Vargas, Page retain titles
Posted: Sunday March 14, 1999 01:28 AM
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Fernando Vargas (right) delivers a right cross to Howard Clarke prior to knocking him out in the fourth round. AP |
NEW YORK (AP) -- Fernando Vargas figured his debut at Madison Square Garden would be a smashing success. It was, but almost no one noticed.
Vargas defended his IBF junior middleweight crown for the first time Saturday night, knocking England's Howard Clarke down four times before referee Wayne Kelly finally stopped the fight at 2:29 of the fourth round.
Only a few British fans arriving early for the Evander Holyfield-Lennox Lewis heavyweight unification fight paid much attention to the bout, which took place 3 1/2 hours before the main event.
They cheered Clarke on, then applauded for Vargas after he gestured to them in the upper balcony following his easy win.
"I couldn't get into it because there was no one here," Vargas said after improving to 16-0. "It was like fighting in a gym."
Vargas had the misfortune of fighting early on the card, which has long been sold out. And his fight didn't last long enough to attract the attention of the fans at Madison Square Garden to see Holyfield and Lewis fight for the unified heavyweight title.
Clark, ranked No. 13 by the IBF, was a game challenger, but it was clear from the opening round that the 21-year-old from Oxnard, California, was in a different class inside the ring.
Vargas, who won the 154-pound title by stopping Yory Boy Campas on Dec. 12 -- five days after his 21st birthday, fought patiently early and won the first three rounds. Early in the fourth round, though, he opened up with a combination that put Clarke on one knee in the center of the ring.
Seconds later, a left hook put Clark on his seat. He got up again and a three-punch combination promptly put him down for a third time.
Clarke was still game, getting up one more time before Vargas landed a series of eight straight punches to put him down for a final time in his corner, where the referee stopped the bout.
"I listened to my corner, and they told me I would be able to get him with combinations," Vargas said. "They said if I threw 3-4 punch combinations, I would have him, ad that's what I did."
Vargas, 154 pounds (69.8 kilograms), has stopped all 16 of his opponents in a pro career that began after he failed to win a medal at the 1996 Olympics.
Clarke, also 154 (69.8 kilograms), fell to 26-11-2.
By contrast, WBA welterweight champion James Page fought before
a packed house of 21,284 as he successfully defended his title with
a 12-round unanimous decision over Sam Garr in the final fight
before the main event.
Page (24-3), making the second defense of the title he won Oct.
10 by stoopping Andrei Pestriaev, started slowly but gradually wore
Garr down. By the sixth round he was landing heavily to the head
with both hands and the outcome of the bout was no longer in doubt.
Even as Page and Garr fought, however, the loudest cheers came
from the estimated 7,000 British fans among the crowd who cheered
loudly whenever an image of Lewis appeared on the giant television
screens above the ring and booed just as loudly when Holyfield was
shown.
Page, 147, of Pittsburg, Calif., was favored by 11 points on one
card, six on another and three on a third. Garr, 1461/2, of Atlanta,
fell to 25-3.
In the other heavyweight bout on the card, James Ruiz kept his
position as the No. 1 WBC contender by knocking Mario Cawley down
four times before the fight was finally stopped at 1:09 of the
fourth round.
In another title fight, Venezuela's Leo Gamez knocked down WBA flyweight champion Hugo Soto twice in the second round and once again in the third before the fight was finally stopped with Soto on the canvas 33 seconds into the third round.
Gamez, the WBA No. 1 challenger, hit Soto with a right hand that dropped him for the first time midway through the second round. A minute later, two rights put the champion from Argentina down, but he got up and finished the last few seconds of the round.
Gamez (31-6-1) opened up with a flurry in the third round, and Soto (50-6-2) went down again. He appeared able to get up but watched as he was counted out.
"He just caught me by surprise," Soto said. "I didn't have time to warm up."
Both fighters weighed 111 pounds (50.3 kilograms).
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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