps the title.

“The left hook and right uppercut was the money shot,” said Trinidad. “It was well-timed and it was a money shot.”

Welterweights

A fight between buddies from the same Armenian amateur team saw Aram Amirkhanyun (16-0-1, 4 KOs) defeat Gor Yeritsyan (18-1, 14 KOs) by split decision after 10 hard-fought rounds in a welterweight fight for a regional title.

The judges scored it 96-94 Yeritsyan and 96-94 twice for Amirkhanyun. No knockdowns were scored.

Iyana “Right Hook Roxy” Verduzco (2-0) proved that adapting into a pro style was not a problem in soundly defeating Pittsburgh’s Colleen Davis (3-2-1) after six featherweight rounds. Her best weapon was accuracy.

Verduzco, who is trained by her mother Gloria Alvarado, had been one of the most decorated amateur boxers for many years. In just her second pro fight the tell-tale signs of the amateur style were gone.

While the taller Davis circled rapidly to the left, Verduzco calmly waited for the openings and blasted away with pinpoint shots to the body and head. Her right hook was deadly accurate and the left found openings whenever they appeared.

Davis was able to land rights but just not enough to offset the incoming fire from the Southern California fighter. After six rounds all three judges scored it 60-54 for Verduzco.

In a firefight, Abel Mejia (5-0, 4 KOs) barely survived a second round knockdown against Tijuana’s rugged Jose Correa (6-10, 4 KOs) and rallied to remain relevant in the super featherweight match. In the fourth and final round Mejia beat Correa to the punch with a left hook that knocked out the tough Mexican challenger at 55 seconds as referee Ray Corona stopped the fight.

A super featherweight fight saw Hawaii’s Jaybrio Pe Benito (5-0, 4 KOs) power past Texan Michael Land (1-5-1) for a knockout win at 1:30 of the second round. Benito was too powerful and busy for Land who tried but was unable to slow down the assault.

Photo credit: Lina Baker

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 289: East LA, Claressa Shields and More

Published

2 days ago

July 25, 2024

David A. Avila

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 289: East LA, Claressa Shields and More

East Los Angeles has long been a haven for some of the best fighters around if you can keep them out of trouble. For every Oscar De La Hoya or Seniesa Estrada there are thousands derailed by crime, drugs or drinking.

Boxing has always been a favorite sport of East L.A. Every family has an uncle or two who boxes.

On Friday, 360 Promotions’ Omar Trinidad (15-0-1) fights Viktor Slavinskyi (15-2-1) in the main event at Commerce Casino, in Commerce, CA. UFC Fight Pass will stream the fight card.

The City of Commerce used to be part of East L.A. until 1960 when it incorporated. It’s still considered to be part of East Los Angeles, but informally.

Plenty of fighters come out of East L.A. but few make it all the way like De La Hoya and Estrada. Will Trinidad be the one?

The first world champion from East L.A. or “East Los” as some call it, was Solly Garcia Smith back in the late 1800s. Others were Richie Lemos, Art Frias and Joey Olivo. There is also 1984 Olympic gold medalist Paul Gonzalez.

Once again 360 Promotions brings its popular brand of fights to the area. On this fight card includes two female bouts. One features Roxy Verduzco (1-0) the former amateur star fighting Colleen Davis (3-1-1) in a featherweight fight.

All that action takes place on Friday.

Elite Boxing

The next day, also in East L.A., Elite Boxing stages another boxing card at Salesian High School located at 960 S. Soto Street in the Boyle Heights area of East Los Angeles.

Elite Boxing has promoted several successful boxing cards at the Catholic high school grounds. The area is saturated by many of the best eateries in Los Angeles. Don’t take my word for it. Check it out yourself and grab some of that delicious food.

Boxing has long been a favorite sport of anyone who lives in East L.A. It’s a fight town equal to Philadelphia, Brooklyn or Detroit. There’s something different about the area. For more than 100 years some of the best fighters continue to come out of its boxing gyms. Some will be performing on these club shows.

For tickets or information go to www.eliteboxingusa.com

Claressa Shields in Detroit

Speaking of fight towns, pound-for-pound best Claressa Shields who won two Olympic Gold Medals in boxing, moves up another weight division to tackle the WBC heavyweight world champion Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse on Saturday, July 27, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.

DAZN will stream the heavy-duty fight card.

Shields (14-0) cleaned out the super welterweight, middleweight and super middleweight divisions and now wants to add the big girls to her conquests. She will be facing Canada’s Lepage-Joanisse (7-1) who holds the WBC belt.

The last time Shields gloved up was more than a year ago when she fought Maricela Cornejo. Don’t blame Shields. She loves to fight. She loves to win. The last time Shields lost a fight was in the amateurs and that was three presidential administrations ago.

Shields doesn’t lose.

I wonder if Las Vegas even takes bets on her fights?

The only fight she may have been an underdog was against Savannah Marshall who was the last opponent to defeat her. And that was in 2012 in China. When they met as pros two years ago, Shields avenged her loss with a blistering attack.

Don’t get Shields mad.

Perhaps her toughest foe as a pro was in her pro debut when she clashed with Franchon Crews-Dezurn in Las Vegas. It was four rounds of fists and fury as the two pounded each other on the undercard of Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev in November 2016.

That was a ferocious debut for both female pugilists.

Assisting Shields on this fight card will be several intriguing male bouts. One guy you should pay special attention is Tito Mercado (15-0, 14 KOs) a super lightweight prospect from Pomona, California.

Many excellent fighters have come out of Pomona including Sugar Shane Mosley, Shane Mosley Jr., Alberto Davila and Richie Sandoval who just passed away this week.

