Fernando Vargas' Comeback
May 4, 2001
In baseball, a 14-2 loss, in which your rightfielder pitches the ninth inning, can be
followed less than 24 hours later by a 3-0 victory.
In basketball, your all-world guard, who shoots 4-for-22 on Saturday, can
explode for 42 points on Sunday.
In golf ' Well, who cares about golf, anyway?
In boxing, the stakes are much higher. There are no substitutes or time-outs, and
sometimes there are no tomorrows. If Naseem Hamed absorbs a pounding over
the first half of the fight, Emanuel Steward can't glove 'em up for rounds seven
through 12. As a result, a loss can be devastating, both physically and
psychologically. So much so, in fact, that the loser might never fully recover.
"I went to Hawaii with my wife after losing to Roberto Duran in Montreal," Sugar
Ray Leonard told me last week, "and I was running on the beach. All of a sudden,
I said to myself, "I can beat this guy. I can beat this guy!" I got right on the phone
and called [adviser] Mike Trainer and screamed, "Get me Duran again! Get me
Duran now!"
Five months later, Leonard got his man, embarrassing Duran into saying "no mas."
But not every fighter has the resolve and self-confidence of Leonard. What if
Sugar Ray had decided, "I can't beat this guy"? What would have happened then?
In December, Fernando Vargas was floored five times in a 12th-round TKO loss
to Felix Trinidad. The unification match was a thrilling fight, the best of the year,
according to many. But Vargas' highlights aside, he took a beating. Can he recover
and reestablish himself as one of the best fighters in the world? Will he recover?
Will he ever be the same?
"Anybody who's been champion knows it's hard for you to lose," Vargas said. "I
still feel bad about it sometimes, but what made me have a lot more confidence is
seeing fighters that come back from adversity. I definitely learned from it, and I
want to step into the ring and show them." On Saturday night, Vargas faces
perennial contender Wilfredo Rivera in El Paso, Texas. It will be his first start since
the Trinidad fight, which was his first defeat. Even if Vargas wins'and he's a 20-1
favorite to do just that'observers will be picking apart his performance. If there's as
much as the tiniest of flaws'a bit of hesitation here, a touch of tentativeness
there'someone is sure to conclude, "He hasn't gotten over the Trinidad fight yet."
A look back is revealing. Listed below are 10 world champions who, like Vargas,
were undefeated before suffering extended beatings. The first five rebounded and
managed to secure a lasting greatness. The second five were victims of the Humpty
Dumpty Syndrome.
Only time will tell which listing Vargas will join.
NOT JUST SURVIVING, BUT THRIVING
Joe Louis:Like Vargas, "The Brown Bomber" was 22 when he lost for the first
time (in 1936). Believed to be washed up, former heavyweight champion Max
Schmeling hammered Louis, 27-0, with so many right hands that Louis' mother
began screaming, "They're killing my boy! They're killing him!" She never attended
another Louis fight.
After Louis, a 10-1 favorite, was counted out in round 12, he wept in his dressing
room.
Two years later, Louis, defending the heavyweight title, crushed Schmeling in one
round. He went on to make a record 25 defenses, and didn't lose for a second
time until 1950.
Sugar Ray Leonard:Sugar Ray's 1980 welterweight title defense against
Roberto Duran was competitive, but the 24-year-old Leonard, 27-0, nonetheless
sponged five fights' worth of punishment over 15 grueling rounds. "I had never
been hit like that before," Leonard told me. "Every single punch, whether to the
head or body, was incredibly hard."
Leonard's revenge was intensely satisfying. In the immediate rematch, he fought on
his terms, outboxing a confused Duran and ultimately taunting him, prompting the
infamous "no mas" surrender in round eight. Sugar Ray went on to unify the
welterweight title and add belts at junior middle, middle, super middle, and light
heavyweight. His second loss came 11 years after the first Duran fight.
Danny Lopez: These days, prospects the likes of featherweights Lopez and
Bobby Chacon don't fight each other until at least one is a world champion.
However, in 1974, Los Angeles promoters couldn't resist matching the
21-year-old Lopez, 23-0 (22), with the 22-year-old Chacon, 23-1 (21). The
crowd of 16,080 at the Sports Arena justified their timing.
In a battle of right hands, Chacon proved quicker, especially with counterpunches,
and by the time the bout was stopped in round nine, Lopez was virtually
defenseless.
When Lopez dropped two of his next three bouts, it seemed the loss to crosstown
rival Chacon had ruined him. But "Little Red" won a portion of the 126-pound title
in 1976, and in making eight successful defenses, established himself not only as a
pound-for-pound entrant, but also arguably the hardest hitter in the game.
Evander Holyfield: In hindsight, it seems silly to have doubted his resolve, but
we couldn't be sure how "The Real Deal" would react to his first loss, a savagely
paced 12-round points loss to Riddick Bowe in 1992. Going in, the 30-year-old
Holyfield, 28-0, was the unified heavyweight champion. But the bigger and
younger Bowe dropped and almost stopped him. Only Holyfield's heart enabled
him to survive the brutal punches he absorbed in rounds 10 and 11.
"It's going to take a strong man to learn how to lose," Holyfield said at the time.
"Lord, help me be that kind of man."
