Quote:
Originally Posted by SweetPea
While no one can question Fernando's heart or desire, he was never talented enough to beat the top guys and he never will be. He had very good punching power, but what separates the very good fighters from the great fighters are speed and reflexes. Fernando, even at a young age, never had the reflexes to avoid being hit with big punches (especially left hooks) and he also didn't have the chin to absorb big punches once they landed.
Very few fighters can absorb the kind of punishment that Vargas took against Trinidad and ever be the same fighter again. Since that fight, Vargas has had three major fights (DLH and the 2 vs. Mosley) and he has lost all 3, 2 of them coming by crushing KOs, both on huge left hooks.
Everytime Vargas fights a top-notch guy, the results will be the same, and they figure to get more lopsided the older he gets. And you can't say "Oh, he beat Winky and Quartey!" because that was a long, long time ago, before Trinidad took his pound of flesh from Vargas.
Luckily for Vargas, he's made a ton of money from his big fights and should be financially secure. He should retire.
CC sweetpea, that's a good way to put it. I always liked Vargas and think he was SOOOO close to being one of the premier fighters in his day. He gave Tito and Oscar hell and they both had their hands full with him. I always admired his warrior spirit and toughness. I think he may have been brought up a bit too fast and I agree that Tito fight took a lot out of him. He took so much punishment in the first round alone, but refused to go down and gave Tito everything he could handle.
Still, he's much older than his 28 years. Still, there is absolutly no shame in any of his losses, all of which came from world class fighters who had to give it their all the beat him. Lossing to Trinidad, DLH, and Mosley...just goes to show how he never backed down. Still, he didnt look like his oldself in that last fight against mosley. I think he's still got some left, but I dont want to see him take anymore abuse.
CC to bodyhead as well for starting this thread :)