Vargas victorious over Rivera
www.InsideBoxing.com

by Rick Folstad

EL PASO, TEXAS (InsideBoxing) - Saturday night in the West Texas town of El Paso, Fernando Vargas reminded us of just how great a fighter Felix Trinidad is.
    In a prize fight that could have been mistaken for a saloon brawl, Vargas recovered from an early knockdown and stopped a tough Wilfredo Rivera in the middle rounds.
    Thirty-nine seconds into the sixth, it was over, Vargas dropping Rivera to his knees with some clean shots that would have disabled a Buick. The joy and excitement of fighting in front of a TV audience were suddenly gone for Rivera, replaced by a strong need to survive the night.
    When Rivera's people threw in the towel, it was an act of mercy, a life vest tossed to a drowning man. Rivera grabbed it and hung on, happy to see that help had finally arrived.
    Throw in the towel and you save your fighter the embarrassment of quitting on his own.  Throw in the towel and he can always claim he still had fight left in him. Throw in the towel and you can over-rule the ref and maybe save a life.
    ``I'm not going to let him get hurt,'' said Rivera's cornerman, Robert Mittleman, the guy who waved the white flag. ``This could be his final fight.''
     Not a bad idea.
     But for awhile, it was Vargas who struggled, possibly reliving the nightmare he endured last December when he shared the same ring with Trinidad for 12 brutal rounds before finally being stopped just shy of the end.
    Rivera, probably as surprised as anyone, caught Vargas with one of those pretty, career-making right hands in the second round and Vargas was suddenly on his knees looking up, wondering why all the lights were on.
    He was lucky it was Rivera who landed the right hand. If it had been Shane Mosley or Trinidad, the lights would have been turned off.
    The knockdown was Rivera's one chance for fame and fortune, but the moment slipped away when the bell rang ending the round. He failed to finish what he started, a sad, familiar swan song for most contenders.
     A little humbled, Vargas climbed back to his feet, brushed off his pants, straightened his tie, rolled up his sleeves and began the job of dismantling the man who had the audacity to drop him to the canvas.
    The floor of the ring has suddenly become a regular resting place for Vargas. In his last two fights, he's been knocked down more times then the 10-pin on league night at Holiday Lanes. But say this for him. He keeps getting back up.
   That's the thing about great fighters. They find ways to come back and pull a win out of a potential disaster, turn straw into gold. Not to say that Vargas is a great fighter. Not yet. That lofty title is reserved for the handful of fighters who have continued to lick the opposition over a long period of time, lasted longer than a hit record or a new set of tires.  Greatness requires time, lots of it, and Vargas is still one of the new kids on the block, the young gun looking to challenge the fastest draw in town.
    Saturday night he was lucky he didn't find him.
    In the end, Vargas proved one thing. He proved that Trinidad is a hell of a fighter, one of the handful.
    Vargas? Only time will tell.