De la Hoya -Vargas

Great fight to watch Auracle :good

Fernando Vargas actually grew up looking up to Hoya, they both are Cali boxers and standout amatures, naturally the younger vargas was compared in some regards to hoya especially as he was looking to go to the Olympics if anyone remembers.

Well, Vargas actually went to big bear to train with Oscar and its a case of he said she said, but bottom line is vargas met him and came away with that he was a fake, ***** ass dude. There is an incident reported that Vargas slipped down a snow bank while jogging and Hoya passed him laughing and acting like a jackass or so the story goes.

Anyways, through the years the heat rose between them, with Vargas making it to the olympics, but falling short of Gold, he turned pro and as we all know he rose to the top in a fast and furious manner, challenging Hoya every chance he got, and the fight seemingly would never take place, as Vargas was disrespecting Oscar left and right, and oscar saying he would never fight him.

Then, some will say due to vargas looking ripe for the taking in shacky performences against Rivera and Flores (getting dropped hard by Rivera, and wobbled by Flores, two fighters who would have been toyed with just a year and a half earlier, Flores being a former sparring partner even) and others just saying the talking had finally been enough and Oscar wanting to shut Vargas up, the fight was set....

Fernando Vargas vs Oscar De La Hoya, two of the premier 154lbers and a fight that had been in the making for almost a decade.... with enough genuine bad blood to boil over into press conferences and the like.

'Bad Blood', which the fight was called, couldnt have been more correct... and the fight lived up to all the expectations.

For anyone who hasnt seen this fight, dont expect a blood and guts no skilled brawl, no... instead, watch two skilled fighters near their best, using a perfect blend of brains and brawn to try to vanquish the other, with Vargas being the shark smelling blood, a chance hes been waiting for for years, and Hoya, a champion many times over who finds himself in one of the hardest fights of his life against a young, strong, 'ferocious' champion.

To both fighters credit, the fight was a back and forth battle with each champion trading off rounds.... with the intensity, the history, the fighters involved, the atmosphere, it was an isntant classic.

The fight was a box office success too, reaching near a million buys (this was back in the day when a million buys was still a holy grail type number) and while vargas went on to have mild success against guys like Castillejo (who then moved up to dethrone sturm after losing to a spent vargas) and warring with mosley (1) and mayorga, vargas would never again look to be an elite level fighter. Hoya goes on to have many more big fights but to this day the Vargas fight may be the best, and most satisfying, win of his life.

Great fight :good