Fernando vargas

Fernando Vargas was a good tough fighter. He wasn't the best but he tested himself against the best. I appreciated his willingness to fight anyone.

Outside the ring he was a punk.

 

He had one of the biggest displays of heart and grit everytime he fought.The type of cat that gave you value for money.
But he was also very precocious
-youngest ever amateur national us champ
-youngest ever US Olympic team member
-youngest ever jr middleweight beltholder
And he was done by age 28.
And yes like someone else said,and as someone who also has a bulging disc-it s not something you come back from 100%.Ever.Surgery is ok but the recovery is dreadful for an athlete and working around it m(which I am doing currently and Fernando also did) is risky and again-you cant give 100%.just a nasty injury to have.

 

I find it hard people saying he was stepping up to fight Trinidad, and ODH, They may have been superstars but at the time but Vargas was beating quality opposition. He was live Vs any of them but after ODH he seemed to have slipped, the resistance wasn't there the willingness to go to war wasn't there.

He competition was stepped up very quickly after 16 -17 fights he was KOing Marquez and would go on to beat Wright a result that got better with age and Ike who may have been shop worn by this point but was still a very capable fighter throw in some decent lower level opponents and by 20ish fights Vargas looked to have a great career ahead of him but the brightness of his fast start - dimmed - hard, hard fights against elite fighters took it's toll, throw in injuries as well and it's no surprise it ended how it did.