Columnist Dean Juipe: Vargas: Oscar better come out punching

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Aug. 22, 2002 | 8:54 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

Sounding confident if somewhat subdued, World Boxing Association junior middleweight champ Fernando Vargas said Wednesday that he has been buoyed by Oscar De La Hoya's prediction that he would win their Sept. 14 fight at Mandalay Bay by knockout within the first six rounds.

The implication, from Vargas' perspective, is that if De La Hoya is going to win within six he's going to have to come out slugging. And a slugfest, Vargas believes, plays right into his hands.

"Oscar says six rounds (and) I'm expecting him to live up to that," Vargas said during a conference call in which he was the focal, if unadvertised, centerpiece. "To do that, he has to come and fight. I don't understand how he thinks he can knock me out when he couldn't knock out (Arturo) Gatti or (Javier) Castillejo."

(De La Hoya did register a TKO-5 victory over Gatti when the latter's corner threw in the towel in that 2001 fight; De La Hoya was a decision winner over Castillejo in his most recent fight, also last year.)

"I'm going to push Oscar to the limit," Vargas said. "I'm definitely going to push for a knockout and to end this fight.

"It won't go the distance. I can get him out of there."

Vargas, 22-1, wasn't scheduled to take part in a conference call presented by Main Events CEO Kathy Duva and associate Carl Moretti. But Vargas joined in, in part to refute the allegations made a day earlier by De La Hoya's trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr.

The latter (as was detailed in Wednesday's Sun) said his man would win easy if he listened to him, and that a knockout victory was inevitable.

"A wise man told me once: Don't argue with fools," Vargas said, referring to the boastful Mayweather before adding a sarcastic rejoinder: "I look forward to De La Hoya's 'great new style' with Mayweather."

Both Vargas and De La Hoya, 34-2, are training at Big Bear, Calif. De La Hoya is a slight betting favorite.

"I'm serious -- this is a fight where you've got to be serious," Vargas said. "I'm bringing out everything in me. He's going to be fighting somebody who practically will put his life on the line to win.

"I don't think he can be hungrier than me."

Vargas shied away from adding too much fuel to the fire, but he got in another dig at De La Hoya.

"I don't need to be cutting wood or bobbleheads," he said, referring to De La Hoya showing off last week at Big Bear by wielding an ax at some lumber as well as on a bobblehead doll of Vargas.

Duva claims Vargas will win because he's the physically larger man.

"Size does matter, in boxing at least," she said. "Fernando is a much bigger man (than De La Hoya)."

Vargas, who debuted professionally at 148, has fought at 154 for the past four years. De La Hoya, conversely, debuted at 133 and has had only one previous fight at 154 and that was with Castillejo for the World Boxing Council championship.

"Yes, I am bigger and at the same time I'm very talented," Vargas said. "I've got the skills to pay the bills."

Also scheduled: Dustin Kim, 18-3, vs. Emidogo Gastelum, 13-6-1, eight rounds, featherweights; Orman Awadi, 8-0, vs. Felipe Bojorquez, 10-2, six rounds, heavyweights; Jairo Ramirez, 10-0, vs. Artur Gevorgyan, 4-1, six rounds, junior welterweights; Cornelius Lock, 3-1, vs. Simon Ramirez, 2-1-1, four rounds, featherweights; and Melinda Cooper, 3-0, vs. Stephanie Dobbs, 1-2-1, four rounds, women, junior bantamweights. First bell is 7 p.m.

He said featherweight contender and former world champ Johnny Tapia would headline in a tune-up fight as he prepares for a Nov. 2 showdown with Marco Antonio Barrera in Las Vegas.

"People love him down there," Steele said of Tapia, who appeared as a nonparticipant at Steele's recent show. "He must have signed 1,000 autographs that night."

Steele likes his new endeavor, which he handles in addition to running the gym at Nevada Partners, and is especially fond of his Albuquerque site.

"It's a good venue with 3,000 seats and they love boxing," he said. "On my cards, you don't know who's going to win. That's what I love about matchmaking: You owe it to the fans to put on good fights."