Ferocious and Sugar - They Don't Mix!

By Johnny Ortiz

When fury and sweetness meet, the outcome can only result in a classic confrontation. Fernando "El Feroz" Vargas and "Sugar" Shane Mosley, two longtime good friends, will put their friendship on hold when they step into the ring at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas on the night of February 25, 2006.

For me, the fight falls in line with the times that two of my very good friends have met in the ring. I can still vividly remember during my tenure at the Main St. Gym when both Danny "Lil Red" Lopez and "Schoolboy Bobby Chacon both trained daily for their fight at the hollowed shrine.

It was tough for me because of my fondness for both kids, the same can be said when Roberto "Manos de Piedra" Duran honed his skills in preparation for his meeting with Jose "Pipino" Cuevas. They too trained at Main St.  Pipino, like all of the great Mexican champions and challengers before him, during, and after him, made "The Gym" their home away from home. Roberto, like the other great champions from across the sea, would not train anywhere else when he came to town, the only time he did was when he took a fight under short notice against Tommy Hearns.

Roberto told me that he had to accommodate the promoters by training at the Universal Studios Tour Site; he told me many years later that he didn’t get the proper training he was accustomed to when he was at Main St. He was not ready for Tommy; he entered the fight not properly prepared. He paid the price, getting stopped in two. As in the case of Danny and Bobby, I developed a wonderful friendship with Roberto and Pipino over the years; in 1996, Pipino was inducted into our World Boxing Hall of Fame, due to personal problems, he was unable to attend, he was in attendance at our 2003 Banquet where I had the honor in presenting my old friend with his long overdue, well-deserved award.

Something you might want to put on your date pad is that Roberto Duran will be an inductee at our next annual Boxing Hall of Fame Banquet and Induction Ceremony. I could not help myself from developing friendships with a lot of the great fighters that trained at the famous, legendary gym. They were not just great fighters; they each had something special that went along with their fistic charisma. Danny and Pipino were kind of on the shy side, they didn’t do much talking; they kept to themselves working hard with their trainers whereas Bobby and Roberto sometimes liked to play to the young ladies in the audience. They could also be quite vocal when the need called for it.

Now it is Fernando and Sugar time, I had known of Shane Mosley for quite sometime before I ever met him, you cannot keep a talented fighter like Sugar Shane under wraps without the word getting out. I remember my boyhood idol Enrique Bolanos once telling me of a 13-year-old super teen out of East LA by the name of Oscar De La Hoya, it would not be long after Enrique’s revelation of Oscar that I would hear of another young phenom about the same age as the future Golden Boy who was learning his trade in nearby Pomona, California, his name…Sugar Shane Mosley.

Even then, the two future superstars, without their knowledge, were laying the groundwork for their predestined collision course. I first met Shane when he came to the KMAX FM radio station in Pasadena where my mentor Joe McDonnell, Doug Kirkorian and myself set up shop to do our respective radio shows. I had a three hour boxing show called, "Ringside with Johnny Ortiz," the show originated in 1992 at KMPC, it would be the first radio boxing show ever heard in Los Angeles. It remained on the air for twelve years. This is the stage where I would finally meet the young man face to face who was destined to more than live up to the prestigious name of "Sugar."

It was Shane’s first in-studio interview, he was more than a radio host could have asked for, Shane was a little shy, a shyness that at times, still becomes him, but when it came time to talk boxing, he lit up, speaking with profound intelligence for one so young, it wasn’t long before I knew I had entered his turf and he knew all the answers. I found this handsome young kid to have an abundance of charisma, confidence and a killer smile.

I became a Sugar Shane fan that afternoon in 1995. We talked and discussed his upcoming fight at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim on July 20, 1995. In only his 18th professional fight in which he had already registered 17 straight KO’s, Shane would be fighting a good test in Mauricio Aceves, a veteran from Mexico with 42 fights under his belt, even though Aceves had seen better days, it would be in this fight that Shane gave notice to the boxing world that a star had arrived, he scored a sensational KO in four rounds…Sugar Shane Mosley had indeed arrived! The rest is boxing history.

