Mayorga Wins, Vargas gets out boxed in “ The Brawl,” announces retirement
 By Gabriel Montoya at ringside (Nov 24, 2007) Doghouse Boxing (Photo © German Villasenor)
It wasn’t pretty but it was all action when Fernando Vargas, 26-5 (22), and Ricardo “El Matador” Mayorga, 28-6-1 (22), faced off Friday night in front of a crowd of 10,365 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Ca. Vargas’ retirement fight, billed as “The Brawl,” lived up to its name. However, what was expected to be a win before riding off into the sunset ended in a loss by majority decision.
Scores were 112-114,113-113, and 111-115.
The action started fast and furious as Mayorga came out in typical frenetic fashion looking to end things quickly. Barrage after barrage rained down on Vargas who hid behind his guard and bided his time. Mayorga caught Vargas along the ropes and he tumbled to the canvas. He’d quickly rise but the look on his face said that this was going to be a longer night than expected.
Vargas would recover in round two and start to control the action behind his jab, fighting in a much more cautious style than usual. Mayorga for his part had slowed a bit but was still landing that looping right hand. Vargas began digging to the body and gained more confidence as the round went on. A jab to the belly from Mayorga rocked Feroz who fought off the ropes and kept Mayorga’s respect by catching him coming in with a left hook.
Vargas again found himself on the ropes in round 3 but he began talking trash back to Mayorga and fought back again. A cut from a head butt opened up over Vargas left eye and the blood seemed to energize him. A hard left up and downstairs got things going for him, as Mayorga seemed gassed.
Vargas would begin to take over the next few rounds as he boxed the brawler and worked well inside and out. Mayorga would come back hard though in the mid to late rounds and keep Vargas cautious with his odd angled shots.
Round nine was the best of the night and the fight as Vargas and Mayorga took turns wailing on each other. Mayorga was first, catching Vargas on the ropes and snapping his head back with rights and chopping lefts. But Vargas would come roaring back down the stretch and use short and long attacks to great effect. The crowd was on its feet as the bell sounded with both men still trading.
The fight was on the table in the championship rounds. Vargas was boxing effectively from outside and Mayorga was effective in flurries. A straight right hand from Mayorga at the end of round eleven caught Vargas pulling straight back however, and he tumbled to the canvas. He rose quickly and appeared clear headed but the points, and the fight was lost. Round 12 saw Mayorga celebrate as much as fight with Vargas in pursuit. It lacked the emotion of the previous rounds but saw Vargas do as he always had done: throw leather until the very end.
Said Mayorga, “Vargas came out with a different style than I expected. I adjusted well and was able to land heavy punches. He was faster than I thought but I was able to put the pressure on him. I want to keep fighting a few more times at 154. You saw the fight. I have a lot of fight left in me.”
Vargas gave Mayorga the credit for the win afterwards. “I am not going to take anything away from Mayorga. He was the better man tonight. I thought Mayorga was going to be a lot wilder. Unfortunately, that was not the case.”
A gracious and humble Vargas announced his retirement right in the ring post fight.”I want to thank God for helping me to get through this fight and for my whole career. This is my last fight.”
In the first of two televised undercard bouts, Alejandro “Terra” Garcia took on Roman “Made in Hell” Karmazin in a 12 round junior middleweight bout. The action was tight and tense as Karmazin looked to box from distance while Garcia tried in vain to make it a brawl.
Karmazin worked behind the jab and down to the body with his right hand until round three when he changed things up landing a left to the body, a right to head and a brutal left downstairs that dropped Garcia to his knees. Referee Raul Caiz, Jr. reached the count of ten at 1:24. Karmazin is now 36-2-1 with 23 KO’s. Garcia falls to 25-3 with 23 KO’s.
Afterwards Karmazin said, “I knew the fight would end after the first round. I knew I was too fast for him. I’m a boxer. A thinking fighter. Sometimes a knockout happens when you don’t expect it. I was just trying to land a good combination. He hit me once on the side of the head, on the ear and I heard ringing. Every time I threw a right, he countered with a right. But, I got a nice body shot in there and he went down. I don’t know where I stand but I just want to fight and show the fans the great art of boxing.”
Garcia said, “The hook to the body got me. I don’t think I have been hit that hard before.”
In the co-feature, IBF welterweight titlist Kermit “El Asesino” Cintron, 29-1 (27), gutted out a broken right hand to stop Jesse Feliciano, 15-6-3 (9),in a back and forth fight that had the crowd on its feet.
What was supposed to be a stay busy bout turned into a near upset as Feliciano brought pressure and volume punching to throw the knockout artist Cintron off his game. “I felt a crack after the first right hand I landed, said Cintron afterwards. That right hand in the first, followed by a left hook and even more rights behind it had Feliciano’s face red and him off balance right off the bat. However, this reporter noticed in between rounds that Cintron grimaced and shook his right hand as he sat on his stool.
The injury was apparent as Cintron came out in the second round and began to throw nothing but jabs and left hooks off of it while completely ignoring his right hand. Feliciano crowded Cintron and began to throw a ton of punches from all angles, which put Cintron in a shell unable to get off his punches.
The bout became a battle of volume against hard, clean punching. Feliciano threw every punch in the book while Cintron looked to pick them off and counter with hard left hooks and looping right hands every so often.
In the middle rounds, Cintron got on his toes in effort to keep Feliciano on the end of his punches but the tough challenger came forward even harder after eating jabs and left hooks. Feliciano’s volume really seemed to bother Cintron and the crowd was getting more and more behind the under dog Feliciano.
After round 9, which saw Feliciano out work and out hustle Cintron, the challenger would follow Cintron back to his corner and talk trash. He would pay in the next round and El Asesino came out, found his range and let fly with a brutal assault. A left hook got the barrage going, as Cintron would nail Feliciano with 14 unanswered punches forcing referee Jon Schorle to halt the action at 1:53 of round ten. Cintron would raise his hands in victory and then fall to the canvas, grimacing in pain over his injured right hand.
“I got off to a rough start” said Feliciano, “but I battled back. I respect Cintron. He is a tough fighter.”
Cintron’s whose proposed bout with WBO titlist Paul Williams might possibly be in jeopardy should the injury be serious.
“I just gave it all I had, “ said Cintron.” In the last round it all came together. It was a hell of a fight.” Of the hand he would say,”I felt a lot o pain, but I worked through it.
On the non-televised undercard, super featherweight Jason Litzau scored a unanimous decision over Edel Ruiz by scores of 98-92,92-93 and 98-92. He moves his record to 23-1 with 19 KO’s. Ruiz falls to 28-18-5 with 17 KO’s.
Lightweight Fernando Angulo came away with unanimous decision over Damian Fuller by scores of 97-93, 99-91, and 96-94. His record is now 20-4 with 12 KO’s. Fuller falls to 30-5-1 with 14 KO’s.
Junior middleweight Nelson Linares (15-0-1 with 8 KO’s) won by unanimous decision over Jorge Alberto Padilla ( 7-5-3 with 1 KO) by scores of 80-71, 79-72, and 80-71.
Heavyweight Evans Quinn won by first round KO over Victor Barragan. The time was 1: 54. Quinn moves to 15-2 with 14 KO’s. Barragan is now 8-3 with 2 KO’s.
Welterweight Henry Crawford ( 17-0-1 with 13 KO’s) took a unanimous decision over Jose Bermejo ( 1-5-2 with 7 KO’s). Scores were 80-72 across the board.
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