View Full Version : Vargas - Joval op HBO
De wdestrijd van Joval wordt aanstaande zaterdag uitgezonden op HBO. Dit is echt de kans van Jovals leven. Als hij nu goed voor de dag komt dan .......
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~29583~2773481,00.html
Refreshed Vargas return
By Robert Morales
Sports Columnist
Fernando Vargas could hang up his gloves today and not have a financial worry in the world. He owns Total Communications by Fernando Vargas, and has been well advised financially by his co-manager, Rolando Arellano. But Vargas, the former two-time junior middleweight champion from Oxnard, still has the desire to accomplish more in the ring. It's why he has spent the past 15 months rehabilitating a bulging disc in his back.
Vargas (24-2, 22 KOs) will square off against Raymond Joval (33-3, 15 KOs) on Saturday in Corpus Christi, Texas, in a middleweight fight that will be televised by HBO.
It will be Vargas' first fight since stopping Tony Marshall in the seventh round in December 2003 in an outdoor arena in Tucson, Ariz. By the time the fight was over, temperatures had dipped to near-freezing, not the best elements for someone with a bad back.
Arellano believes fighting in that weather, where the boxers were being covered with blankets between rounds on Tucson's coldest night of that year, did aggravate an existing condition.
But Vargas, with the help of new fitness coach Robert Ferguson, has taken the bull by the horns and has worked his aching back into fighting condition.
"With the strength training I have been doing with my coach, all I can say is that it is stronger," Vargas said Friday via telephone from Corpus Christi. "I do get pains here and there, but strengthening the core muscles around the back, it keeps it from flaring up too often.
"That is how I'm maintaining. That way I'm keeping those muscles strong."
Vargas, who also battled and conquered a thyroid condition, said that not only is his back in better shape, so is he. As of Friday, with still eight days before Saturday's fight, Vargas already was down to 164 pounds, only four pounds over the middleweight limit.
"I am leaner than ever," said Vargas, whose only other fight at middleweight was against Marshall. "Working with Robert Ferguson, he is really helping me with everything. He knows everything about food.
"Exercises are not overdone. Just enough to strengthen your muscles for boxing, and not stuff you won't use in boxing."
Vargas was almost giddy. His enthusiasm came through over the phone, loud and clear. So did Arellano's.
"This is our best camp ever," Arellano said. "He (Vargas) is strong. I see the igniting of a fire in him."
There are reasons. Vargas has held the International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Association junior middleweight titles. But he wants very much to win a World Boxing Council title. To him, in many ways, it is the most prestigious belt a fighter can have.
"I set a goal of being world champion, and luckily God has blessed me and I was the youngest to do that in the junior middleweight division," said Vargas, 27, who was 21 years and five days old when he won the IBF championship by stopping Yory Boy Campas by seventh-round technical knockout on Dec. 12, 1998.
"And I've been two-time champion," Vargas said. "But I am looking for one more belt and that is the WBC. The only belt you want is that green one. To me, that is the Mexican belt."
The WBC is green in color and the organization is located in Mexico. Its current junior middleweight champion is Javier Castillejo, and since Vargas said he is moving back down to junior middleweight after Saturday's fight, that is who Vargas and Arellano said they are going after next.
There are two other reasons why Vargas is still fighting, despite the back pain that will probably never go away entirely. Their names are Felix Trinidad Jr. and Oscar De La Hoya. Both stopped Vargas -- Trinidad in the 12th round, De La Hoya in the 11th -- and Vargas wants them in rematches.
"I would love to, if it is possible," Vargas said. "By me getting the WBC belt, I think that would entice either of them. Being that they already beat me, hopefully that will entice them more."
Site situation: The recently signed WBA heavyweight title fight between champion John Ruiz and James "Lights Out" Toney will take place April 30, but the site is still to be determined.
It had been reported last week in other publications that it would be held at Madison Square Garden in New York. But Toney's promoter, Dan Goossen, on Sunday said a deal with MSG was not done.
Chavez and son: Julio Cesar Chavez and his son, Julio Jr., will take part in an autograph and picture-taking session from 2 to 5 p.m. Tuesday at Staples Center's Star Plaza.
Chavez Sr., a living legend who still won't hang up the gloves, will take on Ivan Robinson of Philadelphia in a 10-round super lightweight special attraction on a May 28 card at Staples.
Chavez Jr. (17-0, 12 KOs) will fight a six-round lightweight bout against an opponent to be determined.
Chavez Sr., 42, is 106-5-2 with 88 knockouts. Robinson is 32-9-2 with 12 knockouts.
Also on that bill, Carlos Hernandez (41-4-1, 24 KOs) of West Covina via El Salvador will square off with Jesus Chavez (40-3, 28 KOs) of Austin, Texas, in a 12-round super featherweight fight. Both are former world champions. Rafael Marquez (33-3, 30 KOs) of Mexico City will take on Tijuana's Ricardo Vargas (37-10-3, 12 KOs) in a defense of his IBF bantamweight belt.
The event will be available on pay-per-view. Tickets begin at $25.
Hopkins to fight at Staples: A longtime source told the Daily News that Bernard Hopkins will shoot for his 21st middleweight title defense in a fight against Jermain Taylor in July at Staples Center.
The deal reportedly was signed over the weekend.
http://www.tigerboxing.com/articles/index.php?aid=1001244971
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FERNANDO FINDS HIS WAY BACK
TigerBoxing.com
03/22/2005 - Philadelphia
By Rick Woelfel
Throughout his career, Fernando Vargas has fought with the aura of a man with something to prove, whether he was stepping through the ropes as a rising prospect or as a world champion.