All of Shane’s magnificent boxing achievements are now in the past, the result of his fight with Fernando will determine where his career stands, the same goes for Fernando. There has been a lot of water under the bridge since that day so very long ago; Shane now has seen better days. As a lightweight he took boxing by storm, on August 2, 1997, he won his first world title by beating IBF lightweight champion Philip Holiday.

Before deciding to move up to the welterweight ranks, Shane had scored an amazing 32 KO’s in winning all of his 34 fights. Only Holiday and a very tough Oscar Lopez were able to take Shane the distance. After becoming a welterweight, Shane would score two KO’s before meeting up with "The Golden Boy," Oscar De La Hoya on June 17, 2000…the different paths they started on so long ago had finally crossed. On the strength of a big twelfth and final round, Shane won their first meeting. I agreed with the decision, but I did not agree with the verdict in their second meeting on September 13, 2003.

I had Oscar the clear-cut winner the second time around. They fought the second fight at the jr. middleweight limit of 154 pounds, I loved Shane at lightweight and welterweight, but I never quite got used to the idea of his becoming a jr. middleweight. My thoughts were too strong of him as a lightweight and welterweight, I have always thought he was not big enough to compete with the jr. middleweights, the higher weight diminished his punching power, and he seemed to lose a little of one of his biggest assets…foot speed. Shane started to sit down on his punches rather than to fully utilize his brilliant movement.

A few months ago, Shane said he felt more comfortable being back at 147 pounds, he has won his last two fights at that weight against mediocre opposition. Now on February 25th, he is going back up to 154 pounds to meet Fernando, a former jr. middleweight champion who has fought his whole career at the same weight of 154 pounds with the exception of his first seven pro fights in which he weighed in around 149. I first met Fernando Vargas as he was preparing for his first pro fight against Jorge Morales in his hometown of Oxnard, California. Our meeting would take place while we were guests on my friend Robert Raijar’s cable boxing show, Fernando and I connected almost immediately, we developed a bond that day that I am delighted to say is still as strong as ever. Fernando, fresh from getting jobbed in the 1996 Olympics, made short work of Morales, stretching him in the very first round.

The Oxnard Kid would reel of 17 straight KO’s before having to go the distance with Winky Wright on December 12, 1999. Fernando won the fight on a majority decision. The three judges scored the fight, 116-112, 115-113, 114-114. I know that there are some people that are under the misapprehension that Winky won the fight, I beg to differ, I saw the fight, I had Fernando ahead by one point going into the twelfth and final round, a round "El Feroz" won big! In the final analysis, I had Fernando winning the fight by two points, even though I knew Fernando had a pretty good personal problem going into the fight, he put it altogether in that last round and won the fight going away. The few times I took my radio boxing show to another station, Fernando would always open my first show by sitting beside me as my in-studio co-host.

Whenever I called, he would never hesitate to oblige me. Fernando never failed to come on the show, taking calls from wherever he might be training. All I would have to do is tell my right arm producer Danny Lujan, "Get me Fernando!" In a few minutes, I could tell by the smile on Danny’s face that it was a done deal. When I was doing my show at the Commerce Casino every Friday night before a live audience, the Casino gave me the big room in order to accommodate the huge turnout of Fernando fans that came to see, hear, and talk with their idol.

It was a great night, and I am here to tell one and all that in all my years in boxing, Fernando is one of the nicest young men I have ever had the privilege of knowing. It has always tickled me whenever I hear or read when some knucklehead has bad things to say about Fernando, if they ever took the time to get to know this personable young man, they would find a sensitive, caring humanitarian with a heart of gold.

In only his 21st fight, Fernando suffered the worst defeat of his young career, on December 2, 2000, he went up against 38-0 Felix "Tito" Trinidad, Fernando’s machismo got him in trouble early. Instead of using his head, he went right at Tito, something that is not a wise thing to do, Tito had Fernando badly hurt in the first few rounds, any lesser fighter would have been out of there. Suddenly, an amazing metamorphosis began to take place, Fernando was getting hammered, yet his immense fighting heart refused to betray him, as the early brutal rounds favoring Tito went by, a strange occurrence began to take shape, Fernando commenced to fight his way back into the fight.

