Monday's final news conference between Fernando Vargas and Ricardo Mayorga in Los Angeles was fairly typical for what these two fighters have displayed throughout their promotional tours for Friday night's non-title fight at Staples Center.
For example:
As Mayorga spoke from a dais separate from the one where Vargas was seated, Vargas tore off his shirt and ran up to the plexi-glass divider to show Mayorga his ripped abs after Mayorga referred to Vargas as "this fat girl." Mayorga also ripped off his shirt, of course.
As Vargas and Mayorga were jawing back and forth, with the divider between them, Mayorga smashed the plexi-glass toward Vargas with an open hand, and Vargas returned the favor, only harder, practically bending it.
(Why the plexi-glass? These two got into a fight, the unpaid kind, during a news conference at in late July promoting this fight that was originally scheduled for Sept. 8, but postponed when Vargas became anemic.)
There were some great quotes, too, first from Mayorga: "I am going to carry a 14-pound pig named Vargas into the ring. Vargas is nothing more than a pig. That is all that he is."
And, as Mayorga held up a photo of Vargas, he said: "You see this fat girl in this photo? This is the fat girl I am going to knock out. I would like to introduce her to you today. She is Fernando Vargas."
And, with Roberto Duran in attendance, Mayorga added: "I am very proud to have Roberto Duran here to witness me beating up Vargas."
Then Mayorga gave his prediction.
"If he stands to fight like true Mexican warriors do, I'll knock him out in two rounds. If he wants to run a little bit, like a Barbie doll, it'll be four rounds."
Of course, Vargas responded in kind: "I don't like anything about Mayorga. When I knock him down I'm going to look down at him and say 'don't act stupid, it was not that hard.' That way he'll get mad and get up, so I can knock him down again."And ...
"First we have Thanksgiving dinner, then I'm going to put it on this cat," Vargas said. "I feel strong and I'm ready. He's not going to be able to take the heat.
I've been working too hard. And he knows."
And ...
"I know what fear looks like because I have seen it in past opponents. Mayorga talks a big game, but he's scared. He keeps saying I'm not in shape. I'm going to make him look stupid and finally shut him up Friday.
He didn't look as aggressive when he saw me with my shirt off."
If Friday's bout, contested at 162 pounds, on Showtime pay-per-view is as entertaining as the press conferences have been, we are in for something.
Vargas (26-4, 22 KOs), a 29-year-old two-time junior middleweight champion, says this will be his final bout. His last two fights were back-to-back TKO losses to Shane Mosley in 2006. In fact, he has lost three of his past seven fights.
Mayorga (27-6-1, 23 KOs), a 34-year-old three-time world champ, last fought in May 2006, losing the WBC junior middleweight title to Oscar De La Hoya. He has lost three of his past five bouts.
Yes, these are former world champions who each have been out of action for more than a year and clearly on the downslope of their careers. And there is no real title at stake here, but both fighters are known for their all-action styles, so don't look for this one to go the distance. Vargas is -170 on WagerWeb.com, with
the over/under rounds at 9.5.
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