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Pastimes : Boxing: The Sweet Science -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jorj X Mckie who wrote (8000)	9/20/2002 2:52:29 PM
From: LPS5	Respond to of 10489

Bump, set, spike.

To: Jorj X Mckie who wrote (8000)	9/20/2002 4:51:48 PM
From: LPS5	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 10489

Vargas Shows Respect - Just a Little Bit! by Donald Courtemanche, FightNews.com September 20, 2002 “As a fighter he came to fight - he wasn’t trying to run. He took a lot of hard shots, for which I respect him.” – Fernando Vargas Following a TKO loss at the hands of Oscar De La Hoya, Fernando Vargas wordlessly left the ring, leaving some fight fans to question his sportsmanship. Vargas held a press conference today to explain his actions and to answer some of the many questions fight fans have about his epic battle with Oscar De La Hoya and his plans for the future. “I want to congratulate Oscar on winning the fight,” says Vargas. “It was his night and he did what he had to do to win the fight.” These words may come as a surprise to some, after seeing what appeared to be an ever-disdainful Vargas exit the ring without so much as acknowledging Oscar De La Hoya’s presence following their September 14th battle. But according to Vargas, it wasn’t the case. “The commission and the ringside doctor made me leave the ring, so I did not have a chance to talk to Oscar or answer any questions after the fight,” explains Vargas. “I wanted to go to the [post fight] press conference, but they sent me to the hospital instead.” Vargas would also like to assure his fans that the trip to the hospital was purely precautionary. “I’m doing fine physically and mentally,” he says. Vargas was given antibiotics for a cut he received below his eye during the fight. “They just want to check me in a little while to see if the antibiotics fixed my eye. I feel great. I’m in great spirits with myself.” When he’s referring to his eye – he’s referring to the cut underneath his eye, not the actual eye or the orbital bone. He’s taking antibiotics to prevent infection. While it seems that much of the hostility towards De La Hoya has diminished, it may have come to rest on Washington Redskins’ strength and conditioning consultant John Philbin, who joined Team Vargas back in February of 2000. Vargas was unhappy with comments Philbin made at the post fight press conference regarding his role in the team’s defeat. “John Philbin is blaming everything and everyone, but himself,” says Vargas. “That’s not right. He should have been a man and came to me. He was already fired beforehand. He went to the press conference and tried to make a little show for himself. I think that shows signs of being a coward. If you’re a real man, you come to me and tell me how you feel. There’s nobody that’s the boss in my squad but myself. I’m the one that runs the show and kicks people out and fires people. He didn’t come to me. He publicly tried to make a little show and make himself look good. Now, I’d like to take this opportunity to publicly call him a coward for not handling this in person with me.” Make no mistake about it; while Fernando has shown some respect for Oscar, there is still plenty of bad blood flowing through his veins, certainly enough for a rematch. “I would love a rematch. I thought I was executing my game plan and I was taking the fight to him. I was putting pressure on Oscar and landing the more effective, harder shots. I was winning the fight. I did what I had to do but it didn’t come out my way. I wasn’t able to get him out of there. Mind you, I felt that I was winning the fight by decision regardless. But, he caught me with a good shot and that’s boxing. I’ve watched the tape and I think I was winning the fight when he caught me at the end of the tenth round. That’s boxing. One punch can turn around a fight. I never recovered from that punch.” Did Vargas underestimate the punching power of Oscar De La Hoya? “I was hit a hundred times harder by Trinidad,” claims Vargas. “I just got caught with a clean shot. I didn’t see it coming and that’s the one that usually does the most damage. I was able to withstand his punches prior to that one.” “I knew it was going to be tough,” he continues. “I take nothing away from him. I didn’t think I was going to steamroll him. I learned a lot from the Trinidad fight, when I got in there and tried to be Mike Tyson. I wasn’t trying to be that this time. I was trying to think smart and use my effective shots. That’s what I did for most of the fight.” “A lot of people are telling me ‘Fernando, you’ve got kids. What about your kids? Do you feel like giving up for them if you’re taking a beating?’ I say no. I try to fight for them. In that fashion, if you have to lose your life, you lose it. I’m fighting for them, so they know daddy went out there to try and do everything he could for them. That’s the bottom line for me. I do everything for my babies.” With all things considered, a rematch would make a lot of sense. With pay-per-view purchases numbering 900,000 for their first fight, it’s obvious the public is interested. Couple that with action and intensity the viewers were rewarded with and it seems very likely that a rematch would spell major revenues for all involved. “The pay-per-view numbers speak for themselves,” says Vargas. “If you look at Oscar’s pay-per-view numbers with Shane Mosley and compare them to our fight, he should give me the rematch.” In closing, Fernando Vargas had this to say: “This loss was very disappointing to me, but I will be back,” promises Vargas. “I’m twenty-four years of age. I’ve still got a lot to give boxing. I look forward to being the world champion again.”