By Matthew Hurley

There is a tendency in every sport to kick a man when he’s down.  When an athlete disappoints or carries on too long and sullies his career or reputation he leaves every accomplishment he achieved up for question.  True fans are a passionate but forgiving lot.  Not so with sports writers. 

The more wicked they are the more readers they get.  Even if a fan hates a particular writer because of this he often ends up reading those mean spirited articles anyway just to infuriate himself and gather fodder for debate.  It’s the nature of the business and one I’ve personally tried to avoid, but sometimes I can’t help myself and in the past I’ve been a little too hard on boxer Fernando Vargas.

The simple fact is, Fernando Vargas was a very good fighter with a heart as big as California, but blessed with more desire than skills.  That desire carried him a long way.  But when he ran into better fighters, Winky Wright, Felix Trinidad, Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, that desire could only carry him so far. 

Sure, he got a disputed decision against Winky Wright but it’s obvious now, with hindsight, who the better fighter was (and many people, myself included, thought Wright won that fight).  He lost in dramatic fashion in bouts with the other three and there is nothing to be ashamed of in that because all three will probably go to the boxing hall of fame.  And it was Fernando’s tenacious will to win that pushed them to the edge and made them prove their worth.  There is a hell of a lot to be said for that.

It was nice to see Fernando conduct himself with grace and humor at the post fight press conference.  He finally seemed at ease with himself, despite the fact that he lost a fight he was never even really competitive in.  He talked about his wife, he laughed about his weight and waved off questions about his future. 

He seemed to finally realize that he doesn’t have anything left to prove.  Perhaps that chip on his shoulder has finally been knocked off and he can sit back and say to himself, “hey, I gave it my all.”  And he did.  Every time a boxing fan plunked down their hard earned cash on a Vargas pay per view you knew you were going to get your nickels worth.  That means a whole helluva lot to true boxing fans.  It wouldn’t matter if he lost – you knew he would give it everything he had and when he had no more to give he would fall dramatically, but try to get up.

You can’t ask more from a fighter.  Fernando Vargas, and his lighter weight compatriot Arturo Gatti (who fights this weekend) are the purest examples of upper echelon fighters who prove over and over that it’s not the wins on the ledger that count, but the will to climb through those ropes and give it everything you’ve got every time both for pride and for your fans.  And there haven’t been too many fighters in recent memory with more loyal fan bases.

Fernando Vargas mentioned at the post fight press conference that he would never again fight at 154 pounds.  He jokingly articulated this by chomping on a power bar and, unabashedly, revealing that yes, his future wife does love his ripped abs when he trims down but she never gets to take advantage of them before fights (hint, hint) or after because he’s too sore and he’s ready to chow down on Mexican food. 

Just by revealing himself, finally, in a gentle, boyish light made everyone in press row laugh.  That’s not something Fernando Vargas is known for and it hinted at the notion that he had finally purged himself of whatever demons haunted him for so long and drove him to the thuggish attitude he personified before and after fights.  He seems to be a man at peace with himself and that was truly nice to see.

Fernando Vargas was not a hall of fame fighter, but he was damn good and he was damn entertaining.  He made future hall of fame fighters like those that defeated him better because he was so tough and determined.  They had to raise the level of their game in order to get past him.  There is nothing to be ashamed of in this. 

Boxing is a sport that loves the underdog, the fighter that just kept trying and his story becomes even more dramatic when he doesn’t quite make it. There is something so human and approachable in that story. 

The everyman can’t relate to an Oscar De La Hoya or a Sugar Ray Leonard but they can relate to a Fernando Vargas because he lost and always seemed on the outside looking in.  There he was, on the dais after the fight, conducting himself like a gentleman, while Oscar, Shane and Bernard Hopkins – all in cahoots together – grinned and rubbed their hands together as they counted dollar signs in their heads.  But Vargas made people laugh and then he shook Mosley’s hand.  It was a nice ending.

So “Ferocious” Fernando goes out like he always maintained he would, on his shield.  It was an appropriate ending and hopefully he will call it a career.  If he doesn’t his fans will still cheer him on, but even they know his time is over.  But for ten years, the precocious kid from Oxnard, California fought with his heart on his sleeve and his fans on his back, and even in defeat, never let them down.