Vargas is going out swinging!!!

LOS ANGELES — Fernando Vargas and Ricardo Mayorga won't officially step into the Staples Center ring to fight each other until Sept. 8, but that didn't prevent punches from flying during Wednesday's news conference at Staples Center to announce the fight.
About 30 minutes into the event, Mayorga stepped to the podium to address the gathered media and others in attendance. He quickly started taking some verbal jabs at Vargas.
"I am going to give you this one last chance to collect a check, and then (collect) a pension check because I am going to retire you from boxing," Mayorga (27-6-1, 22 KOs) told Vargas (26-4, 22 KOs). "Fatty has always been afraid of me.
"... I agreed to take this fight at 162 because because fatty' over here could not lose any more weight."
From there, Mayorga started talking about Vargas' wife Martha and his mother. Those remarks brought Vargas out of his seat, and before anyone could blink, Mayorga took a swing at the former two-time junior middleweight champion.
Like a good counter-puncher, Vargas ducked the attempted punch by Mayorga and then countered with two punches of his own, both which landed on Mayorga's face, leaving him with a bloodied right cheek and a bruise under his left eye.
"He can disrespect me all he wants, but he wanted to talk about my two queens (his wife and mother). So he takes a swing at me, and like any good counter-puncher, I rolled it and came back with an upper cut. And you can see the results on his face."
Mayorga has a history of such antics. Prior to his fight with Oscar De La Hoya, Mayorga slapped De La Hoya on the back of the head, but De La Hoya did not respond. As far back as February, Vargas told The Star that if Mayorga tried something similar with him that he would not sit back quietly and take it.
Vargas lived up to his word on Wednesday, joking that he won the first fight.
Joe Pecora, vice president of Vargas Entertainment Productions, said the State Boxing Commission has the authority to step in and discipline Mayorga for starting such a brawl, but Pecora said in most cases no action is usually taken.
"I can't believe he (Mayorga) thought he could take a slap at Fernando and think he could get away with it," Pecora said. "This is just the kind of added incentive that Fernando needs to get him totally focused on this fight."
Since he announced he was taking this fight, Vargas has said he needs no motivation other than pride because he was embarrassed by his performance in his last fight against Shane Mosley. But Vargas did admit Mayorga's stunt on Wednesday will give him a little extra incentive.
"It gives me more motivation to put it on him during the fight and to make him bow down," Vargas said. "You win fights with intelligence and he's a dumb fighter. I'm definitely going to make him pay for the mistakes he makes."
After the exchange of punches, Vargas and his people stayed in the media center at Staples Center to answer questions while Mayorga's group was escorted to the Kings locker room, a seemingly appropriate spot for a man as bloodied and bruised as Mayorga was. He said he didn't insult Vargas' wife or mother and wasn't sure why Vargas got so upset. Then he started taking more shots at Vargas.
"He's a fat cow," Mayorga said when asked to describe Vargas in a single word. "This fight will not go more than two rounds before I knock him out. The only way I will win this fight by decision is if Vargas jumps through the ropes and runs into the crowd."
The 12-round match, which will be held at Staples Center, will be contested at 162 pounds. It marks the first time in Vargas' career he has fought at a weight more than 154 pounds.
Both fighters have a history of brawling, leading most experts to believe the fight has the possibility of being a knock-down, drag-out affair.
"It will not be like the Mayweather-De La Hoya fight. It will not be a cat-and-mouse game," said Mayorga's trainer Stacey McKinley. "When the bell rings, these two guys are going to come to the center of the ring and start pitching. Fans are going to get their money's worth."
Prior to the brawl, Don King, who promotes Mayorga, announced tickets for the bout will go on sale Monday at noon at Staples Center and through Ticketmaster. Tickets are priced at $300, $150, $100 and $50.
For those who prefer to watch on television, the fight is scheduled to be shown on Showtime pay-per-view at a suggested retail price of $44.95.
King was in rare form as he did what he does best, hype a fight. Wearing a rhinestone covered jacket with photos of himself drawn on it, King complimented both boxers.
"This is going to be a provocatively good fight because, as you know, Fernando comes to fight and so does Ricardo Mayorga," King said. "So you have an irresistible force against an immovable object, so something has to give."

