Fighting Mad

LAS VEGAS —  Fernando Vargas was obviously hurt.

Deeply hurt.

The International Boxing Federation junior-middleweight champion, hit by what he thought was a low blow, flinched noticeably, then struck back with eyes flashing, showing why they call him “Ferocious Fernando.”

The blow was delivered not in the ring, where Vargas remains undefeated heading into Saturday’s pay-per-view championship showdown with unbeaten Felix Trinidad at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, but in a pre-fight news conference.

It was delivered not as a punch, but as a question: How does Vargas feel about claims by Oxnard officials that he has turned his back on that city’s La Colonia Boxing Club, failing to support, with either money or time, the program that helped him become the fighter he is.

Vargas has often credited La Colonia with turning his life around, transforming him from a street fighter headed down a dark road toward self-destruction into a gym fighter heading up a yellow brick road to fame and fortune.

“Name another fighter who wears the name of his gym on his trunks,” said Vargas, anger in his voice. “I do it so that the kids there can say, ‘He made it out. Why can’t I?’ They may not grow up to be fighters, but they can be doctors, lawyers, anything they want. You can’t even put a dollar value on what it does for Oxnard to have me come out of there.

“You’ve got to understand, there are a few jealous people in Oxnard, but most of the people in that town know what I do. I give tens of thousands of dollars on my own to individual kids, a lot more than people perceive.”

The controversy began in July, when Vargas and Robert Garcia, a former IBF junior-lightweight champion, held a news conference at La Colonia. The Oxnard natives announced that they were donating $1,000 each to the club.

But Vargas also used the occasion to blast city officials for not doing more themselves for the club.

Those remarks elicited angry responses from some city officials. They point out that public money built the club in 1977, that $270,000 in a community-development block grant paid for renovation of the facilities a decade ago, and that about $30,000 annually in public funding keeps the club open for the 60-70 youngsters who work out and use computers there.

It didn’t help that Vargas’ check was made out to Gil Ramirez, an Oxnard recreation superintendent, rather than the La Colonia club.

“I can’t cash that check,” Ramirez said. “I sent it back to them and told them it had to be made out to the city of Oxnard. I haven’t heard anything back. No response.

“We were already looking at that check for a thousand bucks and thinking, ‘This guy is making $8 million a fight. You would imagine the guy could give back a little more.’ ”

Ramirez says he is also waiting for Vargas to take back his charge that there is a lack of governmental support for La Colonia.

“I think he was wrong,” Ramirez said. “He didn’t have his figures right. Does Fernando know about the public money that goes into the club? We have asked for a retraction.”

Ramirez’s comments are echoed by Bedford Pinkard, an Oxnard city councilman who started a boxing club in the area back in 1962 and was a key force in the establishment of La Colonia.

“My concern is that sometimes these fighters forget where they came from,” Pinkard said. “Fernando Vargas needs to think, if he was still in the street, what would he be doing now? Instead of bad-mouthing us, he needs to support us.

“Fernando gave us $1,000, but I expected a little bit more. He said the city should match it. We more than match it.

“Once a fighter’s become successful, it would be nice if, somewhere along the line when he gets a big payday, he gave a little back. I don’t care if he is a world champion or not. If he learns his skills at a place like our club, it would be nice if he made a contribution.”

Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez doesn’t agree that Vargas has shortchanged his community.

“People have objected to the size of the check he wrote, but I’m thinking about, say, an attorney who has been very successful after going to local schools,” Lopez said. “If he gets million-dollar settlements, is he obligated to return a portion of that to his community? I don’t think so. If Fernando is good enough to give anything to the community, it should be accepted in that vein. People should not be saying he did not do enough.

“I don’t see any reason for this [controversy]. I think the timing is horrible for Fernando. He needs to stay focused on the Trinidad fight. It bothers me that is being brought up now. He doesn’t need this.”

Pinkard says it is not personal.

“I’m not just picking on Fernando,” he said. “There are now nine professional fighters from this city and I’m still waiting for one of them to help out.”

Vargas says that much of what he does for the youth of the community is outside the glare of the camera, by design.

“Then why did he call a press conference in Oxnard and give a speech when he wrote that check?” Pinkard said.

La Colonia officials say Garcia is a frequent visitor to the club, one who gives freely of his time to youngsters needing instruction and inspiration. But both Pinkard and Ramirez say they have never seen Vargas work with kids in the gym.

“It has been minimal, what he has done for the boxing center,” Pinkard said.

Countered Lopez, “I think he has done a lot, from the standpoint that he has brought a lot of publicity to the city. When we had the L.A. Raiders training here, people were really excited about the publicity they would bring. But they never really delivered. He has brought a lot more to the city than they ever did.

“His presence has been a very positive thing. Fernando is a very valuable commodity for us. Because of him, kids learn to feel good about themselves.”

City officials agree that the assault charges against Vargas stemming from the beating of a Santa Barbara man in 1999, charges still unresolved pending a settlement hearing next month, have not affected the 22-year-old fighter’s image in Oxnard.

And even his critics agree that, away from La Colonia, he has done some generous things.

“I’ve heard that he has gone out and bought Thanksgiving dinners for kids to the tune of $5,000 to $10,000,” Ramirez said. “To a kid, Fernando is definitely a role model. When you go to the gym, you even see them combing their hair the same way he does. In him, they see the possibility of going from rags to riches. The parents see it too. And that keeps both kids and parents involved in our program.”

Said Vargas, “I do it because I never had much when I was a kid. Giving to these kids brings tears to my eyes. We are there for them. They can come up and touch us. We are real, not just people they see on TV or in newspapers and magazines. I’m not going to call you press guys up every time I do something. I don’t have to. Just doing it is the best feeling in the world.

“But no matter what you do, there are always people out there who are going to say something.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

AT MANDALAY BAY EVENTS CENTER, LAS VEGAS

Felix Trinidad

(37-0, 30 knockouts) vs. Fernando Vargas

(20-0, 18 knockouts)

for WBA and IBF junior-middleweight titles

Card begins 6 p.m.

PST Saturday

Fernado Vargas

Fight by Fight

Record: 20-0, 18 Knockouts