Less euphemistically, it could be said that Vargas fights with a chip on his shoulder. And in some ways that’s understandable.
For despite his talents, Vargas’s successes have often been lost in the shadows of other men, first as an amateur and more recently as a pro.
As he prepares to end a 15-month layoff by stepping into the ring against Raymond Joval this coming Saturday night, Vargas’s career is largely defined by two fights that he lost. At age 27, he still has something to prove as a prizefighter.
A native of Oxnard, Cal. near Los Angeles, Vargas first started making a name for himself as a young amateur. By the age of 16 he was a Junior Olympic champion. More amateur laurels followed and at age 19, Vargas found himself in Atlanta as a member of the U.S. Olympic team.
Fighting as a welterweight, he lost in the second round to Marian Simon of Romania, a verdict that had made him just another face in the crowd when he turned pro. In the business of boxing, Olympic gold medalists (see: Leonard, Ray; De La Hoya, Oscar) or fighters who should have been Olympic gold medalists (Jones, Roy or Holyfield, Evander) get big-money contracts to turn pro. Olympians who don’t win medals must get to the top the hard way. Olympic medalists are heroes; Olympic non-medalists are just fighters with potential.
But if Vargas’s all-action style was a less-than-perfect fit for international amateur competition, it was ideally suited to the punch-for-pay ranks. His professional debut was delayed for a time, due to a broken right hand suffered in training, but on March 25, 1997, Vargas took the stage in his hometown and dispatched Jorge Morales in the just 56 seconds!
Vargas may not have been the most stylish welterweight in captivity. But it was immediately apparent that he could punch. In a span of 15 months he stopped 13 consecutive opponents while traveling coast to coast and fighting in such diverse locales as the Arco Arena in Sacramento, the Convention Center in Austin, Tex. and the legendary Blue Horizon in Philadelphia.
There is nothing the cable networks like better than a prospect with a punch and so it was that on Aug. 22, 1998 Vargas, now fighting as a junior middleweight found himself facing Darren Maciunsnki in Atlantic City on HBO’s Boxing After Dark series. The bout was a warm-up for a main event between Arturo Gatti and Ivan Robinson and Vargas made the most of his opportunity, scoring two knockdowns and stopping Maciunski in the sixth of a scheduled 10.
Less than four months later, Vargas was back in Atlantic City, this time to face Yory Boy Campas for the IBF light middleweight belt. Vargas dominated from the outset; after seven rounds, Campas stayed in his corner.
Just five days after his 21st birthday and after just 15 professional fights (and 15 knockouts), Vargas was the owner of a championship belt.
In his first two defenses, Vargas stopped Howard Clarke (four rounds) and the previously unbeaten Raul Marquez (11 rounds) before taking on mandatory challenger Winky Wright, who at the time was still tying to make his mark on the boxing public, having already established a reputation within the sport as being too dangerous an opponent for an up and coming fighter to face.
Vargas worked hard down the stretch and escaped with a majority decision after 12 rounds in December of 1999, setting up a tussle with Ike Quartay the following April. Quartay had been the WBA welterweight champion; more to the point, he had taken De La Hoya a full 12 rounds the previous February before dropping a split decision.
He didn’t do as well against Vargas, although the fight went the full 12 rounds. When it ended, Vargas had won a unanimous decision and the comparisons to De La Hoya had begun. More on that in a moment
After a so-what fourth round stoppage of Ross Thompson in August of 2000, it was time for Vargas to face Felix Trinidad. The match was made for December of 2000 in Las Vegas.
This was the bout that was supposed to establish his legacy, to identify him as an icon rather than merely an outstanding fighter.
Instead, it was a fight that raised questions for which Vargas had no answers. Trinidad put him on the canvas in the opening round and was mostly uphill from there.
Vargas scored a knockdown of his own in the fourth round, but in the final stanza, ran out of gas. Trinidad put him down three times in the final round before referee Jay Nady stepped in. Vargas was well behind on all three cards at the time of the stoppage and his supporters were left to wonder if Trinidad had exposed him.
Those questions only increased in volume after Vargas’s next start the following May against Wilfredo Rivera. Vargas had to get off the canvas in the second round before rallying to stop his man in the sixth.
No matter. With Trinidad having stepped up to middleweight to go after Bernard Hopkins, Vargas stopped Jose Alfredo Flores in September of 2001 to set up a junior middleweight unification bout/mega fight with De La Hoya.
It took a year to get the two men in the same ring and the bout took on cultural overtones that galvanized Southern California, although the bout was to be held in Las Vegas.
The taunting that went on between the two combatants was more than the usual boxing hyperbole; their dislike was genuine, perhaps fueled by jealousy on Vargas’s part. After all, De La Hoya had become everything that Vargas had hoped to be, not just a fighter, but the rare fighter who transcended the boundaries of his sport. And of course, he had earned an Olympic gold medal, four years ahead of Vargas.
While Vargas had compiled an outstanding record, the non-boxing fan didn’t know much about him. Still, he was an icon to many in the Hispanic community in Southern California and few would deny the passion he brought to the ring with him every night.
But on the night of Sept. 14, 2002, passion was not enough. Vargas controlled the early part of the fight, but De La Hoya proved to be too fast and too accurate with his punches. By the end of Round 10, the outcome was becoming inevitable. In the 11th, Vargas was on the canvas, before Joe Cortez stopped the fight at the 1:48 mark.
As if the loss were not enough, Vargas failed a post-fight drug test. After he tested positive for steroids, the Nevada State Athletic Commission handed him a $100,000 fine and a nine-month suspension. Vargas maintained that he took the steroids unknowingly by placing his trust in a nutritionist who is no longer a part of his team.
