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Fernando Vargas suffered the third loss of his pro career -- all at
Mandalay Bay -- dropping a technical knockout Saturday night
against Shane Mosley because of swelling on his left eye. (AP Photo/John Locher)
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Shane wins battle of bulge: Vargas takes his lumps
By Kevin Iole, Las Vegas Review-Journal
February 26, 2006
Las Vegas, Nevada - Shane Mosley stopped Fernando Vargas in the 10th round of their light middleweight elimination bout on Saturday.
Fernando Vargas made it 3-for-3, but it isn't a particularly enviable streak.
Vargas was stopped for the third time in as many significant fights at Mandalay Bay, losing to Shane Mosley on a 10th-round TKO in their super welterweight bout Saturday because of a grotesquely swollen left eye.
Vargas has lost only three times in 29 professional fights, but all occurred in the same ring. He also was stopped in the 12th round in 2000 by Felix Trinidad and in the 11th in 2002 by Oscar De La Hoya.
An overhand right by Mosley in the first round caused swelling on Vargas' eyelid that eventually grew to the size of an egg.
Referee Joe Cortez stopped the bout at 1:22 of the 10th because Vargas had lost his peripheral vision and couldn't see Mosley's right-handed punches.
Mosley was leading 86-85 on the cards of Chuck Giampa and Paul Smith at the time of the stoppage. Patricia Morse-Jarman favored Vargas, 86-85.
"The first round, I hit him in the eye with a right hand," Mosley said. "As the rounds went on, it got bigger and bigger and I was like 'Wow.' I was looking over at Bernard (Hopkins) and Oscar and they were yelling 'The eye, the eye.' That fight shows that I am a very strong welterweight."
After the ninth round, Cortez walked to the ring apron to confer with ringside physician David Watson and Marc Ratner, the executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission.
Ratner said they were concerned that Vargas was unable to see out of the left eye.
"Fernando couldn't see and Shane kept hitting him in the same place," Ratner said. "(Cortez and Watson) were basically saying, 'If he can't defend himself, we have to stop it.' The stop was at the right time."
Vargas, who true to his pre-fight talk tried to pressure Mosley, insisted the swelling was caused by a head-butt.
He felt he had been landing the stronger punches and that he was in control of the bout.
He protested the stoppage briefly but then seemed resigned to the call.
"It was caused by a head-butt in the second or third round," Vargas said. "It started to become a problem in the seventh. I was wondering why they stopped the fight.
"I was the one putting the pressure on him. I was backing him into the ropes. I kept wondering why they stopped it."
Mosley's superior hand speed was evident at the outset as he ripped a right hand between Vargas' gloves just seconds after the bell. Mosley landed a combination and then they traded punches on the ropes.
Mosley's wide right came over the top and caught Vargas on the eyelid. As Vargas walked back to his corner, his eye was puffing up.
They traded blows in the center of the ring in the second round as the crowd roared for Vargas. But even in those early rounds, Vargas seemed to be having trouble seeing Mosley's right.
Vargas continued his assault, though, and caught Mosley several times with hard right hands. His size and strength were wearing on Mosley as the fight moved past the halfway point.
"It was kind of like a street fight," said Mosley, 42-4 with 36 knockouts. "When he tried to push me, he was catching me with a shot at the end of a push.
"In the eighth, he hit me right on the ear and it was buzzing. Bzzzz."
Mosley said he was proud to be able to battle on even terms with a much bigger man and that he hopes to get a fight against Las Vegan Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Vargas has fought all his career as a super welterweight, but Mosley began as a lightweight and considers himself a 147-pounder now.
"This fight shows I am a very strong welterweight," Mosley said. It was a great fight tonight. Mayweather is now the No. 1 target."
In one of the undercard fights, heavyweight Cal Brock remained undefeated with a vicious one-punch knockout of Zuri Lawrence. With just a second left in the sixth round, Brock hit Lawrence on the chin with a left that put him down for several minutes.
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