Marlin68 said:

LOS ANGELES — Fernando Vargas and Ricardo Mayorga won't officially step into the Staples Center ring to fight each other until Sept. 8, but that didn't prevent punches from flying during Wednesday's news conference at Staples Center to announce the fight.
About 30 minutes into the event, Mayorga stepped to the podium to address the gathered media and others in attendance. He quickly started taking some verbal jabs at Vargas.
"I am going to give you this one last chance to collect a check, and then (collect) a pension check because I am going to retire you from boxing," Mayorga (27-6-1, 22 KOs) told Vargas (26-4, 22 KOs). "Fatty has always been afraid of me.
"... I agreed to take this fight at 162 because because fatty' over here could not lose any more weight."
From there, Mayorga started talking about Vargas' wife Martha and his mother. Those remarks brought Vargas out of his seat, and before anyone could blink, Mayorga took a swing at the former two-time junior middleweight champion.
Like a good counter-puncher, Vargas ducked the attempted punch by Mayorga and then countered with two punches of his own, both which landed on Mayorga's face, leaving him with a bloodied right cheek and a bruise under his left eye.
"He can disrespect me all he wants, but he wanted to talk about my two queens (his wife and mother). So he takes a swing at me, and like any good counter-puncher, I rolled it and came back with an upper cut. And you can see the results on his face."
Mayorga has a history of such antics. Prior to his fight with Oscar De La Hoya, Mayorga slapped De La Hoya on the back of the head, but De La Hoya did not respond. As far back as February, Vargas told The Star that if Mayorga tried something similar with him that he would not sit back quietly and take it.
Vargas lived up to his word on Wednesday, joking that he won the first fight.
Joe Pecora, vice president of Vargas Entertainment Productions, said the State Boxing Commission has the authority to step in and discipline Mayorga for starting such a brawl, but Pecora said in most cases no action is usually taken.
"I can't believe he (Mayorga) thought he could take a slap at Fernando and think he could get away with it," Pecora said. "This is just the kind of added incentive that Fernando needs to get him totally focused on this fight."
Since he announced he was taking this fight, Vargas has said he needs no motivation other than pride because he was embarrassed by his performance in his last fight against Shane Mosley. But Vargas did admit Mayorga's stunt on Wednesday will give him a little extra incentive.
"It gives me more motivation to put it on him during the fight and to make him bow down," Vargas said. "You win fights with intelligence and he's a dumb fighter. I'm definitely going to make him pay for the mistakes he makes."
After the exchange of punches, Vargas and his people stayed in the media center at Staples Center to answer questions while Mayorga's group was escorted to the Kings locker room, a seemingly appropriate spot for a man as bloodied and bruised as Mayorga was. He said he didn't insult Vargas' wife or mother and wasn't sure why Vargas got so upset. Then he started taking more shots at Vargas.
"He's a fat cow," Mayorga said when asked to describe Vargas in a single word. "This fight will not go more than two rounds before I knock him out. The only way I will win this fight by decision is if Vargas jumps through the ropes and runs into the crowd."
The 12-round match, which will be held at Staples Center, will be contested at 162 pounds. It marks the first time in Vargas' career he has fought at a weight more than 154 pounds.
Both fighters have a history of brawling, leading most experts to believe the fight has the possibility of being a knock-down, drag-out affair.
"It will not be like the Mayweather-De La Hoya fight. It will not be a cat-and-mouse game," said Mayorga's trainer Stacey McKinley. "When the bell rings, these two guys are going to come to the center of the ring and start pitching. Fans are going to get their money's worth."
Prior to the brawl, Don King, who promotes Mayorga, announced tickets for the bout will go on sale Monday at noon at Staples Center and through Ticketmaster. Tickets are priced at $300, $150, $100 and $50.
For those who prefer to watch on television, the fight is scheduled to be shown on Showtime pay-per-view at a suggested retail price of $44.95.
King was in rare form as he did what he does best, hype a fight. Wearing a rhinestone covered jacket with photos of himself drawn on it, King complimented both boxers.
"This is going to be a provocatively good fight because, as you know, Fernando comes to fight and so does Ricardo Mayorga," King said. "So you have an irresistible force against an immovable object, so something has to give."