Vargas left the ring without a title and in a sense without his legacy. He fought twice in 2003, stopping Fritz Vanderpool in July and Tony Marshall in December before stepping into the shadows.
Epilogue
Losing a prizefight forces a man to ask questions of himself that perhaps he doesn’t want to answer. By any standard, Vargas has known success in a profession in which only a select few find it.
But the question of whether he has achieved true greatness is still to be answered. And the more perplexing question for Vargas, the question of what future he has in boxing, is still a dark void.
Saturday night, he will take his first steps, however tentative, toward resolving that issue. He may not like the answer he gets. But he should be praised for having the courage to ask the question of himself.
Vargas hopes to avoid Reid fate
http://www.secondsout.com/USA/news.cfm?ccs=229&cs=15881
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By Anthony Evans: One of boxing's most loved attractions, Fernando Vargas, finally returns after an injury enforced 15 month layoff this weekend not so much anxious to pick up where he left off but pick up where he tailed off some years previous to that.
Vargas, a two-time champion, is a fine world class champion. However, from 1998-2000 he looked like a true legend in the making. He is only 27, and there's time a plenty to win more world titles and perhaps even avenge one or both his KO defeats (to Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya respectively) but he has to get going this Saturday in Texas.
The hugely popular 'El Feroz' last fought in December 2003 when he looked shop-worn against journeyman Tony Marshall. The former two-time junior middleweight champion was obviously suffering badly with the bulged vertebrae which would ruin his 2004 but, also, there was the creeping suspicion that the Aztec Warrior was already past his prime.
When a 21-year-old Vargas blitzed a path to the IBF world title in 1998, hammering the experienced Yori Boy Campas into submission inside eight rounds, there were two schools of thought. The first was we'd witnessed the birth of a major new star; the second was the boy wonder, despite proving that he could beat world-class opposition, had been pitched in too deep, too soon and that his career would be shortened as a result.
Well, Vargas did become a huge star and - witness Saturday's sold out return at the American Bank Center, Corpus Christi, Texas v Ray Joval - he remains a huge star. But now the Oxnard, California native must prove that he didn't leave his best form behind at the start of the decade.
After thumping Campas, Vargas beat the likes of Raul Marquez, Winky Wright (albeit controversially) and Ike Quartey. But then came the brutal, foul-filled war with Trinidad in December 2000 where Vargas was yo-yoed off the canvas four times before he was stopped in the 11th.
Despite Vargas scoring a consolation knockdown before he went down in flames, he took such a pounding that comparisons were made with his 1996 Games team mate David Reid.
'American Dream' Reid, you'll recall, was put on a similarly fast track to a version of the 154lbs championship. Reid ripped the WBA title from Laurent Boudouani in only his 11th fight but the wheels began to fall off almost immediately and, then, came a knockout loss to Trinidad which ruined him beyond repair. Reid retired, a cautionary tale, in November 2001 after getting beaten up by fringe contender Sam Hill.
After the Tito defeat Vargas recovered to win back a version of the 154lbs title only to be stopped late again by De La Hoya in a fight Vargas tested positive for steroids. The his back began to seriously hinder his career until, finally, he was forced to take a year off.
Now El Feroz is back and his fans will be wondering what, exactly, he can do at the new weight of middleweight.
Jovel is a good comeback opponent. The 33-3 (15) boxer from the Netherlands has only lost to teak tough IBF No.1 Sam Soliman in the last six years and will come to win.
But winning won't be enough for Vargas. The wisps of David Reid's American Nightmare are now threatening to engulf him just as they did his 1996 team-mate.
El Feroz is back, but how is his back?
Just one of the questions to which we seek answers.
VARGAS: FEELING JOVIAL AFTER DARK THIS SATURDAY?
TigerBoxing.com
03/23/2005 - Philadelphia
By Rick Woelfel
http://www.tigerboxing.com/articles/index.php?aid=1001244973
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Fernando Vargas is in a place where no fighter wants to be but where most eventually will be. Vargas will end a 15-month layoff when he squares off against Raymond Joval of the Netherlands in a middleweight 10-rounder Saturday night at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Tex. HBO will air the bout on Boxing After Dark (9:45 p.m. Eastern Time), which will give the people who care about Vargas, and there are quite a few, an opportunity to judge for themselves as to where their man is and where he is going. To HBO’s credit, the cable giant has matched Vargas with an opponent who, in theory at least, is something more than a tomato can.
A native of The Netherlands, who now fights out of Brooklyn, Joval came to America to start his professional career in January of 1994; his first 10 professional fights took place on U.S. soil. He won 23 of his first 24 bouts and while campaigning in Europe in the late 1990s held minor league-versions of the middleweight title. All that is well and good, as is Joval’s overall professional record of 33-3. But two numbers stand out. One is 15; the number of knockouts Joval has managed to record among his 33 wins. The other is 36, his age, nine years older than his opponent. He has one statistical edge; since Vargas was last in the ring on Dec. 12, 2003, Joval has fought three times, including a one-sided 12-round points loss to Sam Soliman in an official IBF middleweight eliminator in July of 2004 in Temecula, Cal., a bout in which Joval was knocked down once and lost every round on two cards and 11 of 12 on the third. His last start was a third-round stoppage of someone named Rodriguez Muhammad in a scheduled eight round bout at a Connecticut casino this past January.
Since his much discussed suspension, after testing positive for steroids in the wake of his loss to Oscar De La Hoya, Vargas has fought twice, stopping Fitz Vanderpool in the sixth of a scheduled 10 in July of 2003 in Los Angeles, then stopping Tony Marshall in seven rounds five months later before disappearing into the obscurity from which he is about to emerge. He’ll come into the ring Saturday night with a record of 24-2 with 22 knockouts, while somehow managing to be ranked second among junior middleweights by the IBF.
