Thursday, July 13, 2000 | 10:12 a.m.
One man had won 23 consecutive bouts and the other hadn't been beaten in 29 fights.
Yet when Mauricio Pastrana and Adan Vargas step into the ring Sunday at Arizona Charlie's for the main event of a nationally televised card, each will be coming off a loss.
Pastrana, 23-1 with 16 knockouts, and Vargas, 33-2-1 with 22 KOs, are championship-caliber fighters attempting to rebound from losses earlier this year. Pastrana, a native of Colombia, was beaten by Jorge Lacierva in a 12-round decision Feb. 16 in Miami, while Vargas, a native of Mexico, is looking to right his career after dropping a 12-round decision to World Boxing Council bantamweight champ Veerapol Sahaprom March 11 in the champion's home country of Thailand.
"I'm told the winner of this fight will be ranked No. 1 by the World Boxing Association," Pastrana's manager, Luis DeCubas, said from his home in Florida. "It isn't a fight we had to take but it's one I feel we can win. We're confident."
The WBA's No. 1 spot (and the right to fight champion Paulie Ayala) is currently vacant.
Pastrana, 27, is a former International Boxing Federation champion at 108 pounds and a former WBA champ at 112.
"Pound for pound, Mauricio is one of the best fighters in the world," DeCubas said. "But he can't make 115 any more, so we're going after the title at 118. He's a great fighter and hopefully he can come out of this fight OK."
Pastrana, who had earlier wins in Las Vegas over Michael Carbajal (in 1997) and Carlos Murillo (in 1998, on the Roberto Duran vs. William Joppy undercard), was hindered in his most recent fight by an injured ankle. DeCubas says the problem has been corrected and the Colombian is ready to go.
"He's very excited," he said. "He's focused and I think you'll see an excellent fighter."
Vargas, 26, is a tall southpaw who will be making his Las Vegas debut. Until dropping a decision to Sahaprom, Vargas hadn't lost since 1993.
They're fighting on an America Presents card that will be televised by Fox Sports Net. It will be the first fight card at Arizona Charlie's in almost two years.
"We're going to remodel and have a new facility for special events, but this came about at the right time," said Ron Lurie of Arizona Charlie's. "Our customers like boxing and this card was offered to us at an opportune time.
"After our remodeling, we'll probably do boxing cards on an intermittent basis."
Also scheduled: Fernando Velardez, 10-3-1, vs. Edgar Jasso, 14-3-1, 10 rounds, super bantamweights; Fai Falamoe, 5-0, vs. Willie Chapman, 7-8-1, six rounds, heavyweights; Daniel Rodriguez, 18-3-3, vs. Adarryl Johnson, 11-4-2, six rounds, featherweights; Joey Ruelas, 1-0, vs. Gaspar Estrada, 0-1, four rounds, welterweights; and Ian Mackillop, 1-0, vs. an opponent yet to be determined, four rounds, junior middleweights. First bell is 4:15 p.m.
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