Click to expand...

Now this should be a good fight. :thumbsup:

In no other realm does the old saying “Action speaks louder than words” ring more true than in the world of professional boxing.

Respectful words between boxers at a press conference will always garner light applause; trash talk generally makes the media’s job easier, but at the end of the day, nobody buys tickets to a prize fight because of what the fighters said to each other before the bout.

People who watch boxing want to see two badasses go at it.

Yesterday afternoon, at a press conference held at STAPLES Center, Fernando Vargas and Ricardo Mayorga – two card-carrying badasses who will do battle in the downtown L.A. arena on Sept. 8th – decided to skip most of the blah, blah, blah and give the boxing public what it wants: raw emotion and spontaneous action.

Both former world title holders have seen better days in the ring, but as far as press conference antics go, both are still pound-for-pound level when it comes to drama.

Isn’t that what boxing at its very best delivers mores so than any other sport? Drama of the most visceral variety, or at least the promise of it, draws us to fighters.

The local media (which turned out in droves) sort of paid attention during a quick roundtable interview with Vargas before the press conference began. The 29-year-old two-time junior middleweight champ gave his usual sound bites on why he’s fighting one last bout (“for pride”, duh), why he’ll look better this time than in recent fights (he can weigh as much as 162 pounds for this match instead of the 154 pounds he usually tortures his body to make), and what he’s got cooking outside of the ring (bit parts in major motion pictures and his own promotional company Vargas Entertainment Promotions).

We all sank in our seats and began to seriously wink out while Mayorga’s promoter, Don King, rambled on and on and on about God only knows what.

We just rolled our eyes when Mayorga stepped behind the podium and let loose with his usual verbal sewage (calling Vargas a “fatty”, “sissy” and “faggot” in Spanish).

But everyone in the Chick Hearn Press Room took notice when Vargas took off his sun glasses and stood up as Mayorga brought the Oxnard native’s wife into his dirty diatribe.

"I will do Vargas a favor by retiring him in this fight so his family doesn’t have to suffer every time he steps in the ring,” said the macho and flamboyant native of Nicaragua. “I’m going to do your wife a favor and not let her cry anymore after I disfigure you.”

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular] Everyone got up off their asses, fully alert, when Mayorga took a wide swipe at the standing, agitated Vargas, only to miss and then absorb two crunching overhand rights to his left cheekbone.

"He tried to take a swing at me, and I’m a counter puncher,” Vargas said later.

Suddenly, the ‘ho-hum’ atmosphere in the cramped room exploded with testosterone as at least 20 people stormed the stage to either get in-between the two combatants, rescue the promoters (King and Kathy Duva of Main Events), or take a few free shots at whoever was within their reach.

This was no phony push and shove session between the two fighters set-up by the promoters in hopes of making the sports highlights on the news broadcasts of the local network affiliates. This was real anger and aggression.

After about 30 seconds of the melee, which resulted in one of the tables and numerous folding chairs being knocked off the stage, it was evident that both prize fighters were dead serious. It took many large men many tense seconds to pry Vargas and Mayorga apart as they briefly grappled behind the podium after their initial exchange.

When Vargas let his right hands go, he laid into Mayorga full strength. There was a fire in his eyes that was not present during his back-to-back losses to Shane Mosley last year. There was an intense grimace on his face that hasn’t been seen since he took apart Raul Marquez over 11 rounds eight years ago.

As Mayorga was dragged off the stage, the former welterweight champ shrieked epithets in Spanish with an earnest rage that he hasn’t expressed since his back-to-back victories over Vernon Forest in 2003. Mayorga’s left cheek was bruised where the Vargas right hands landed. You didn’t have to understand Spanish to know that he vowed to get some “get back” come fight night before being ushered into a dressing room down the hall.