This would suggest that Vargas’s future after this fight will be at 154 pounds and that with a win Saturday night he would possibly be in line for a shot at Winky Wright. And win he should, assuming that the Vargas who will be on display in Corpus Christi is anything close to the Vargas who a while back was one of the most exciting fighters on the planet. Whether he will be or not, is the most significant question surrounding this encounter. For on the surface, Joval does not appear to be someone who will give Vargas any serious difficulty. Even when he was holding minor titles, he was never a big puncher as his knockout total clearly indicates. The signs point to his being a veteran pro who might, just might, have enough left to make Vargas work a bit, but won’t pose a serious threat.
The real intrigue surrounding this fight centers on what Vargas has left, or doesn’t have left. At his best, he was one of the most exciting fighters in the sport, but being spectacular does not necessarily equate to greatness. (As an aside, we would offer the view that the term “great fighter� is one that is often overused). And in his two biggest fights, against Trinidad and De La Hoya, he not only lost, but was stopped.
So as Vargas finishes his training the questions are the same ones that fighters have had to answer for generations. What kind of shape will he be in? Is his chin now and forever suspect? Will his timing be off after a 15-month layoff? Will Javol have enough left to answer any of those questions or to offer Vargas any kind of a test? In short, does Vargas have enough left to become a legitimate title contender at either 154 or 160 or, is he, at 27, a shot fighter with a bad back on the way down?
Standard queries to be sure, so here are some answers, our answers, at any rate. On this occasion, Vargas will be fighting as a middleweight, which may or may not be the best place for him at this point. So he may not be in the best shape of his life Saturday night, but that probably won’t matter much.
Vargas may not have had the skills to beat a De La Hoya or a Trinidad at their peaks. But he is aggressive and there can be no question about his courage. Expect Vargas to come out fast at the opening bell. Joval is an experienced pro and has never been stopped, but the evidence would suggest that he doesn’t have sufficient power or speed, particularly at 36 years of age, to keep Vargas at bay. If the ‘new� Vargas is anything like the old, he should be finished with his evening’s work in no more than four to six rounds.
But there is one more question lurking in the shadows, one that Vargas has perhaps asked himself, in those moments when he is alone with his thoughts and his fears. What if the old Vargas has disappeared forever, blown away on the desert winds on that September night in 2002 when he entered the ring as a champion and left it with his career in tatters? What then? Better fighters than Vargas have become shop-worn men in the twinkling of an eye, most recently Roy Jones. And every fighter knows it can happen to him and, moreover, that if he stays around long enough it will happen to him.
On Saturday night, there will be questions Vargas will want to answer. And one he will not.
Damn! Echt spannend dit. Ik gun het Joval van harte, maar Vargas is wel echt de koning.... Joval gaat het sowieso moeilijk krijgen. Nu maar hopen dat hij de avond van zijn leven heeft en Vargas een wat mindere.
Hoop echt dat Joval dit gaat winnen maar die Vargas is echt gevaarlijk hij heeft KO power in zn vuisten.
Don Bartolomeus
24-03-2005, 12:26
Joval wint op KO........................ 8)
ROIDRAGE
24-03-2005, 12:40
ik hoop echt dat Joval wint. ik gun et em zo
--Fernando Vargas vs. Raymond Joval--
By Boxing Times Staff
http://www.boxingtimes.com/previews/2005/050326vargas_joval.html
Former world champion Fernando Vargas is set to return to the national stage and HBO, when he enters the ring against Dutch middleweight Raymond Joval in a ten-rounder at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas, on March 26.
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Former IBF and WBA junior middleweight champion Fernando "Ferocious" Vargas (24-2, 22 KO's) Oxnard, California. 5'10", 158 pounds, the 27-year-old Vargas' trainer of record is Danny Smith and is managed by Shelly Finkel.
Style: Vargas is a boxer/puncher who likes to bang. At times that has hurt rather than helped Vargas' career. What many people overlook is that he is an excellent boxer with fluid moves, nice balance and athleticism. He likes to double up on the left hook and is at his best when he cuts off the ring and can unload a searing left hook to the body followed by a short right cross on the button and then another hook upstairs.
Significant Bouts: Vargas was just five days past his twentieth birthday when he captured the IBF junior middleweight crown in 1998. Behind rocket-like right crosses and crushing left hooks, Vargas hammered Yory Boy Campas into submission to score a seventh round TKO. The challenger jumped Campas from the opening bell with a well-disciplined attack that rarely allowed the champion to counter. The former Olympian cut Campas' right eye early in the third round and continued to score was savage right hand leads throughout the contest. Vargas' salvos turned Campas' face into a bloody pulp and with the champion bleeding from the mouth and the eyes, he decided he had enough after seven full rounds. With the victory, Campas along with Floyd Mayweather, became the second member from the 1996 USA Olympic boxing team to capture a world championship. Vargas went on to successfully defend his crown five times with wins over Howard Clarke (TKO 4), Raul Marquez (TKO 11), "Winky" Ronald Wright (MD 12), Ike Quartey (UD 12) and Ross Thompson (TKO 4). However, Vargas lost a brutal 12th round TKO to Felix Trinidad in December 2000. In that fight, Vargas was down twice in the 1st and three times in the 12th, Trinidad hit the deck in the 4th and both fighters had a point deducted for low blows. Six months later, Vargas returned to the ring and scored a hard fought sixth round TKO over Wilfredo Rivera. In August 2001, Vargas captured the WBA junior middleweight belt by recording a 7th round KO over Jose Alfredo Flores.
