Mayorga-Vargas Conference Call Highlights
Posted by Ramon Aranda on 11.01.2007
We speak to both fighters as their November 23rd fight nears.
It's not often that two high-profile fighters have utter disgust for one another as do Ricardo Mayorga and Fernando Vargas. After their July press conference resulted in a much talked about and televised melee, the two have been anxious in getting in the ring.
The fight was to have taken place a few weeks ago but Vargas was diagnosed with anemia which forced him to pull out of their bout. Doctors told Vargas that he would need to end training camp for a few weeks before he could resume and the bout was rescheduled for Friday, November 23rd at the original site of the Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles.
A short while ago we had a chance to speak to both fighters regarding the bout and below are the highlights of the conference call:
Vargas says that he has been completely cleared by his doctor now and is ready to go. He's feeling great and is looking forward to the fight. Vargas has been training at Big John McCarthy's Gym in Santa Clarita. He likes to get away from home to fully concentrate on training.
Vargas goes home during the weekend and returns to training during the week.
On how getting ill affected his training: Vargas was off for 3 weeks to recover; mentions that he took too many pills for his aches and pains and that caused him to suffer from iron deficiency. This bout will be his last fight win lose or draw.
Vargas responds to questions regarding the fight plan by saying that he is the smarter and stronger fighter. He feels the fight will not go the full twelve rounds because Mayorga is a stupid fighter and opens up too much allowing himself to get hit. He promises that he is going to dictate the pace of the fight and will apply lots of pressure.
Currently Vargas is 5 lbs over the 166 lbs weight limit but feels good and says he'll make the weight by fight time. The anemia hurt his weight but says he's ripped right now and we'll all see how great his conditioning is.
In regards to the trash talking, Vargas says he's a "jackass" and when he knocks him down, he'll remind him verbally of what Mayorga was saying.
As he's been training in John McCarthy's gym, Big John will be in attendance with his family; they've been very supportive to him.
His taunts have not affected the way he plans his fight. Vargas will be the smarter fighter in the ring and will follow his gameplan.
Even though he is the bigger and stronger fighter, Vargas knows that Mayorga has trouble against guys who can box. He feels that Mayorga will be expecting him to come out brawling but Vargas plans to give Mayorga a boxing lesson and the knockout will come naturally.
Even if Vargas looks great against Mayorga, he makes it clear that this fight is solely for pride and not the money. After his last bout against Mosley, he felt that it wasn't really himself inside the ring and he didn't want to end his career on a down note. In regards to Mosley's fight with Cotto, he predicts that Mosley will destroy Cotto since he feels Miguel is a one-dimensional fighter. His mother and wife asked him not to continue fighting but he promised that this would be his last fight as pride wouldn't let him walk away from the sport after a knockout loss. Vargas plans to say thank you to those in attendance after the fight.
He wants to retire while he still has his health, he mentions that he doesn't want to be one of those fighters that has mental and physical problems from staying in the sport too long. He will be focusing on his promotional company after this fight. Mentioned that his win against Yory Boy Campas was one of the highlights of his career given how young he was and the amount of experience that Campas had.
The Staples Center was already booked until December for a Saturday fight so they picked the Friday after Thanksgiving as the best option as it will already be like a weekend and they did not want to postpone the fight until next year.
Mayorga interrupts the end of the call as Vargas leaves and thanks those on the call.
Mayorga says that regardless of what weight they fight in, he'll be knocking out the "fatty".
Mayorga was asked about having to wait longer to fight and how it affected his training; Mayorga responded by saying that it didn't bother him at all. He took a few days rest but continued to train and will be ready to knock out Vargas.
Ricardo said that his style is perfect against someone like Vargas. No matter what, Vargas will not last the twelve rounds. Though Vargas is the naturally bigger man, Mayorga feels that regardless of weight, he is the stronger fighter. Claims that Vargas has too many feminine traits and wont last in the fight.
After beating Vargas, Mayorga wants to win a title at junior middleweight before returning to welterweight.
Says Vargas' mother is afraid of his son having to fight Ricardo. Mayorga says that Vargas is only fighting for the money and will get knocked out and that his trash talking has clearly affected Vargas mentally.
Mayorga has not watched any recent videos of Vargas and feels that it's Fernando that should be watching as many videos as possible. He's going to make quick work of Vargas. After the fight he claims that Vargas' own wife will come into the ring and take a photo with him. He says Fernando is an embarrassment to Mexico, a country known for warriors.
Though the fight has been changed to a catch weight of 166 lbs from 162 lbs, Mayorga will likely come in at a weight lower than that due to his conditioning. Even though he dislikes Vargas, he doesn't take him likely and is training harder for him than against any other fighter. Mayorga says he wants to hit Vargas harder than anyone he has ever hit inside the ring.
Mayorga closes the conference call that he should be the favorite to win the fight and he thanks the fans for their support.
End of the call.
As a reminder, the fight will be taking place on Friday November 23rd, the day after Thanksgiving at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. Tickets can still be purchased through Ticketmaster.com or at the Staples Center Box Office. The fight will also air on SHOWTIME PPV for a retail price of $44.99.
