Oscar de la Hoya proved too strong for fellow Los Angeles middleweight Fernando Vargas last night as he overcame his opponent in the final round to add Vargas' WBA belt to his own WBC title. De la Hoya knocked down Vargas for the first time in the bout during the final round with a left hook and then fired a flurry of punches at him until referee Joe Cortez intervened one minute and 48 seconds into the round.
It was unfortunate for Vargas as up until that point, the bout was close and would have been near impossible to call if it had gone the distance, with Vargas ahead on one judge's card. The fighters ended the tie covered in blood and de la Hoya in particular deserves credit for the way he reacted after being well beaten by Vargas in the fifth round.
Afterwards, a delighted de la Hoya said: "Vargas was a very, very strong puncher, and I had to be patient, go to the body, feint, use combinations. The strength really surprised me. At first I thought he was too strong for me. But when I was turning and he was missing I knew he would get tired. I thought he got tired about the seventh round."
It was a sweet victory for de la Hoya and not just because he earned in the region of $14m for the contest but because Vargas had continually expressed his dislike for his opponent in the lead up to the fight. "He talked a lot of stuff about me that I didn't like," De La Hoya added, "I had to teach him a lesson."
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