In September 2002, Vargas suffered the toughest defeat of his boxing career, when Oscar De La Hoya stopped him in eleven rounds. Vargas was undone by boxing's most basic weapon the jab. The lasting impression of Vargas' bloody encounter with De La Hoya, however, was his left silver boxing shoe quivering like a tuning fork after getting dropped flat on his back in the eleventh round. Boxing and moving, De La Hoya neutralized Vargas with the jab before landing a jackhammer left hook that floored the WBA super welterweight titleholder in the 11th. Vargas was able to beat the count but after getting pinned in the corner following a searing volley of unanswered shots from De La Hoya, referee Joe Cortez wisely halted the carnage at 1:48 of the 11th round. The momentum of the title fight moved back and forth between both boxers over the first five rounds of high velocity action. Vargas attempted to maul and muscle De La Hoya around the ring and was most effective along the ropes. De La Hoya controlled the contest in the center of the ring behind a stiff left jab, and an effective straight right cross. De La Hoya began taking control of the fight in the 6th, 7th, and 8th, opening up a deep gash under Vargas' right eye. With blood pouring from the wound, Vargas began to fade. De La Hoya's right cross effectively moved and maneuvered Vargas within target range before closing the show with a whistling left hook to the jaw and then a flurry of 10-ounce Reyes' leather. Vargas was out of action for another ten months before he returned to the ring and scored an impressive 6th round TKO over Fitz Vanderpool, at the Olympic Auditorium in downtown LA. Vargas fought once more at the end of 2003, and scored a 7th round TKO over the veteran Tony Marshall.
Strength: Vargas throws wicked left hooks to the body and when he's in rhythm he will double up with his best shot. He has an underrated right cross and on occasion he will catch opponents flat-footed when he fires whistling lead right hands. On the inside, Vargas knows how to move, block and counter. In close quarters he's very dangerous with a right uppercut to the chin.
Weakness: Vargas has been plagued by a bad back, which had hampered his training and ability to fight for the last two years. Vargas' simply doesn't have the best chin; Trinidad had him on the deck four times, Rivera once and De La Hoya also once. Factor in that Vargas has also been cut several times over the course of his career and that he is coming back after back problems; leaving one to wonder just how much he has left in the tank.
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Raymond "Hallelujah" Joval (35-3, 15 KO's) Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The 36-year-old Joval is 5'10", and listed at 160 pounds. Joval's trainer of record is Hector Garza.
Style: Joval is a boxer and a mover with just enough pop on his shots to keep you honest. He is a ring veteran who knows all the tricks of the trade and you can look for the Dutchman to use his head on the inside like a third glove. If you think Evander Holyfield use to headbutt a great deal, wait until you see Joval working with his shaved skull on his opponent's profile in close quarters.
Significant Bouts: Joval is coming off a third round TKO win over Rodrigues Muhammad, this past January at the Mohegan Sun, in Uncasville. Prior to that he was dominated over the 12-round distance and lost to Sam Soliman, in an IBF middleweight title eliminator. Joval was on the deck in the 4th, and he lost on all three judges' scorecards, 107-120, 107-120 and 108-119. In February 2004, Joval won an eight-round technical decision over Angel Hernandez. The former 160-pound contender Hernandez suffered numerous cuts around his both eyes from head butts and sharp right hands before veteran referee Bobby Ferrera eventually halted the carnage. Making his first appearance in an American ring in eight years, Joval reduced both of Hernandez's eyes to gory slits.
Joval sported a dyed blonde hair braid around the circumference of his shaved skull and when the fighters traded shots on the inside, his head continuously came in contact with Hernandez's damaged eyes. The crown was reminiscent out of something from the motion picture "Shaka Zula" and it was surprise that the Arizona fight officials let Joval wear his hair in such an unusual and dangerous manner. Judge Joe Garcia scored the bout 77-75 for Hernandez, however, he was overruled by Gerald Paultz and Brish Wilson, who both had Joval the victor, 77-74. Joval holds wins on his resume over Agostino Cardamone (TKO 9), Mpush Makembi (MD 12), Francisco Antonio Mora (UD 12) and Lansana Diallo (UD 12).
Strength: Joval still moves well at 36, however, there's only so much tread on the tire. He has a solid jab and can get your attention with his right hand. He will throw a number of punches and should show up in good shape. Watch out if you are on the ropes because he will lead with the top of his skull and the Dutchman will also ring your chimes below the belt if he can screen out the referee.
Weakness: With only 15 KO's on his record Joval doesn't have much power. He tends to slap his left hook and has to set his feet if he is going to deliver the goods. Judging off his lackluster performance against Sam Soliman, Joval is on the down side of his career and his greatest threat to Vargas is by fouling and head butting.
Prediction: Despite his long layoff because of injuries this should be Vargas' fight all the way. Joval has never been stopped before but that should end in this fight. We look for Vargas to corner the Dutchman and hurt him with body shots before eventually shifting his attack upstairs then teeing off and forcing the referee to stop this one via a seventh round TKO. The one danger as mentioned several times, is that Joval can cut people with his Billy-goat style and there's a nasty scar tissue over and under Vargas' right eye.
Ha! Leuke beschrijving! Volgens mij is de schrijver niet echt onder de indruk van Joval als ie zegt dat "fouling" zijn beste wapen en beste kans op winst is. Daar doet ie Joval toch wel een beetje tekort mee.
Inderdaad deze schrijver is niet echt gecharmeerd van Joval... of mischien een iets te grote fan van Vargas... Hoop dat Joval wint zal wel héél erg moeilijk worden...
Anonymous
24-03-2005, 22:33
Ja volgens de bookmakers gaat het ook erg moeilijk worden voor Joval om te winnen..
