Boxing Press Conference: Fernando Vargas – Ricardo Mayorga
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Don King and Main Events hosted a follow-up press conference to “The Brawl†this past Wednesday in New York City. The aptly titled event held the unofficial first round of the bout earlier this month in Los Angeles when Fernando Vargas and Ricardo Mayorga broke out into a melee above the head of Main Events’ CEO Kathy Duva.
Both promoters and the Affinia Manhattan Hotel that hosted the event did everything possible to prevent a repeat of the Los Angeles brawl. Each fighter and their respective teams had their own tables and dais set up on each side of the ballroom. A separate platform was in the center of the room which was set up for a potential stare-down that would separate the fighters by a thick piece of eight by four foot piece of plexi-glass.
The Two-Time World Champion Vargas, 26-4 (22), arrived on-time and participated in multiple interviews for nearly an hour. Three-Time World Champion Mayorga, 28-6-1 (23), decided to take in a morning workout before arriving about an hour late.
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The press conference had barely begun before a rant between Vargas and Mayorga began which was mostly spoken in Spanish. A few of Mayorga’s sentences were translated by his interpreter who had a difficult time trying to keep up with all the trash talking.
Actions spoke louder than words when Mayorga left his dais and made his way towards the center of the room. Kathy Duva implored Vargas to remain at his dais as she prepared for another altercation by putting on a helmet to avoid getting in the middle of another melee. Vargas ignored Duva and also made his way towards the center of the room. Although both fighters were held back by much of the media, that didn’t stop them from continuing to yell at each other without the microphones.
Vargas returned to his dais and spoke into the microphone talking in both English and Spanish “All the time this guy does a little show, (yelling) arrggghhhh look at this I’m going to kill you, arrggghhhh, and then after… nothing.†Unfortunately, the remainder of the Vargas rant was in Spanish.
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Mayorga continued his aggressive trash talking from his own dais, this time speaking slow enough to allow his translator to repeat his rant to English. “You are not going to lay me down; you will lay your wife down next me… I’ll be the step-dad to your kids after this fight.†Mayorga would step to the middle of the room once again challenging Vargas, “I’ll step to the middle of the room, alone. You do it too.â€
Now standing on a chair in the middle of the room, Mayorga taunted Vargas while flailing his arms and pointing towards him. Vargas would remain at his dais this time, making fun of Mayorga continuing to yell in Spanish.
After about fifteen minutes had gone by with the opening arguments, things settled down long enough for Duva to introduce Kermit Cintron, 28-1 (26), who will face Jesse Feliciano, 15-5-3 (9), on the undercard. Cintron is coming off his dominating performance on July 14 with a devasting knockout of Walter Matthysse in the second round.
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“I am glad to be back, I made it an easy night on the 14th and hopefully it will be another easy night on September 8,†said Cintron. “I am glad to be able to fight on the undercard of Vargas and Mayorga, especially Vargas because he is a great guy and great champion.â€
After a few more formalities, Shelly Finkel was introduced as Vargas’ business manager for his newly formed company VEP, Vargas Entertainment Promotions. “I am going to keep it brief because Fernando and his crew have to leave in about ten minutes to catch a flight.†The translator for Mayorga echoed his yelling, “Fernando why are you running!†Finkel would reply for Vargas, “The reason he is running is because he had the courtesy of being here on time when all the press was here on time…your man had to train and that’s fine.â€
Mayorga made his way towards the plexi-glass wall to goad Vargas into a stare-down while King kept yelling at the Vargas camp, “no, no, no, get another plane!†Much of the Vargas camp and hotel staff held back Vargas to prevent a possible explosion between the fighters as Mayorga continued to taunt him behind the plexi-glass wall.
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Eventually, both camps agreed to the pose down with not just the plexi-glass separating them but also a human wall. After a brief stare down, Vargas would say only a few words at the podium before exiting through a side door, “The eyes never lie and in his eyes I see fear, what I saw in Los Angeles and what I see here is fear. Men with balls are very few in this world, but people with big mouths, many in the world and he is one of them.â€
As Vargas made his exit, King yelled, “The plane, the plane… who do they have to go meet? Ricardo Montalbon?†referencing the television show Fantasy Island .
King spoke for some time promoting the event and introducing Mayorga’s camp.
Mayorga eventually took the podium and although calm without Vargas in the room, his softer tone delivered an aggressive message. “I am sorry if I have offended anyone…if you want to put money on the fight, I would bet two or three rounds. I predict I will knock him out in two.â€
“I had a dream last night that I threw a rotten orange at Fernando and hit him in the chin and he went down. He didn’t get back up; that’s what is going to happen on September 8. Fernando knows this is his last fight and the reason he says that is because he knows he will lose. He will lose in the worst way.â€
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Although no punches were thrown during this press conference, the verbal attacks were much more convincing than Bernard Hopkins pushing Winky Wright during their weigh-in last week. It may all be hype to promote the event, but Mayorga does have a knack for getting under people’s skin, and the cut he suffered under his eye from a Vargas punch in Los Angeles was not a fake. Let’s hope the fight is as exciting as the promotion.