Vargas-Mayorga: The Calm Before the Storm.

Click for larger image © DAVID MARTIN WARR DON KING PRODUCTIONS

The carnage will be awesome. Onlookers will have to peep through their fingers to gauge whether it is safe to look. Nearby, officials will wince; eyeing every nuance of the action, hoping that animosity between the two can be sufficiently contained. Public relations officers will envision frantic damage control campaigns, hoping that their fighter will survive

to continue in the sport while Don King stands back, decked out in his beloved red, white and blue, only a cigar interrupting his irrepressible grin as this wildest of spectacles rages through a series of bloody climaxes. And that’s just the press conferences. Having experienced their share of highs and lows, both Fernando Vargas and Ricardo Mayorga re-emerged with a sense of caution, wanting to shore up their vulnerabilities. Mayorga’s attentiveness to defense under Yoel Judah means that the Nicaraguan is in no mood to endure an evening the like of which he shared with Felix Trinidad. Vargas’ return as a keen student of boxing clashes with all that has made him successful, but again, a sensible move in terms of longevity having tasted some savage punishment. Yes, their newfound admiration for the sweet science is touching, but Mayorga’s has already shown signs of dissipation and Vargas will not take too long to follow suit. Between the “Ferocious” and “The Killing One,” we expect nothing less.

Everything is falling nicely into place. If Mayorga can defeat Italy’s former IBF welterweight champion Michele Piccirillo tonight, he becomes the WBC light middleweight champion of the world. Julio Cesar Chavez is Vargas’ idol, and Chavez wore that green WBC belt throughout his historic career. The belt has thus far eluded Vargas, and he wants it…….precious. All Vargas needs to do is dispense with former champion Javier Castillejo on August 20 and, if he files the appropriate motion to the WBC of course, he will become the mandatory challenger for the WBC championship. But frankly, who cares?

On entertainment value alone, this fight should not slip through the cracks, but its main obstacle might be the return of Oscar de la Hoya scheduled to occur in 2006. Of course, by the time De La Hoya has tired of late nights and diapers, and that’s just guiding Golden Boy Promotion’s prospects, he might decide to mosey on back into the picture, and as his vast fortune assures, he could dictate championship fights from welterweight to wherever.

Considering “The Golden One’s” current weightiness, plus two disappointing exploits in the middleweight division and the fact of his likely position as the mandatory challenger for the WBC 154-pound title should Vargas decline to declare himself available, it is safe to assume that De La Hoya will figure in the light middleweight division upon resuming his career. Conceivably, Vargas and Mayorga could fight before the end of 2005 and provide a logical route for De La Hoya upon his comeback, but the inactivity level of both Vargas and Mayorga will probably hold off a potential fight until the New Year, making the intervention of De La Hoya’s millions distinctly possible.

Mayorga may think he can beat Vargas, but even the satisfaction of doing so is not as alluring as an seven-figure payday from De La Hoya. Vargas has major incentive to fight De La Hoya again, and that rematch would dictate much more money than a De La Hoya-Mayorga bout. However, in short, both Vargas and Mayorga have given their best nights to the sport already and neither could beat De La Hoya. In the potential of match-ups between this trio, as usual, much depends upon the whims of Oscar de la Hoya; would he rather aim for the money or the title? He needs neither, and boxing always needs fights such as that which Vargas and Mayorga would surely create.

Boxing fans, pray that the Vargas-Mayorga bandwagon currently ambling through its initial stages gathers speed quickly and forces a fight between the two before the end of this year. If it does not, we shall have to sit through yet another glory night in the idyllic existence of “The Golden Boy.” You know which one you’d rather see.

Contact Jim Cawkwell at jimcawkwell@yahoo.co.uk