De winkansen bij www.betonfighting.com:
FERNANDO VARGAS -675
RAYMOND JOVAL +475
-675 betekent dat als je 675$ dollar op vargas zet en hij wint. dat jij 100$ dollar wint
+475 betekent dat als je 100$ dollar op vargas zet en hij wint. dat jij 475$ dollar wint
Nogal een verschil he...
Anonymous
24-03-2005, 22:39
[quote="DAFORZE"]
+475 betekent dat als je 100$ dollar op VARGAS zet en hij wint. dat jij 475$ dollar wint
moet zijn:
+475 betekent dat als je 100$ dollar op JOVAL zet en hij wint. dat jij 475$ dollar wint
Raymond Joval leeft op in VS
Door Theo Reitsma
http://www.ad.nl/artikelen/Sport/1111775636244.html
Niemand hoeft Raymond 'Hallelujah' Joval duidelijk te maken hoe belangrijk vandaag zijn wedstrijd in het uiterste zuiden van Texas is.
Uitgerekend in Corpus Christi bokst de diepgelovige Amsterdammer tegen Fernando Vargas. Joval is 36 jaar. Veel tijd heeft hij als bokser niet meer - hoewel de wereldkampioen in zijn klasse, Hopkins, op zijn 40ste nog veruit de sterkste is. Stan Hoffman, zijn manager, vat het helder samen: ,,Raymond heeft toekomst als hij wint.''
Joval is halverwege deze week uit het koude New York naar het warme Corpus Christi gekomen. Hij heeft uitstraling als nooit tevoren. ,,Man, ik heb hard gewerkt'', is zijn verklaring. Dat gebeurde in het bergachtige gebied boven de wereldstad. Afgezonderd was hij, in Catskill. De training was zijn enige, dagelijkse afleiding. Op een groot bergachtig stuk land van Hoffman met een paar huizen en een gym onderwierp hij zich aan de training van de zoon van oud-wereldkampioen Floyd Patterson, Tracy. Gevangenisbewaarder is het eigenlijke beroep van de trainer.
In Catskill bokste Joval begin 1994 zijn eerste profpartij. Anderhalf jaar later sloot hij zijn eerste Amerikaans avontuur af. In 2003 knoopte hij de banden met de Verenigde Staten weer aan. ,,Ik wist, dat ik dat moest om werkelijk wat te bereiken. In Europa, in Nederland had ik het gezien.''
Juli vorig jaar stuurde Hoffman hem na een zware nederlaag terug naar Nederland. ,,Bel me als je verder wilt.'' Toen Joval enkele weken later contact zocht, kreeg hij van de 74-jarige manager een reeks veranderingen voorgezet. Trainen in New York werd ingeruild voor trainen in het kamp in Catskill en trainer Rocca vervangen door Tracy Patterson.
Hoffman: ,,Soms denk je dat een bokser oké is. Dat was vorig jaar zo. Achteraf denk je dan, wat was er nou niet, waarom verliep het zo vreselijk slecht? Dan kom je tot de conclusie dat er onvoldoende chemie was. Een bokser lijkt goed, maar is het in de ring niet. De training heeft onvoldoende effect. De aanwijzingen uit de hoek zijn er niet of hebben geen uitwerking. Dan moet je ingrijpen. In zo'n geval ben ik niet aardig. Rocca is vervangen.''
Joval: ,,Hector heeft me tot een bepaalde hoogte gebracht, maar ik moest verder. Daarom is Tracy gekomen.''
De zoon van de man die in 1952 goud won bij de Olympische Spelen in Helsinki en op zijn 21ste de jongste wereldkampioen in het zwaargewicht werd - en dat met een korte onderbreking zes jaar was, bokste ook zelf. Hoffman: ,,Floyd kocht van zijn eerst verdiende centen in Brooklyn een huis voor zijn moeder. Dat was bij mij om de hoek. Tenminste waar ik in een drugstore werkte. Door hem kreeg ik interesse in het boksen. Sjouwde tassen in het begin, werd manager later. En natuurlijk volgde ik die andere Patterson, toen hij bokste, eerst als amateur, later als prof. We raakten in contact en nu is hij een van mijn trainers.''
De verandering is merkbaar. Joval lijkt veranderd, sterker. In januari bokste hij een partij, die hij in de tweede ronde door knock-out afmaakte. Veel tijd is sindsdien niet verspeeld om de volgende grote stap te zetten. Hoffman zegt Joval in alle jaren dat hij hem kent niet in zo'n vorm te hebben gezien als nu. Wat belangrijker is: Joval straalt het ook zelf uit. ,,Dit is de belangrijkste partij tot nu toe. Ik zie het als een erkenning. Ik sta in het zaterdagavondprogramma van HBO (de tv-zender die zoveel boksen in zijn programma's stopt; red.). Dan moet je wat voorstellen. Ik bid om succes.''
Fernando Vargas Goes Back To Work This Saturday
By Chris Robinson (March 25, 2005)
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http://www.doghouseboxing.com/Harrison/Robinson032505.htm
http://www.doghouseboxing.com/Media/fernandovargas_Big_hogan.jpg
Love him or hate him, there’s no denying what ‘Ferocious’ Fernando Vargas has given to the sport of boxing. Truly one of the pure blood n’ guts fighters in the game, the former Jr. Middleweight champion has seen the highest of highs while also tasting the lowest of lows. ‘El Feroz’ is making his return to the ring this Saturday, March 26th on HBO against Raymond Joval, with eventual hopes of regaining his glory at 154 lbs. on the agenda. Fans and detractors alike should both be tuning in, and no matter what it's just good seeing Vargas back in action again.