Two fights later, Holyfield upset Bowe to regain the crown. There have been
additional losses since, but Holyfield has always rebounded. His will, as much as
his skills, has enabled him to establish himself as one of the greatest heavyweight
champions in history.
Marco Antonio Barrera: In 1996, the 22-year-old Barrera, 43-0, was an 8-1
favorite to steamroll junior featherweight Junior Jones. But Mexico's successor to
Julio Cesar Chavez wore a bullseye for Jones' big right hand, and the challenger
rarely missed. Driven to the canvas, Barrera was halted in round five.
Afterward, Barrera seemed in denial. "We're going to ask for a rematch because
he didn't really beat me clean," he said. "The bell rang [ending round five], I
dropped my hands, and he continued throwing punches."
Barrera boxed well in the immediate rematch, losing a narrow 12-round decision.
He regained a portion of the title 18 months later, and has since secured a lasting
greatness by dropping a controversial decision to Erik Morales (35-0) and
convincingly defeating Naseem Hamed (also 35-0).
THE HUMPTY DUMPTYS
Donald Curry: At the time of his 1986 defense against Lloyd Honeyghan,
undisputed welterweight champion Curry was regarded as the best fighter,
pound-for-pound, in the world. Age 25, Curry, 25-0, was a masterful technician
without a weakness. But making welter had become a problem, and he lost 11
pounds in the 10 days prior to the Honeyghan fight.
England's aggressive Honeyghan pounded and cut Curry en route to a sixth-round
TKO victory. While Curry subsequently won a portion of the world title at junior
middleweight, he never regained his spark and suffered losses to Mike McCallum,
Rene Jacquot, Michael Nunn, and Terry Norris.
"I was rated as one of the greatest fighters in the world, but my attitude wasn't
great," Curry told "Boxing 97," in 1997. "I wasn't putting out any more effort than I
thought it would take to win. I was looking for excuses to get out of fights. I was
confused, and a little fearful, and I suffered for it."
John Tate:Big John, promoter Bob Arum promised, was going to be the
heavyweight of the '80s, the fighter who would continue the tradition of greatness
established by Muhammad Ali. Well, Tate cruised to a portion of the title,
defeating Duane Bobick, Kallie Knoetze, and Gerrie Coetzee along the way. At
age 25, he was 20-0 when he defended against Mike Weaver in 1980. Tate was
45 seconds from a convincing 15-round points win when downed by a crushing
left hook. Lying still on the canvas, he was counted out.
In his next start, Tate was kayoed by Trevor Berbick. He strung together a few
wins after that, but never contended again.
"After losing the title ' " wrote Bob Mladinich in "The Ring," "[Tate] traded in his
fame and glory for a life of petty crime, poverty, obesity, drug addiction,
alcoholism, and incarceration."
In 1998, Tate died from a stroke. He was 33.
Meldrick Taylor: On March 17, 1980, the 23-year-old Taylor, 24-0-1, was a
great fighter. On that St. Patrick's Day, the Philadelphian engaged in the Fight of
the Decade, a junior welterweight unification bout vs. Julio Cesar Chavez. Two
seconds before the final bell, Taylor, badly beaten up but ahead on points, was
rescued by referee Richard Steele.
While he went on to win a share of the junior middleweight crown, Taylor never
regained his edge. By 1992, he was washed up, with kayo losses to Terry Norris,
Crisanto Espana, and Chavez punctuating the point.
"He hasn't been the same since the Chavez fight, Philly boxing writer Bernard
Fernandez told "KO" in 1993. "And a voice in your head asks how he could have
slipped so far so fast. But there is a body of evidence that says he has."
Davey Moore:In his ninth professional fight, Moore won a share of the junior
middleweight title. After he made three successful defenses, the 24-year-old New
Yorker was viewed as a young veteran. But that didn't mean he was ready for a
reborn Roberto Duran.
In a huge upset in 1983, Duran closed Moore's right eye with a thumb and
pummeled him en route to a bloody eighth-round stoppage. With the exception of
a quickie kayo of Wilfred Benitez, Moore never won another big fight, losing to
Louis Acaries, Buster Drayton, Lupe Aquino, and John David Jackson.
"He hasn't shown the dedication since the Duran fight," Bob Arum, who promoted
Moore, told "KO" in 1987. "He thought it would be an easy fight and a ticket to
stardom. He wasn't only defeated, but brutally defeated. He never recovered."
In 1988, Moore was killed when an unoccupied car rolled over him in the
driveway of his New Jersey home. He was 28.
Barry McGuigan:In 1986, the popular Irishman's first U.S. appearance as a
featherweight champion was eagerly anticipated. The 25-year-old McGuigan,
29-1, had dethroned the legendary Eusebio Pedroza and made two successful
defenses. But in an outdoor fight on a brutally hot June day in Las Vegas,
substitute and 7-1 underdog Steve Cruz outlasted a dehydrated McGuigan and
won a 15-round decision.
There was no rematch. In fact, McGuigan didn't fight again for two years. He
never came close to contending again, and fought for the last time in 1989.
In 1997, McGuigan's father died of cancer at age 52. On that day, McGuigan's
fighting spirit died, too. "My life's been ruined," he said at the time. "Daddy was my
inspiration. It's going to take a long time for that inspiration to come back again. I
don't know whether it will or not."
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