Fernando Vargas

Fernando Javier Vargas (born December 7, 1977) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2007.

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.

As an amateur he won a bronze medal in the light welterweight division at the 1995 Pan American Games, and reached the second round of the welterweight bracket at the 1996 Olympics.

Vargas is best known for his heated rivalries against Felix Trinidad, Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, and Ricardo Mayorga.

In his youth Vargas compiled a remarkable amateur record of 100–5.

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.

He was scheduled to turn pro in 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.

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 was a two-time light middleweight world champion, having held the IBF title from 1998 to 2000, and the WBA title from 2001 to 2002.

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).

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.

Vargas lost the title to Félix Trinidad in 2000.

In 2001 Vargas was sentenced to 90 days in House Arrest stemming from a 1999 assault charge.

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 TeleFutura.

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 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.

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."

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.