Even before order was fully restored, before Vargas was calmed down by Duva and his team members, King stood in the center of the stage with an ear-to-ear grin. The soon-to-be 76-year-old promoter was knocked around pretty good during the scuffle, but the bumps and bruises were worth it if the hype generated by Vargas and Mayorga’s explosion results in an additional 100,000 pay-per-view buys on Sept. 8th.

King knows more than anyone that action sells fights better than words.

VARGAS AND ‘THE VOICE’

Vargas-Mayorga will be televised live domestically via pay-per-view (distributed by Showtime PPV) at a suggested retail price of $44.95.

Vargas says the title of the showdown will be “For Pride” because that’s why he’s fighting one last time (he promises Sept. 8th will be it for him; seriously, this time for sure – win, lose or draw – but he’s going to win and then call it quits for good. No really. He’s not coming back after this.).

When he addressed the media at the post-fight press conference after his second loss to Mosley last July, Vargas sounded like he was ready and content to ride off into the sunset and begin a new life as a married man and business entrepreneur.

But after few months as a civilian (and after admittedly eating and drinking to obscene excess) something started buzzing deep in his subconscious.

"Some guy in the back of my head kept talkin’ to me,” Vargas said. “It was that same voice I’ve heard since I was a kid. It was that same voice that talked me into becoming the youngest U.S. national amateur champion in history and then the youngest junior middleweight champ in history.

"He kept askin’ me: ‘You gonna go out like that?’

"It kept messin’ with me. So much that I finally gave in and called [Eduardo] Garcia. I had to go back to where it all began. He started me out in boxing 20 years ago.

"He knows me better than I know myself. When I told him that I wanted to fight again he just laughed. He said ‘You still want to fight, Fernando?’

"He expected the call. He knows me. He knows how I am. He had to stop me from training as a kid. He had to stop me from sparring every day. Garcia knows when I want something, I go for it, and I do it.

"I don’t think I would have come back if Mr. Garcia said ‘no’ to training me.”

But Garcia agreed, which meant Vargas had to tell his wife that he was putting the gloves on one more time.

"She wasn’t happy about it,” Vargas admitted. “I said ‘Martha, you married a fighter. That’s what I am. Please, stand with me. I want you to stand with me’.”

How could she say no?

Vargas gets emotional as he recounts the story. He’s like that. His voice still trembles a little bit when talks about being the “youngest ever, two-time junior middleweight champion of the world”. His eyes well up with tears when he talks about his “cubs”, his three boys.

He’s a natural for the movies, and has already played a supporting character (Tiko ‘TKO’ Martinez) in the film Alpha Dog, which also stars Bruce Willis and Justin Timberlake. He says he just finished shooting a film with veteran actor Tom Berenger and recently singed a deal with Jack Gilardi, Executive Vice President of International Creative Management (ICM).

Who knows? Maybe Vargas has a future in Hollyfwood. Of course, none of this means that he’s acting when he gets emotional while talking about his family or his career. On the contrary, all of that passion is very real.

It’s what his many fans connect to, and it’s the reason that, along with Arturo Gatti, Vargas is one of the few boxers of this era that can put butts in the seats regardless if he wins or loses.

Gatti returned to the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City after his one-sided drubbing by Floyd Mayweather and soldout the joint. He returns this Saturday, vs. Alfonso Gomez, after his crushing stoppage by Carlos Baldomir, and you can safely bet that the Hall will be filled to its rafters with rabid Gatti fans.

Despite the fact that Vargas has lost his last two fights (and is 6-4 in his last 10 bouts), STAPLES Center will be packed with ‘Ferocious fans’ on Sept. 8th.

FEROCIOUS FAN FAVORITE

In fact, in recent years, Vargas has proven to be even more popular than Gatti, who is mainly an attraction on the East Coast (Atlantic City and to a lesser extent, New York City).

After his brutal-but-classic loss to Felix Trinidad, Vargas fought Wilfredo Rivera in a packed Don Haskins Center in El Paso. After his loss to De La Hoya, he fought Fitz Vanderpool in a sold-out Grand Olympic Auditorium in L.A. (For the record, De La Hoya who fought at the historic downtown venue twice during his lightweight days, never sold it out.)

