Vargas thought he was ahead when De La Hoya KO’d him

Dean Juipe

Friday, Sept. 20, 2002 | 10:25 a.m.

The evidence suggests otherwise, but Fernando Vargas said Thursday he believes he was winning his fight with Oscar De La Hoya and might have won the bout if not for one punch at the end of the 10th round.

Vargas, speaking publicly for the first time since his 11th-round TKO loss to De La Hoya last Saturday at Mandalay Bay, made his remarks at a Marriott hotel near Los Angeles International airport. He said he was not considering retiring and would appreciate a rematch.

"I thought I was executing my game plan and taking the fight to him," Vargas said. "I think I was winning the fight when he caught me at the end of the 10th.

"I never recovered from that punch."

It was a vicious left that had Vargas in trouble at the end of the 10th and in some respects he was saved by the bell. But De La Hoya finished matters in the 11th, knocking Vargas down and later pinning him in a corner before referee Joe Cortez intervened 1:48 into the round.

At the time of the stoppage De La Hoya was ahead on two of the judges' cards, although he trailed on the third.

"I think I was doing everything right," Vargas said. "I was putting pressure on Oscar and catching him with the better shots.

"I felt good. I felt strong. But I wasn't able to get him out of there and one shot can turn around the whole fight.

"That's boxing."

Vargas was hustled out of the ring after the fight and taken to Valley Hospital, where he was later released. He did not appear at a post-fight press conference that was enlivened by the surprise announcement that Jon Philbin, his nutritionist, was quitting in protest of the fighter's training tactics.

"He's a coward for not handling this privately with me," Vargas said of Philbin, adding that Philbin "was already fired beforehand.

"He came to the press conference and tried to make a little show for himself. He tried to make himself look good."

The remaining members of Vargas' training and management team continue to come across as elated that the fighter -- who has now lost consecutive high-profile fights by knockout -- is looking to extend his career.

"We have a bankable attraction in Fernando Vargas," offered Main Events CEO Kathy Duva.

"This ride's got a little longer to go, folks," chipped in colleague Carl Moretti.

And the fighter's co-manager, Rolando Arellano, said columnists and reporters "are not entitled to criticize" Vargas unless they have fought or trained fighters in their career.

Vargas, 24, speculated on the possibility of a rematch without sounding as if he expected one.

"I'd love a rematch if it's possible, but the ball's in his court," Vargas said, aware that De La Hoya is moving forward with plans to fight either Shane Mosley or Felix Trinidad (should the latter come out of retirement). "The (pay-per-view) numbers speak for themselves, and we'd do crazy numbers for a rematch."

The fight drew an estimated pay-per-view audience of 900,000, placing it second among non-heavyweight fights.

Vargas, a junior middleweight with a record of 22-2, said he will take a brief leave of absence before going after a fighter such as Winky Wright, who holds the lone 154-pound belt that De La Hoya does not now possess.

"I'm going to be a world champion again," Vargas said. "I'd take a fight with Winky Wright."

Vargas says he has no lingering aftereffects from the fight and that it was something of a fluke that he lost.

"I was hit a hundred times harder by Trinidad," he said of a 2000 fight in Las Vegas that Vargas lost by 12th-round knockout. "But I didn't see the shot coming (from De La Hoya) and those are the kind that do the most damage.

"The loss is very disappointing to me (but) I want to congratulate Oscar. I got caught and more power to him.

"I knew he was going to be tough; I knew I wasn't going to steamroll him.

"But I was basically carrying the fight."