Janne Romppainen

17.09 - I admit it. I was wrong before the fight. I questioned both De la Hoya’s and Vargas’ abilities in this stage of their careers before the bout and I even suggested that this fight might disappoint many boxing fans. My worries were unnecessary: these two fellows put on a great display of heart, skills, power and ambition. Both fighters proved that even though they had been quiet for a while, they still belonged to the very top of the boxing world.

As everyone knows, De la Hoya came out on top from the fight via splendid TKO victory in the eleventh round. Now The Golden Boy is again right there in the big picture among the other superstars of the game. He has multiple options about his future and everything looks bright for him. As for Vargas, it is now time for him to think, what went wrong.

Not to take anything away from De la Hoya’s great victory, physically Vargas had all the tools necessary to defeat him. Vargas was the natural-born junior-middle, while De la Hoya had come up all the way from the super featherweight and he was fighting in the 154lbs division only for the second time. Vargas had the speed and skill to trap De la Hoya to the ropes and corners. His chin, while not granite, should have been enough to take The Golden Boy’s punches (which it did for over ten rounds). Also mentally Vargas was more ready than ever. He knew that this was his career-defining fight. With a victory he would have been in the driver’s seat, he would have been in the pound-for-pound lists. He was very determined and ambitious before the fight, even hearing De la Hoya’s name seemed to raise anger inside him. So everything should have been ready for him to make it big time, but he couldn’t do it.

When I analyse the errors that prevented him from being victorious (along with De la Hoya’s left hook of course), I think Vargas made a one big, fatal miscalculation. He was wrong about De la Hoya’s toughness.

As I mentioned earlier, Vargas was supposed to be clearly the stronger man in the ring. De la Hoya didn’t seem to have the punching power he once possessed in the welterweight and now he was facing an even bigger opponent. Also he had never taken a real punch by a junior middleweight, and he had been downed early in his career by much smaller men. So there was an obvious reason for Vargas to think that his strength would eventually decide the outcome.

Vargas came to the fight looking heavier than ever before. He posed for the cameras flexing his well-grown muscles. I believe that Vargas’ plan of battle was to go right in and crush De la Hoya before the eighth round. Everything seemed to go as planned when he rocked Oscar in the first round and he remained the control to the half-way point, pounding his foe heavily.

However, his movement in the early rounds, while it was good, didn’t seem to be the same it used to be. Also his stamina seemed to give in a little bit after six rounds when De la Hoya stepped up the gear. This might have been due his mass, it had slowed him down. Vargas stayed in the bout, but now it was slowly turning toward De la Hoya.

Vargas counted wrong when he thought that De la Hoya didn’t possess the chin to survive his bombardment. He also wasn’t probably ready for Oscar to punch as hard as he did. Oscar had been out from the ring for over a year and while such a long break can have an effect on fighter's punch timing, it was also time for De la Hoya to develop his body ready for the new division. De la Hoya carried the extra pounds much better than he did against Castillejo. Also Vargas’ macho pride could have affected on the choice of strategy. He wanted to remove De la Hoya’s golden smile once and for all. He wanted not just to win, but to beat De la Hoya. He wanted to knock him out.

Had the outcome changed had Vargas employed another strategy? If he hadn’t put on that much weight but concentrated on movement and getting stamina in his training instead, would he have been able to finish stronger? Who knows. But what we do know is that in the 14th of September, De la Hoya was the better man in the ring and he won the fight fair and square. Vargas’ story is not over yet, he is still a young man, he has time to fight his way back to the top. But now, De la Hoya is the man, congratulations to him!

Comments/Questions? janneromppainen@hotmail.com