'Bad blood'

De La Hoya, Vargas exchange shoves at news conference

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Oscar De La Hoya and Fernando Vargas engaged in a shoving match during an often raucous news conference to formally announce their super welterweight title fight.

Clad in a Gucci shirt with a large cross around his neck, Vargas strode to the stage Wednesday at a downtown hotel accompanied by an entourage which included two associates holding championship belts aloft.

When Vargas reached the dais, he exchanged words with De La Hoya, who was wearing a gray suit. The two shoved each other, and Vargas put his hands around De La Hoya's throat before they were separated.

No punches were exchanged and a measure of calm was quickly restored.

Members of Vargas' camp later shouted an obscenity in Spanish when promoter Bob Arum referred to De La Hoya as a "true gentleman" during his introduction, and Vargas used an obscene phrase while declaring himself a "real Mexican."

When asked later why he used the obscenity, Vargas said he did not remember using it.

De La Hoya's trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr., directed angry words toward Vargas, saying the fighter was under "house arrest." Vargas is wearing an electronic monitoring device to fulfill a 90-day jail sentence following a no contest plea to one felony charge of conspiracy to commit assault in connection with a 1999 incident near Santa Barbara.

Arum said security was heavier than for any other boxing news conference he has been ever involved in. Reporters were required to wear credentials, and organizers took the rare step of barring individuals from the news conference who could not prove they were part of the news media or connected with the fighters.

A uniformed Los Angeles police officer stood at each end of the dais and several plainclothes security guards, employed by the hotel, were stationed nearby in a ballroom filled with representatives of both fighters.

In separate interview sessions, Vargas, of Oxnard, Calif., said he admired De La Hoya, who grew up in East Los Angeles, when the latter won an Olympic gold medal in 1992. But those feelings ended two years later when the then-16-year-old Vargas trained with De La Hoya.

Vargas said he would provide further details about his dislike for De La Hoya after the May 4 fight.

De La Hoya, who turns 29 next month, said he hated the 24-year-old Vargas, a word he said he had never used before to describe an opposing fighter. He also said Vargas was "obsessed" with him, likening him to a "celebrity stalker." Vargas denied the charge.

De La Hoya, 34-2 with 27 knockouts, said he would knock down Vargas four times in the fight billed by promoters as "Bad Blood."

Vargas (22-1, 20 knockouts) said he would defeat De La Hoya and cause him to retire.

The fight at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas has been sanctioned by the WBC as a defense for De La Hoya's super welterweight title, Arum said.

Negotiations are under way between Vargas' promoter, Main Events, Inc., and the WBA to also make the fight a defense of Vargas' super welterweight title, Vargas' co-manager, Shelly Finkel, said.

 

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