Think back to mid April of 2000, this is when Fernando Vargas was at his best, he was in versus a very tough, but damn rusty Ike Quartey who hadn’t fought in about a year. Fernando Vargas went on to win a close unanimous decision. That night Vargas was in tip top shape, he was sharp, and his all around game looked pretty good; however, Ike Quartey more than had his moments and was able to land some sharp shots that kept him in the fight. That’s always been Fernando Vargas problem, his defense while very good at some moments in fights can be very flawed at others, his confidence in the ring allowed him to get away with or take some shots that now he wouldn’t be able to. Vargas was a tough nut to crack until he got ruined by Felix Trinidad back in December of 2000, when he got dropped 5 times in the fight, four of them by cleanup left hooks. After that he hasn’t been the same he got dropped once by the feather fisted Wilfredo Rivera and then stopped on his feet by Oscar de la Hoya, a fighter who’s power won’t remind anyone of Julian Jackson. It seems a part of Fernando Vargas died on that night, December 2nd, 2000; after the Trinidad fight he’s never been the same. Without the confidence or pep in his step, he’s at best an average fighter and MANY fighters in the Jr. Middleweight division would chew him up and spit him out.

Saturday night, Vargas was able to get away with a unanimous decision over a tough fighter who couldn’t punch worth a damn, yes, Raymond Joval who was throwing punches at an alarming rate, 99 or so per round, but most of them were arm punches with little or no technique. Yet, Vargas was scared to do anything to get his respect or take Joval out. The thing is with a guy like Joval, who is throwing that many punches, there are opportunities for you to let your hands go and inflict some damage. For some reason, Vargas played it safe and decided not to let his right hand go or come back with anything of purpose.

The thing that fans liked about Vargas was his tenacity, his ferociousness and overall attitude towards fighting. Now he looks like a broke ass version of Floyd Mayweather with that silly shoulder roll, laying up against the ropes with his chin tucked tight, and at least Mayweather will come back with some vicious combinations that will earn the respect of his opponent. I know Fernando is coming off a back injury and also fought at 160 pounds, but how can he possibly talk about fight for a title at 154 pounds after that performance; even Vargas knows that's a reach. When ask after the fight to grade his performance on a scale of 1 to 10 Vargas said “between a three and three and a half.” At least he is honest with himself, now hopefully his handlers will be honest with him.