Paul Barker
02.08 - As much as fight fans are salivating over this upcoming bout, I think Oscar De La Hoya and Fernando Vargas want it more! Vargas, for all his public badmouthing of The Golden Boy, has admitted to it being his dream fight, while De La Hoya must be beside himself with joy at this opportunity to shut Vargas up. There are certainly buckets of bad blood between the two, and it will be interesting - to say the least - to see how they vent their animosity September 14.
That is, assuming the fight goes ahead as planned. There have been a couple of false starts already. The delays have been particularly rough on Vargas, who cites Oscar's cowardice as the real reason behind them.
Why Vargas is so pissed at Oscar is beyond me. The five-time champ in as many divisions has gotta be one of the most personable and charismatic figures in the sport. Perhaps I've answered my own question; Vargas, while having much in common with De La Hoya (talent, heritage, where he lives these days), is nonetheless his total opposite in terms of temperament and class. The Golden Boy must seem insufferably polished to this kid from the streets.
The bout can't help but live up to its hype. Both fighters are known for their power punching, especially Vargas, who is considered a "bigger" 154 pounds than Oscar. Can Oscar's durable chin withstand Fernando's straight right hand? Speaking of chins, Fernando's is not exactly up amongst his finest attributes. Wilfredo Rivera knocked him down; Felix Trinidad knocked him OUT. And I wouldn't credit either of these opponents with the power of a De La Hoya.
De La Hoya, though he's never been KO'ed, has also been hammered to the canvas. At the hands (fists) of Ike Quartey, Giorgio Campanella, and some guy named Narciso Valenzuela. In the Quartey fight, Oscar gave as good as he got, and then some. Campanella and Valenzuela, for their part, nailed him early in his career, when he was still learning, before he'd even nabbed the featherweight title. My selective amnesia precludes any further discussion of those two knockdowns.
No attempt at predicting a fight's outcome should be made without examining each participant's "quality of opposition." But is it even necessary in this case? Vargas' catalogue of adversaries is impressive enough (Trinidad, Quartey, "Winky" Wright, Yory Boy Campus, etc.), but De La Hoya's? Forget about it!! It could double as a list of prospective Hall of Famers: Mosely, Trinidad, Quartey, Castillejo, Oba Carr, Julio Cesar Chavez, "Macho" Camacho, Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whitaker, Arturo Gatti, etc., etc. It kinda begs the question, "What does this guy have left to prove?"
Did I mention that both men had extensive and spectacularly successful amateur careers? De La Hoya was something like 223 - 5, in addition to being an Olympic gold medallist in '92; Vargas, an Olympic bronze medallist in '96, had an amateur record of 100 - 5.
Truly, these guys have more in common than they might care to admit.
As befitting a fight of this magnitude, there is not one, but TWO world titles involved. Oscar's WBC Light Middleweight belt and Fernando's corresponding WBA belt are waiting to be strapped, in tandem, about the waist of the winner. With these belts might also come an opportunity to fight IBF champ "Winky" Wright, for out-and-out junior middleweight supremacy.
Meanwhile, the jibes continue. Vargas accuses De La Hoya of having no balls, De La Hoya accuses Vargas of jogging through Big Bear in a rubber suit… Hardly a week goes by without some kind of infantile display from either camp making headlines. But I'm willing to tolerate 'em, for two reasons. They are, and have always been, part and parcel of the Superfight scene. And the actual bout is gonna be - forgive my awkward use of Spanish - magnifiquo!
Why do I think so? Well, I look at it this way. Chances are at least one of these dudes will show up to fight. So, at the very least, we will be treated to a lopsided slaughter. And they can be entertaining, too.
Prediction: De La Hoya by unanimous decision (with lots of knockdowns and blood!)
