Vargas may find De La Hoya in his way again

Tim Dahlberg

Monday, April 17, 2000 | 1:32 a.m.

LAS VEGAS - Fernando Vargas wants Felix Trinidad. He will have to wait, however, to see what Oscar De La Hoya wants to do.

Vargas proved Saturday night he belongs with boxing's elite by pounding out a unanimous 12-round decision over Ike Quartey to defend his IBF junior middleweight title.

He might not get the fight with Trinidad that he wants, though, because promoter Don King would rather sign a rematch between Trinidad and De La Hoya for a lot more money.

"I want Trinidad next," Vargas said after beating Quartey. "I want to unify this division."

King watched from ringside as Vargas methodically wore down Quartey in a fight that Vargas promised would be a better performance than De La Hoya gave in winning a split decision over Quartey 14 months earlier.

King promotes Trinidad and not Vargas, whose promoter Gary Shaw issued a challenge to King for the bout.

"We're ready to negotiate," Shaw said.

A Vargas-Trinidad fight would match two unbeaten 154-pound champions, but would not be the pay-per-view attraction of a rematch between De La Hoya and Trinidad, who handed De La Hoya his only loss.

De La Hoya must first get past Shane Mosley on June 17, however, and then agree to fight Trinidad at a weight somewhere between the 147-pound welterweight limit and the junior middleweight division.

De La Hoya has balked before at going up in weight, though, and even the promise of a $20 million purse may not lure him into a rematch above the welterweight limit.

"We're hoping to make a De La Hoya fight happen Sept. 9, but we'd also like a Vargas fight, too," King said. "We want to put Oscar on the spot. Let's forget the weight. If you're going to talk three or four pounds to stop you from making $20 million, that's absurd."

The 22-year-old Vargas, in only his 19th pro fight, looked like a fighter with much more experience as he picked his spots to flurry and pounded Quartey on the ropes to win the unanimous decision in a fight fought at a furious pace.

He never knocked Quartey down, but landed more than 100 punches more and won 116-111 on two scorecards and 114-113 on a third. The Associated Press had Vargas ahead 115-112.

Vargas wanted a big win to show he was a better fighter than De La Hoya, who knocked Quartey down twice in their fight but was also dropped once himself and barely got the decision.

"My fight wasn't close with Quartey, and De La Hoya's was," Vargas said. "I think I proved something."

Vargas earned $1.35 million for the fight, but that figures to be only the first of many riches in a career on the verge of really taking off. Vargas has signed with HBO for a series of fights, and may now be able to move into more lucrative pay-per-view bouts.

Vargas, like De La Hoya, came out of East Los Angeles. And he has had to deal with comparisons to De La Hoya throughout his young career.

"I want to be the best fighter in the world one day," Vargas said. "I think I took steps today to put me where I want to be."

Vargas, whose calls for a fight early in his career with De La Hoya so irritated De La Hoya that he says he will never fight him, couldn't resist a crack at De La Hoya for the way he fought in the late rounds against Trinidad.

"I want to show Tito (Trinidad) that this Mexican is a true warrior," Vargas said. "This Mexican is not going to put the rest of my people to shame by running all night."