In round four, a well placed, signature left hook dumped Tito on the seat of his trunks, Tito, hurt and knowing he was on the brink of getting knocked out, wisely put his vast experience to work, he immediately struck Fernando low and hard, the referee had no recourse but to send Tito to a neutral corner while he assisted Fernando, giving Felix a much needed breathing reprieve. A more experienced Fernando would not have gone for the gag, he wouldn’t have been over anxious, give it to Tito; his quick thinking was what made him a great champion, he escaped disaster by buying precious time.

Fernando evened the fight out going into the latter part of the bout, but the fourth round was to be his last hurrah, the earlier beating and the will to hang in over the long haul took its toll late in the fight, he was stopped in the twelfth round. In losing, Fernando Vargas gained a legion of fans who would never forget the courageous stand the gutsy warrior from Oxnard put up. Fernando showed the heart of a lion, the kill or be killed mentality that he showed during the greatest times in his career. Fernando’s will in the Trinidad fight ranks at the very top as the one of the most courageous comebacks I have ever witnessed in boxing, proving that the heart can achieve what the mind can conceive.

Juan Manuel Marquez’ fight against Manny Pacquiao and the unforgettable first fight between Archie Moore vs. Yvon Durelle are also among the great comeback fights I have seen. I took this time to expound on my two close friends; I just wanted to set the stage for the upcoming classic confrontation that awaits both great gladiators. Now I will tell you who I think will win and the reason why.

I am picking Fernando to win the fight, I take nothing away from the great skills of Shane Mosley, its just that I think that Fernando is the bigger, stronger guy at the jr. middleweight level, that and the fact that he has recently stated that he is going back to what made him great, and that is putting his ferocious fighting mentality back to work. I know for a fact that he is in the best shape he can possibly be in, he has already been at a comfortable weight weeks leading up to the fight, something he had lost track of doing, if he were to lose this fight, it will not be that he’s not ready.

Make no mistake about it; Shane Mosley will also be in the shape of his life. He will leave nothing to chance. With that said, I think Fernando will surprise a lot of people, I think fans will see a lot of the old Fernando Vargas. Even though he has won his last four fights, he has the utmost respect for Shane Mosley; he knows that it is going to take a superbly conditioned, intelligent fighter to be able to fight hard for twelve rounds if that is indeed the case. He has to use his superior strength and boxing knowledge against a fighter he knows is ready to put it all on the line.

Shane Mosley has to fight an intelligent fight, he cannot afford to exchange punches with the harder puncher, he has to use the legs that were once his trademark, he has to get off first, pick his spots, and try to outthink Fernando if he has any chance of winning. I do not want to hear about how Fernando was stopped twice in his career by Trinidad and Oscar, if you know anything about boxing you have to realize the size of the heart that beats within the Ferocious One; it took Tito twelve rounds to finally stop a Fernando Vargas who had to fight back from a disastrous beginning.

Oscar, in a fight that was close when it ended, stopped Fernando in the eleventh round. Shane is not the puncher that Oscar and Tito are, if Fernando can go all those rounds with the two great fighters mentioned, he will surely be around to hear the final bell against Sugar Shane. Shane has proven to be an extremely durable fighter; he would have to be at the end of the road not to hear the final bell. In his last two fights, I have not seen the smooth, fast combination puncher that Shane Mosley used to be. In fairness, it might have a lot to do with motivation, something he will bring into the ring against Fernando, when Sugar Shane is motivated, he is capable of fighting the fight of his life, he will have to do just that to beat a determined Fernando Vargas.

One other thing I must bring up is the age factor, at 34; Shane will be giving away six years to the younger Fernando who is 28 years of age. If you are a heavyweight, age does not matter as much, but when you are a blown up welterweight, it could prove costly. It will be a war of wills, a war of intelligence, a war of hearts. One must remember that it is not the size of a dog in a fight… it is the size of the fight in the dog.

I will close with the wish that God blesses both Fernando and Shane on fight night and that neither of my two good friends get hurt in any way. When "El Ferroz" and "Sugar Shane" eventually come to the end of their fighting days, they will take their rightful place among the elite of the elite…they will have left their mark.