"Fighting Words" - A Rematch Timed Right and A Return Too Soon

by David P. Greisman

Francisco Vargas was in one of the best fights of 2015, got back in the ring seven months later and wound up in one of the best fights of 2016. He came back after another seven months off and went directly into another battle, a warrior who knew nothing but returning to the frontlines in order to make headlines.

His was a return that came too soon.

Carl Frampton and Leo Santa Cruz were in one of the better fights of last year. They met again just six months later. They entertained once more.

Theirs was a rematch that came at the right time.

This past Saturday’s main events — one on HBO, the other on Showtime — resulted in opposing arguments regarding instant gratification.

We want the best fighters to be in tough all the time, for the most entertaining fighters always to be in entertaining fights, and for highly competitive affairs to be followed up with immediate rematches.

These are understandable desires. Sometimes they wind up being the right choice. Sometimes they don’t. There’s no hard-and-fast rule, no foolproof way of predicting how it will turn out. We can only make educated guesses.

The educated guess was that Frampton-Santa Cruz II would be worth watching.

Their first meeting was a treat. Santa Cruz was a three-division titleholder who had won belts at 118, 122 and 126. Frampton was coming off unifying two titles at junior featherweight and was moving up to featherweight to take on Santa Cruz, one of the top names in the division.

Santa Cruz threw more than 1,000 punches. Frampton controlled the distance, used in-and-out movement to avoid Santa Cruz’s shots and land his own, but also remained in range long enough at times to get drawn into exchanges. Frampton won the decision.

The rematch was going to go one of four ways. Santa Cruz could fight the same way, and it would either work or not. Or Santa Cruz could fight differently, and it would either work or not.

This time, Santa Cruz opted to box instead of brawl. He still threw 884 punches over the course of 12 rounds, but he tried to be the one controlling the distance and the pace. It was Frampton who had to adjust, and while he was able to compete and keep the fight close, it was Santa Cruz who triumphed on the scorecards.

We don’t often get immediate rematches between top fighters, rarely enough when the outcomes are controversial, even less so when the results are clear. Too often, the winner will say he plans on moving on, and he’ll insist that the loser needs to earn another shot.

Frampton and Santa Cruz each were open to a rematch after their first fight. It helped that it made sense. There was a market — Showtime was willing to pay to feature the fight on its network, and Las Vegas was going to host it, capitalizing on Santa Cruz’s fans coming in from California and Mexico, as well as Frampton’s fans flying in from Northern Ireland.

There also was no one else compelling enough for them to face someone different. One other featherweight titleholder, Gary Russell Jr., hadn’t fought in quite some time and was likely going to return first against his mandatory challenger. Another titleholder, Lee Selby, was slated to defend against his own mandatory on the Frampton-Santa Cruz rematch undercard, with a potential shot at the winner on the line. Selby’s opponent was pulled from the card days beforehand after failing a medical exam. The final titleholder, Oscar Valdez, is with Top Rank, which has only recently begun to work again with the fighters’ adviser and de facto promoter, Al Haymon.

Santa Cruz and Frampton were the biggest names for each other. Frampton’s 2016 was one of challenges, and he was going to continue that mentality by taking on Santa Cruz yet again. Santa Cruz wasn’t going to move on just yet given that he wanted to win his belt back.

And now they want a third fight.

“I’m a man of my word,” Santa Cruz said after his win. “I said if I won, I would give him the trilogy.”

After coming to the United States twice, Frampton is hoping he can convince Santa Cruz to come to hostile territory. Many fighters tend to feel a victory and the title gives them the extra leverage in negotiations. The money that would come with fighting in the United Kingdom might be quite persuasive, however.

“We have to do it again,” Frampton said. “I hope he’s a man of his word and comes to Belfast.”

They might not do it immediately, though they could. So much can go wrong when fights are left to marinate — fighters can lose, suffer an injury or begin to grow out of a division. Other options may present themselves. A third fight is still the most marketable. The rivalry has yet to be resolved.

Rivalries aren’t always resolved so soon. There’s no hard-and-fast rule.

Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez fought three times in the span of 364 days. Carl Froch and George Groves went from an enjoyable first fight to hosting their rematch in front of 80,000 raucous fans just six months later. Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward completed their trilogy in less than 13 months.

But Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera kept moving on between their battles before magnetic attraction brought them back together — they fought in 2000, 2002 and 2004. Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez were supposed to have an immediate rematch, only for Marquez to turn down a deal, and for him to then spend years pursuing Pacquiao from one division to the next until he could get a result he was happy with. Their first fight, a draw, was in 2004. Their second, a split decision for Pacquiao, was in 2008. Their third, a majority decision for Pacquiao, was in 2011. Their last, a knockout for Marquez, was in 2012.

Money and pride can be compelling reasons. So is self-preservation. Some fighters have the luxury of being able to be compensated well no matter whom they face and can take on lesser opponents without taking too deep of a pay cut.

Francisco Vargas didn’t have such a luxury. As a Golden Boy fighter, there are limited dates — HBO has a lesser budget these days than it used to, and those dates are at a premium for the promoters and fighters that the network is featuring. Golden Boy’s new deal with ESPN allows for more flexibility, though with less pay for its stable of boxers.

So Vargas, who was in the Boxing Writers Association of America Fight of the Year for 2015 and 2016, followed his come-from-behind victory over Takashi Miura and his draw against Orlando Salido by signing to face Miguel Berchelt.

Berchelt had lost once before, a surprising first-round defeat back in 2014, had won nine since but had never fought anyone anywhere near the level of Vargas. He had scored knockouts in all but three of his victories. There was no telling how he would fare against Vargas.

Vargas took the fight. He’d taken off the remainder of 2016 after the Salido fight, giving himself time to recover. It turned out not to be enough. There was still scar tissue over his left eye from a cut suffered in the Salido bout. A head butt in that spot opened a cut once again against Berchelt, the wound gaping wider and pouring blood as the rounds went on.

And Berchelt’s ability to punch — hard, well-placed, well-timed and in combination — plus his ability to take a punch made for a difficult night for Vargas. Vargas landed some good shots, a few of which had a visible effect on Berchelt, but nothing deterring him. Vargas, meanwhile, was absorbing a lot of punishment.

He ended up taking 429 shots from Berchelt before the referee jumped in to stop the fight as Vargas staggered, worn down after 11 rounds of being beaten up. That included 336 power shots. Salido had landed 316 power shots. Miura had landed 133.

Vargas might’ve been fine had he been in with a different opponent, or had he faced Berchelt on a later date. Or this may have happened nonetheless. But he had been in the kind of fights that can shorten a fighter’s career, in short order, at that, and then returned against the kind of opponent who could do damage, especially to someone who was already damaged.

Vargas won his world title in November 2015. He lost it 14 months later. He wants it back.

Pride is a strong emotion.

“It was a tough fight, and he's young with a lot of heart and passion and hunger,” Vargas said afterward. “He cut me, and I just wasn't able to see because the blood kept coming into my eyes. I am not the type of fighter to give in, and I will always be fighting. I am a warrior, and I will be that to the very end. I probably would have kept going if they wouldn't have stopped the fight. I want a rematch."

What he wants is different than what he needs, though.

He deserves a long rest and then some easy fights to gauge how much he has left to give — and how much else he should take.

“Fighting Words” appears every Monday on BoxingScene.com. Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide. Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com