Sandoval was best known for his 15-round war with Philadelphia’s Jeff Chandler for the bantamweight world title in 1984. Read the story by Arne K. Lang on this link: https://tss.ib.tv/boxing/featured-boxing-articles-boxing-news-videos-rankings-and-results/81467-former-world-bantamweight-champion-richie-sandoval-passes-away-at-age-63 .

Fights to Watch

Fri. UFC Fight Pass 7 p.m. Omar Trinidad (15-0-1) vs Viktor Slavinskyi (15-2-1).

Sat. ESPN+ 12:30 p.m. Joe Joyce (16-2) vs Derek Chisora (34-13).

Sat. DAZN 3 p.m. Claressa Shields (14-0) vs Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse (7-1), Michel Rivera (25-1) vs Hugo Roldan (22-2-1); Tito Mercado (15-0) vs Hector Sarmiento (21-2).

Omar Trinidad photo by Lina Baker

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Arne’s Almanac: Jake Paul and Women’s Boxing, a Curmudgeon’s Take

Published

3 days ago

July 24, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Jake Paul can fight more than a little. The view from here is that he would make it interesting against any fringe contender in the cruiserweight division. However, Jake’s boxing acumen pales when paired against his skill as a flim-flam artist.

Jake brought a 9-1 record into last weekend’s bout with Mike Perry. As noted by boxing writer Paul Magno, Jake’s previous opponents consisted of “a You Tuber, a retired NBA star, five retired MMA stars, a part-time boxer/reality TV star, and two undersized and inactive fall-guy boxers.”

Mike Perry, a 32-year-old Floridian, was undefeated (6-0, 3 KOs) as a bare-knuckle boxer after forging a 14-8 record in UFC bouts. In pre-fight blurbs, Perry was billed as the baddest bare knuckle boxer of all time, but against Jake Paul he proved to have very unrefined skills as a conventional boxer which Team Paul undoubtedly knew all along. Perry lasted into the eighth round in a one-sided fight that could have been stopped a lot sooner.

Jake Paul is both a boxer and a promoter. As a promoter, he handles Amanda Serrano, one of the greatest female boxers in history. That makes him the person most responsible (because the buck stops with him) for the wretched mismatch in last Saturday’s co-feature, the bout between Serrano and Stevie Morgan.

Morgan, who took up boxing two years ago at age 33, brought a 14-1 record. Nicknamed the Sledgehammer, she had won 13 of her 14 wins by knockout, eight in the opening round. However, although she resides in Florida, all but one of those 13 knockouts happened in Colombia.

“We found that in Colombia there were just more opportunities for women’s boxing than in the United States,” she told a prominent boxing writer whose name we won’t mention.

The truth is that, for some folks, Colombia is the boxing equivalent of a feeder lot for livestock, a place where a boxer can go to fatten their record. The opportunities there were no greater than in Hot Springs, Arkansas, in 1995. It was there that Peter McNeeley prepped for his match with Mike Tyson with a 6-second knockout of professional punching bag Frankie Hines. (Six seconds? So it would be written although no one seems to have been there to witness it.)

Serrano vs Morgan was understood to be a stay-busy fight for Amanda whose rematch with Katie Taylor was postponed until November. Stevie Morgan, to her credit, answered the bell for the second round whereas others in her situation would have remained on the stool and invented an injury to rationalize it. Thirty-eight seconds later it was all over and Ms. Morgan was free to go home and use her sledgehammer to do some light dusting.

The Paul-Perry and Serrano-Morgan fights played out in a sold-out arena in Tampa before an estimated 17,000. Those without a DAZN subscription paid $64.95 for the livestream. Paul’s next promotion, where he will touch gloves with 58-year-old Mike Tyson (unless Iron Mike pulls a Joe Biden and pulls out; a capital idea) with Serrano-Taylor II the semi-main, will almost certainly rake in more money than any other boxing promotion this year.

Asked his opinion of so-called crossover boxing by a reporter for a college newspaper, the venerable boxing promoter Bob Arum said, “It’s not my bag but folks who don’t like it shouldn’t get too worked up over it because no one is stealing from anybody.” True enough, but for some of us, the phenomenon is distressing.

—

The next big women’s fight happens Saturday in Detroit where Claressa Shields seeks a world title in a third weight class against WBC heavyweight belt-holder Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse.

A two-time Olympic gold medalist, undefeated in 14 fights as a pro, Shields is very good, arguably the best female boxer of her generation which makes her, arguably, the best female boxer of all time. But turning away Lepage-Joanisse (7-1, 2 KOs) won’t elevate her stature in our eyes.

Purportedly 17-4 as an amateur, the Canadian won her title in her second crack at it. Back in August of 2017, she challenged Cancun’s Alejandra Jimenez in Cancun and was stopped in the third round. Entering the bout, Lepage-Joanisse was 3-0 as a pro and had never fought a match slated for more than four rounds.

Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse

True, on the women’s side, the heavyweight bracket is a very small pod. A sanctioning body has to make concessions to harness a sanctioning fee. Nonetheless, how absurd that a woman who had answered the bell for only 11 rounds would be deemed qualified to compete for a world title. (FYI: Alejandra Jimenez was purportedly born a man. She left the sport with a 12-0-1 record after her win over Franchon Crews Dazurn was changed to a no-contest when she tested positive for the banned steroid stanozolol.)

Following her defeat to Jimenez, Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse, now 29 years old, was out of action for six-and-a-half years. When she returned, she was still a heavyweight, but a much slender heavyweight. She carried 231 pounds for Jimenez. In her most recent bout where she captured the vacant WBC title with a split decision over Argentina’s Abril Argentina Vidal, she clocked in at 173 ¼. (On the distaff side, there’s no uniformity among the various sanctioning bodies as to what constitutes a heavyweight.)

Claressa Shields doesn’t need Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse to reinforce her credentials as a future Hall of Famer. She made the cut a long time ago.

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