We’ve seen Vargas do a little bit of everything in the ring; following the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta he began his professional career and got off to a fast start. Then a mere 19 years old, Vargas would carve through the competition impressively, with each win coming by way of the short route. Vargas would make the transition from USA’s ‘Tuesday Night Fights’ over to the HBO airwaves and a title shot against rugged veteran ‘Yory Boy’ Campas would follow on December 12th, 1998, just days after Vargas’ 21st birthday.
Vargas fought with savvy far beyond his years as he busted Campas up, picked his shots, and taunted his man before forcing him to quit after the 7th round. With the win, Vargas took over the reigns of the IBF belt while also becoming the youngest champion the division had yet to see. Tears rolled down the Oxnard, California native’s face as he celebrated one of the finest moments of his career. From there Vargas’ story would be filled with both high notes and low points. He was dominating against Raul Marquez in Nevada, stopping the former champion in 11 one-sided rounds. Against Ronald ‘Winky’ Wright he was vulnerable and had to dig deep in the late rounds to pull out the win. Questions regarding Vargas’ place in the sport would circulate, but ‘Feroz’ would silence the critics just months later in April of 2000 against former WBA Champion Ike ‘Bazooka’ Quartey. On this night Vargas looked as good as ever, beating Quartey to the punch and out muscling him on the inside. Vargas gave Quartey angles and dished out a punishing body attack to slow the Ghanaian down. A unanimous decision was announced as Vargas screamed in triumph while being lifted in the air. Vargas let it be known that he desired a showdown with WBA champion Felix ‘Tito’ Trinidad and his wish would be granted at the end of the year.
They always say to be careful what you wish for and this would prove true as young Vargas found himself in deep waters early against the deadly punch of Trinidad. A left hook from the Puerto Rican would floor Vargas moments into the first round, and Vargas would hit the deck again moments later as he fought to survive the opening stanza. Vargas fought back bravely, even managing to floor Trinidad, but this would not be his night as he was knocked out in punishing fashion in the 12th.
The loss seemed to be heartbreaking but Vargas picked up the pieces and moved forward. A shaky win over Wilfredo Rivera would lead to a meeting with ‘Shibita’ Flores, a bout in which Vargas slowly but surely picked his man apart, scoring a TKO in the 7th and the WBA belt along with it. A year later Vargas would tangle with a man he openly despised, Oscar de la Hoya. For years Vargas expressed his wishes to get De la Hoya in the ring and in September 2002 he would again have his date with Oscar. The fight was an excellent one, as Vargas started strong, bullying De la Hoya and appearing to build up a lead. ‘The Golden Boy’ would turn things around by way of classic boxing and eventually start to take over late in the fight. Vargas was stunned late in the 10th round and finished off a round later, with his dreams again being halted.
Since the loss to De la Hoya we have seen Vargas score two lopsided wins over Tony Marshall and Fitz Vanderpool, with neither contest seeming to show the best Vargas has to offer. Due to various injuries, Vargas has spent well over a year away from the sport he loves. He returns with a new focus and regardless of who he fights he will make things more than interesting. How far Vargas goes from here is yet to be seen, but it's good to see him back where he belongs, inside the ring fighting for all boxing fans to see.
mooi stukkie. Thanks Makijs
Is There Any Ferocity Left?
By Steve Kim (March 25, 2005)
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http://www.maxboxing.com/Kim/Kim032505.asp
http://www.maxboxing.com/media/vargasIntense_main.jpg
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This Saturday night at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas, Fernando Vargas returns to the ring after a 15-month hiatus against Raymond Joval.
During this period Vargas has had an opportunity to rejuvenate his mind and body, along with tabbing the services of a new trainer, Danny Smith.
At age 27, Vargas will tell anyone and everyone that this prolonged layoff is just what the doctor ordered. With his typical swagger and bravado, he believes that his best boxing is still in front of him, and he bristles at any suggestions that he is already past his prime.
But did his prime end on the night of December 2, 2000? It was on that winter night at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas that he was sent to the canvas five times in losing valiantly to Puerto Rican superstar Felix Trinidad. In many ways it was the best of Vargas. But was it the last we saw of that Vargas?
Many critics say that the Trinidad fight came too soon for Vargas, but then he was always just as precocious as he was 'Ferocious'. As soon as he came out of the 1996 Olympic Games, he put the gas pedal to the floor. His career was not going to be driven at 55 m.p.h.
In 1997, his first year as a pro, he boxed nine times, an incredible amount in this day and age. And even then, he wanted the bar raised on who he was facing.
"Early on, he clearly wanted to step up," said Carl Moretti, V.P. and matchmaker for Main Events, which has promoted Vargas throughout his career. "In his first ten fights he was someone that I never really had to worry who I put him in with. He was always looking for a challenge. The first five or six fights didn't present much of a challenge and Shelly Finkel (his manager) and Fernando himself said, 'Hey, I want to fight 10-round fighters.'
"So he had eight or nine fights and he was in with ten round guys. So he always wanted that challenge early on."
In his second year as a pro he would perform six times, which culminated in an eighth-round TKO of Yory Boy Campas for the IBF 154-pound title, in just his 15th professional bout. Campas was a veteran of over 70 bouts by that time. So at age 21, Vargas became one of the youngest junior middleweight titlists in the history of the sport.
Two fights later in July of 1999, he would dismantle another former titlist, Raul Marquez in 11 heats. Clearly, Vargas was starting to come into his own. He was an imposing blend of size, functional speed and passion.
But it was also around this time that he would run into legal problems stemming from a burglary charge that would hang over his head for well over a year.
But it didn't seem to stop the Vargas express, as he would squeak by a then unknown Winky Wright in December of 1999 and then give Ike Quartey the most comprehensive loss of 'Bazooka's career.
