Ricardo "Chapo" Vargas Gets Split Nod over Bonilla, Toney calls out Lewis

Kent Appel @ ringside

09.10 - The Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California was the scene Tuesday night October 7, 2003 of a six bout card presented by Goossen Tutor Promotions in association with Pechanga that featured NABF bantamweight champion Ricardo "Chapo" Vargas of Tijuana, Mexico putting his title on the line in a bout that was scheduled for twelve rounds against Roberto Bonilla of Managua, Nicaragua. The card also featured a ten round featherweight contest between former world champion Enrique Sanchez of Mexico City, Mexico and Jorge Martinez of Escondido, California. Both CO feature bouts will be broadcast on Fox Sports Network on Sunday October 12 and Sunday October 19, respectively.

IBF cruiserweight champion James Toney, a recent victor over Evander Holyfield, was in attendance and he said he is ready to take on any and all comers in the heavyweight division. Emboldened by his impressive win last Saturday over Holyfield, Toney, who moved well at 217 pounds in his bout with Holyfield, said he felt good at that weight and that he would like to stay in the 215 pound range, but no more than that, for his fights at the heavyweight level. When the fans yelled out to him who he wanted to fight next, he said, "Lennox Lewis is who I want, but I will beat them all."

Vargas, who weighed in at the 118 pound bantamweight limit, used his fine boxing skills to control the majority of the action throughout the bout. Bonilla, also 118 pounds, had his moments and while he appeared to have the superior fire power, he just didn't land enough punches to warrant victory. Two of the three ringside judges scored the fight 115 to 112 and 116 to 111 for the winner, Vargas, while the third judge surprisingly saw it by the score of 114 to 113 for Bonilla. Vargas with the win improves his record to 36-9-3, 11 by KO while Bonilla falls to 15-4-1, 10 by KO.

The first round saw Bonilla do most of the scoring with some hard body shots and two handed combinations to the head. Vargas did little in this opening stanza except gauge what his opponent "brought to the table."

The action sea-sawed in rounds two and three with Vargas having the advantage in round two with his strong use of the right hand lead and hard combinations to the head and to the body. Bonilla got back the advantage in the fight in round three by scoring with good right hands to the body and the head and with the right uppercut

Vargas used the left jab and counterpunched well in rounds four and five. Bonilla rallied late in round five by landing hard right hands to the head but it wasn't enough to offset Vargas' advantage.

The pattern continued in rounds six and seven with Vargas again controlling the early and mid-round action and Bonilla charging hard in the closing moments but falling short of capturing the round.

Bonilla reversed the trend in round number eight by scoring with hard body shots early in the round and with hard shots to Vargas' head late in the round. Vargas scored well at about the mid point of the round but he wasn't as sharp as he had been in previous rounds. Vargas got the better of the exchanges in round nine and ten but he had a point deducted by the referee for a low blow in round ten. Bonilla fought back hard, perhaps energized by the low blow, and he landed several hard right hands but it wasn't enough to win the round, which I scored even, 9 to 9, taking into account the low blow delivered by Vargas.

Vargas took round number eleven off and he just didn't punch effectively in the round. While in almost a role reversal of the two fighters' styles, Bonilla counter punched well, particularly with the right hand. The twelfth and final round found Bonilla pressing the action but not scoring very effectively while Vargas countered well in this last round to solidify his decision victory.

As I stated earlier, two of the judges saw Vargas as the winner and the third judge thought that Bonilla had won. I realize judging is subjective but Bonilla hardly looked like the winner as he left the ring exhausted and the "worse for wear" from the bout that had just transpired. Vargas, on the other hand, looked to be the much fresher of the two and while we can't always tell the winner of a fight just by his post fight appearance, in this case it told the whole story. Yes, Bonilla's fists carry the heavier leather but he just didn't land enough to overcome Vargas' superior ring generalship. Vargas was just in control of the ring more than he wasn't in control.

In the CO feature bout between Enrique Sanchez and Jorge Martinez, the fans had just settled down in the sixth round to see what would transpire in the rest of this highly competitive bout, when all of a sudden at the 1:45 mark of the round, the two fighters' clashed heads, causing a large cut around Sanchez's left eye. The referee summoned the ringside doctor who determined that Sanchez would be unable to continue and because it was an accidental butt, the judges' scorecards were tallied. The results were as follows, one judge had it 59 to 56 for Martinez and a second judge scored the fight 58 to 56 for Sanchez. The third and deciding vote had the bout scored even, 57 to 57. The fight went into the record books as a majority decision draw. I saw the fight by the score of 58 to 57 for Martinez.

The bout started out with Martinez controlling most of the first three rounds with strong two handed attacks to the head and body but Sanchez began to assert his fine right jab and straight left hand in rounds four and five. Round six was fairly uneventful until the ill fated clash of the fighters' heads. Martinez's record is now 10-1-1, 2 by KO while Sanchez stands at 30-2-4, 21 by KO.

In other action: In the most exciting fight of the night Mariana Juarez of Mexico City, Mexico took on Ivonne Chavez of Albuquerque, New Mexico in a five round women's bantamweight slugfest. Juarez, 115 pounds, emerged the winner of the contest by unanimous decision by scores of 48 to 45, 48 to 45, and 49 to 45. Chavez, also 115 pounds, had more than a few moments of her own in a bout that featured two knockdowns, one of Juarez in round number two and a knockdown of Chavez in round number three. The crowd roared its approval throughout the bout and Promoter Dan Goossen of Goossen Tutor Promotions rewarded the two fighters with an extra $250 a piece for their fine efforts and cruiserweight champion James Toney came up into the ring to congratulate both fighters for a job well done. Juarez's record improves to 10-3-3, 6 by KO while Chavez is now 1-2-1, 1 by KO.

In a four round heavyweight bout, Sal Farnetti of Palmdale, California, 309 pounds and David Johnson of Los Angeles, California fought to a draw. Farnetti goes to 2-4-3, 0 by KO while Johnson's record now stands at 1-4-2, 0 by KO.

In a four round lightweight fight, Ricardo Fuentes of Mexico City, Mexico won a unanimous decision over Jorge Ivan Espinosa of Lakeside, California. Fuentes improves to 16-1, 6 by KO while Espinosa slides to 7-12, 5 by KO. Both fighters weighed the lightweight limit of 135 pounds.

Finally, in a spirited four round bantamweight bout, Jorge Diaz, of Van Nuys, California defeated Larry Olvera of Downey, California by unanimous decision. Diaz, 117 ½, improves his record to 2-2, 0 by KO while Olvera, also 117 ½, remains winless at 0-2, 0 by KO.