Reaction From Mexico: De La Hoya vs. Vargas

So much to say, where do I start?

We arrived here in the heart of Mexico - Cotija, Michoacan - three days before the fight.

What fight am I referring to?

The fight of the year.

Fernando Vargas vs. Oscar De La Hoya. I wanted to know what Mexicans in Mexico thought about these

two great fighters. That's only if they knew who they were. Cotija is a rural town.

When we arrived, I thought it was going to be a challenge to find anyone who knew anything about the fight

let alone these two fighters. I didn't even see a small trace of advertisement - anywhere. But as the saying

goes, looks can be deceiving.

They were.

I walked around this little town asking people if they knew anything about the fight and who the fighters were.

Damn, they knew more than I did. As I asked around, we were told that a small bar/dance place was going

to show the fight through Sky Network. The day before the fight, we went to this bar and talked to the owners

who told us that they would be having the fight. I also asked if they would mind if I interviewed one of them

just before the fight and record the reaction of the crowd during and after the fight.

He agreed.

We were set. Wait - one small glitch - there was a 20 pesos charge at the door (about $2.00 US). We

scrambled through our pockets pulling out lint and some money - barely making the charge.

We were in.

As we watched the under card, more and more people started to come in. Observing the crowd - it was real

obvious who the favorite was - De La Hoya..........NOT!

I would say about 95% of the crowd was for Vargas and the rest of us were going for De La Hoya. Most of

the men were for Vargas, all of the women (and myself) for De La Hoya.

As the fight began, the crowd got loud - emotions started flying - people started cursing at the T.V. In

Spanish - F_CK  De La Hoya. The only cheers you heard for De La Hoya came from our table. I noticed that

bets started to take shape, so we jumped in. We betted against the crowd favorite. No one believed De La

Hoya had a rats ass chance on winning - especially by KO. That was good for me because I was able to

make a financially solid bet. Even though I had NO MONEY, it didn't matter. I believed and had faith that skill

and experience would win over brute force and trash talking. I was sitting with my sister and cousins (all

girls). As we cheered, people turned like if they wanted to kill us. We didn't care, we were there to support

who we believed was the better fighter.

The first round started.

Every punch that Vargas connected with the crowd went crazy as we boooooed. Vargas seemed to have a

lot of control and power behind his punches. Catching De La Hoya a few times. I looked for the back door

and I tried to decide which would be the best escape route. But round after round, De La Hoya became more

confident - started reading Vargas - taking advantage of his strong points and the weaknesses of Vargas.

Toward the 7th & 8th rounds, I knew the money was as good as mine. De La Hoya played his game to a "T."

He started connecting more and more. The 10th round came and Vargas looked sluggish. De La Hoya

looked fresh - landing jab after jab - also working the body toward the last seconds of the round. De La Hoya

connect with a punch that made Vargas wobble. I yelled and the bell rung. Vargas got saved by the bell.

By now, not even the GREAT JULIO CAESAR CHAVEZ ( who was in the corner of Vargas ) could save him.

The 11th round began and De La Hoya knew what he had to do. He goes in for the kill - connects with

several punches - Vargas wobbles back to the ropes - De La Hoya again connects to the face with a left and

a right that finally made the referee stop the fight. Vargas has had enough.

TKO.

I wonder if this brought CHAVEZ flashbacks. Oh well.... I'm cheering my lungs out, my sister and cousins

are too. Everyone is looking at us. Time to collect 9.70 ($1.00 US). I think back to earlier in the day when I

asked the people in the bar why they thought that Vargas was a true Mexican and not De La Hoya. Their

answer was that Vargas is a real Mexican because he knows how to fight and is going to kick the shit out of

De La Hoya.

De La Hoya they say - all he does is run like a bitch.

I wonder what they think of him now?

Look for the video interview we did here at the EXTRASIS BAR on the web real soon.

We couldn't stay for more interviews after the fight due to the fact the a fight broke out. Sorry.

Thanks to the owners of the bar - Juan and his partners for helping us out.

Reporting form Mexico,

Al Nava

(9/17/02)