“El Feroz” puts together a weak performance in second loss to Shane Mosley

LAS VEGAS (July 15, 2006) – Fernando Vargas’ second loss to Shane Mosley in a devastating technical knockout most likely ended his professional career. The crushing loss certainly corroborated the notion that he is a shot fighter never able to recover from the brutal punishment he absorbed in previous losses to hard-punching Felix Trinidad and boxing extraordinaire Oscar de la Hoya.

Vargas lost to Mosley, in front of 9,722 fans at the MGM Grand and an HBO pay-per-view audience, in part because he was weak as a result of his struggle to make the 154 pound weight category having to shed pounds quickly from his natural 175 pound body weight.

Beyond his weight challenges, Vargas never showed his trademark ferocious fight style and never put pressure on Mosley. Unlike their previous fight, this time Vargas was thoroughly dominated and lost all rounds before the fight was stopped at 2:36 of the sixth round.

Vargas, a Mexican-American from Oxnard, Calif., did not mention the word retirement, instead he said he intends to move up to 160 pounds. "Never again will you see me at 154," a weight he has struggled to stay at the last 10 years.

"Congratulations to Shane," said Vargas, 29. "He caught me with a good shot. I can't take anything away from his performance. It was his night."

A replay of Mosley's rematch victory against Vargas will be shown at 10 p.m. ET Saturday on HBO.


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