It was a fight that Vargas himself pushed hard for.
"Yeah, I mean it was a mutual thing but the stars were aligned at the time where we could make the fight. Sure, we had some apprehension going in but he really wanted that fight and he showed why during that fight," said Moretti.
Two fights later he would face the vaunted left-hooker from Cupey Alto.
To really put into perspective just how much more seasoned Trinidad was coming into that bout, Vargas, coming in, had a mark of 20-0, while Trinidad had 18 title fights alone.
Seconds into their duel, Vargas would find himself on the floor in pieces like the faux brick wall he had broken through on his way to the ring. He was 'thisclose' to being stopped in the opening round. Amazingly enough, he would fight his way back into the contest, buoyed by a fourth round knockdown of his own off a left hook. But he would finally succumb to Trinidad's savvy and experience, getting floored three times in the 12th and final round before Jay Nady did the merciful thing and called off the fight.
It was among the bravest performances in recent memory.
But at what cost did it come?
At the post-fight press conference, Bernard Hopkins would state to the gathered media, "You don't feed steak to a baby," in alluding to Vargas and his 1996 Olympic teammate, David Reid, whose career as a world-class prizefighter was effectively ended by Trinidad nine months earlier.
In Vargas' next bout six months later against Wilfredo Rivera - who was hand-picked by Main Events because of his recognizable name and light punch - would send Vargas face first to the canvas in the second round before being stopped himself in the sixth.
Did Trinidad do more than just defeat Vargas? At what cost did the accolades in that losing performance come? Couldn't that fight have waited another year?
"The fighter clearly wanted it, it was hot at the time," says Moretti, defending his company’s decision. "He lost the fight but in a way I think he started what Bernard Hopkins finished. If you look at Trinidad after that fight, he was physically beat up at the press conference and was emotional and everything like that.
"It took a lot out of him as well, even though he came back. I think he started something that Bernard finished and it was a great payday, it was a great action fight and he's sorta became a hero in losing in the way he fought the guy, despite getting out of the first round the way he did.
"You can't change any of the decisions that were made."
One thesis that was thrown around was that perhaps in light of Vargas’ uncertain legal situation, that Main Events decided to roll the dice and cash out as early as they could, lest they have another Tony Ayala Jr. on their hands.
Moretti denies this.
"I don't think so, they were there but whether or not he took those fights, the legal problems are still there. So it's not like they were going to be rid off if he didn't take a fight or did take a fight. So I don't think they entered into any decisions."
But you just have to wonder, while great careers are built over time, why were they in a rush? Instead of a marathon, it seems Vargas and his representatives were in a sprint.
After beating Shibata Flores in September of 2001 for the vacant WBA junior middleweight belt, Vargas would then face his archrival Oscar De La Hoya 12 months later. In another entertaining duel, he would get stopped by the ‘Golden Boy' in 11 rounds.
In two subsequent fights, he has looked less-than-sterling against Fitz Vanderpool and Tony Marshall.
Even his own manager, Finkel, admits that his fighter’s last couple of performances were, "Not up to what he was capable off. I'm not sure how much of it was the residue from the fight with Oscar. We'll see this Saturday, but I think you'll see a different Fernando."
So the question has to be asked, was it too much, too soon?
"As an athlete it may have been too much, too soon," says HBO's Larry Merchant, who has called most of Vargas' pro bouts from ringside and will be there on Saturday night. "But as a businessman he made a lot of money from two huge fights, both of which were giant crowd pleasing fights and left him with still apparently a very large following. He's still only 27 and the issue is going to be whether he has the desire and the ability to modify his style so that he can be successful."
This is true, because while Vargas suffered two career-defining losses, he did make millions of dollars in the process and his fan base has not suffered. He would face Vanderpool in front of a sold out crowd at the Olympic Auditorium on a hot, steamy summer night in Los Angeles and another SRO crowd was there to see him face Marshall on a frigid night in Tucson, Arizona.
Hot or cold, he can move tickets. A capacity crowd of around 9,000 is expected at the American Bank Center while Main Events haven't spent nary a nickel on advertising.
Vargas' last bout against Marshall came in December of 2003, and last year a pay-per-view bout versus Javier Castillejo was scratched due to Vargas' uncertain health.
Long layoffs and inactivity have been a common theme of Vargas' career. To put it into perspective, after his busy schedule in 1997 and 1998, he would fight a total of 40 rounds between December of 1999 and 2000. Since that loss to Trinidad, he has fought just 37 rounds in the last 40 months. But maybe, he needed this last hiatus. "Probably," says Finkel, "but you'll know better after Saturday."
Vargas promises something new!
http://www.fightnews.com/
A press conference was held today for two-time 154lb champion Fernando Vargas and Ray Joval, who collide Saturday in Corpus Christi, Texas. "I am very excited about Saturday night," said Vargas. "We worked hard in camp. Danny Smith is a great trainer. When I decided I was ready to come back I asked who Ishe Smith’s trainer is because Ishe helped me prepare for the De La Hoya fight. He was hard to it in camp. Danny has opened my eyes. I thought I knew everything there is to know about boxing. You’re going to see something on Saturday. Just wait." Vargas said he'll be moving back down to 154 after this fight.
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Joval commented, "Saturday night is a great opportunity for me. Vargas is a great opponent for me. I want to show everyone a great fight. It will be a classic." Joval's trainer Tracy Harris Patterson added, "Ray’s looking forward to a big fight Saturday night. He didn’t come out to be an opponent. He’s in great shape. Ray will prove to the world he is one to be reckoned with."
http://www.compuboxonline.com/btot.html
Tale of the Tape
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