The Future of Fernando Vargas May Be At Middleweight

Fernando Vargas beat Javier Castillejo over ten rounds last night in Rosemont, Illinois but the former IBF Light Middle Champion faded down the stretch, allowing the Spaniard to survive two knockdowns and

actually thrive in the latter part of the bout. “El Feroz” pledged to be more defensive last night and indeed displayed impressive upper body movement, at times looking Floyd Mayweather-like with shoulder rolls and peek-a-boo head placement. But Vargas was clearly running out of energy in the latter rounds and got hit much more than in the first half of the bout, something that doesn’t bode well at all for his future. The new version of Vargas looked very impressive at times, repeatedly stinging Castillejo with rights hands at will, but if the man from Oxnard, California is to succeed against the leading lights of the current 154lb division, he’ll have improve his stamina. One thought is that perhaps Vargas can no longer make the light middle limit and still remain active and strong for ten or twelve rounds.

Vargas showed much improved patience last night, studying Castillejo and capitalizing on his mistakes with sharp counters rather than forcing the issue and brawling. The power was still there in his punches as the 172lb man from Madrid was shaken several times in the bout and was sent crashing to the canvas twice. The problem was that Vargas became stationary in the latter rounds and was unable to produce the volume of offense he’d need to succeed in that method. Castillejo even became the aggressor, which he rarely does, stalking the reluctant Californian and winning more rounds than was expected.

All in all, Fernando Vargas showed he still has all the tools necessary to accomplish his goals of winning another world title but the 27 year old may have to realize those ambitions at 160lbs.

Contact Curtis McCormick at thomaspointrd@aol.com