In fact, between the De La Hoya fight and the first bout with Mosley, Vargas fought four times – in L.A., Tucson, Corpus Christi, and Rosemont (Illinois, near Chicago) – all in front of packed houses.

He’s confident that 15,000 to 20,000 of his fans will assemble inside STAPLES when he takes on Mayorga.

"I know my fans will turn out because I make sure that I don’t overprice my tickets,” he said. “I was upset that tickets for my fights with Mosley were too expensive for most working-class people, but I had nothing to with that. That was a Golden Boy Promotions show. But my fans still showed up.

"Tickets for the Mayorga fight will start at $25 or $50 and ringside seats will go for like $300 or $350. It’s one thing to bring the fight to L.A., but I had to make sure my fans could afford it.”

Vargas promises not to let his legion of Southern Cali. fans down for his final fight.

PRIDE AND POUNDS

His insurance, he says, is the 162-pound catchweight the bout will be fought at. He says he had nothing for Mosley (and numerous other opponents) because he had to damn near kill himself to make the junior middleweight limit of 154 pounds.

I asked him if there’s a chance that, because he abused his body for long melting down to 154 pounds, making 162 pounds will STILL be a struggle for him.

"Absolutely not,” Vargas said. “I’ve been training since January and I weighed 183 pounds this morning. Being 21 pounds away from my target weight this far away from fight night is like a vacation for me.

"Usually I’m running in a rubber suit two weeks before the fight. Now I’m running hard in a T-shirt. It’s easy.”

OK, but how much weight did Vargas have to lose to come down to 183? Rumor had it that he was pretty heavy late last year.

heavy do you think I was?” Vargas asked the press that assembled in a small dressing room just before the press conference began.

"200 someone said.

"I laugh at 200 pounds,” he countered.

"220 someone else said.

"I laugh at 220!”

Now the entire room was laughing.

"Try 264,” said Vargas, breaking the suspense.

I still think he should have made this fight at super middleweight (limit of 168 pounds). He loyal fans could care less about what weight he fights at, and those extra six pounds could make all the difference come fight night.

But Vargas was certain that being able to come in just 11 pounds over the junior middleweight limit will allow him to box comfortably for the first time in a long time.

"It's going to be a different fight than fans are used to seeing form me,” he said. “At 162, I’ll be able to box intelligently.”

Of course, Vargas said this before Mayorga called him a coward, a fatty, and a ***, and then uttered his wife’s name, awaking ‘El Feroz’ and earning a double right cross.

Just like at Wednesday’s press conference, there no telling what action Mayorga’s antics will elicit from Vargas, which is why the Ferocious One’s farewell may very well take place before a sold-out arena.

should have sold tickets to the press conference,” Vargas said.
[/FONT]

For anyone interested in betting this fight, Mayorga has really gone downhill the last couple of years, constantly getting in trouble with the law in Nicaragua, fighting anything and everything that gets in his way including women.........

If you think that factors into someone's performance...well, there you go.

video.....................enjoy



<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" height="370" wmode="transparent" data="http://www.liveleak.com/player.swf?autostart=false&token=6ab_1184240560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.liveleak.com/player.swf?autostart=false&token=6ab_1184240560"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="quality" value="high"></object>

Don King "cha-ching":money8:

Will the RX have the fight available for viewing at the Bash?

Main event usually goes off at 1030-1045 Vegas time.

What a nite cap to the Bash.

bigtex said:

Will the RX have the fight available for viewing at the Bash?

Main event usually goes off at 1030-1045 Vegas time.

What a nite cap to the Bash.

Click to expand...

It won't be that late.In Vegas the fight will go off at around 8pm

I was about to say, they are trying to promote this fight way too hard but I've seen Vargas act in Alpha Dog. This fight won't go to the distance. Mayorga talks so much shit about everyone's moms but tells Vargas his mom didn't teach him any manners. Puahahahaha...

I thought Mayorga act was cool at first, but after Tito knocked Mayorga out I was through with his ass.:missingte

What a way for them to try and boost boxing. Trying to get people to buy the fight because of the De La Hoya fight.