The reality
television genre has brought us the likes of “Puck,” “Snooki” and “The
Situation” throughout the years. Now it brings us one Fernando Vargas, the
former junior middleweight champion of the world, who has - believe it or not -
become a domesticated family man in Las Vegas. His and his family's exploits
are highlighted on “Welcome to Los Vargas,” which debuts this Sunday night (9 p.m.,
ET) on mun2 (www.mun2.tv/welcome-to-los-vargas).
“It's about me
and my family,” Vargas told Maxboxing back in December, “I know we have a story
to tell and this is going to be different than other reality shows. We hope to
give you an understanding of a family that's been through ups and downs - like
every other family in the United States or in the world has - and through our
love of God and through the love of each other, we've been able to stay
together. I mean, I don't know what boxer can say that he's still with the
mother of his kids!”
Ah, yes, Martha,
through thick and thin, has stood by her man. Vargas admits, “I'm not going to
say I've been perfect. I've been far from it; y’ know what I mean? But God gave
me a strong woman and I'm just grateful because she could've left many times
with all the things I put her through. God gave me a strong woman and I'm just
blessed because to be with the mother of my kids after 19 years - and this
year will be 20 - and we're still in love with each other more than ever. Like
I said, our faith brought us even closer and I just feel that my family can
give people inspiration along with a lot of laughs because we love to laugh.”
Vargas is still
just 36 years old; believe it or not. Although he's been on the conscience
of boxing fans since he represented the United States in the 1996 Olympics (when
he was a teammate of Floyd Mayweather Jr., Antonio Tarver and David Reid) and
after signing on with Main Events, he quickly became one of the game’s bright
stars with his distinctive look, fan-friendly style and open disdain for Oscar
De la Hoya. There was a certain charisma to “Ferocious” that made him telegenic
and popular. Whether you hated or loved his persona, you paid attention. But
his career was that of a shooting star because just as quickly, as he became the
youngest junior middleweight titlist in boxing history, he was retired by age
29 after losing to Ricardo Mayorga in November of 2007. In between, Vargas
faced the likes of Ike Quartey, Felix Trinidad, De la Hoya and Shane Mosley.
But he sure
packed in a lot of career in just 31 fights. Early on though, retirement was
difficult for the restless Vargas.
“It was tough
for me because I don't have a job,” said a man who only punched for pay to make
ends meet till that juncture. “It's like my job was to train, workout, be
ready, fight but I don't have a job, so it was tough because all you have is
time and you don't feel worthy. So it was tough because at that time in my life,
I became very depressed and I started drinking heavily all the time and I'm
glad God brought me out of that and I'm not going to say I don't drink now but
I do not take it to the extreme like I did before. I'm just thankful that God
took me out of that.”
During this
stretch, “El Feroz” was a rolling stone.
“I was bad, man.
I'd leave for weeks at a time,” he recalled, leaving Martha in charge of
everything else and, well, stewing. “I'd pick up the phone, call; it would
ring. She'd pick up, [and say] ‘Motherf*cker’… ‘click.’” This would be repeated
a few times as Vargas discovered that hell hath no fury like a female left
behind. Finally, Fernando would call to basically ask permission to come back
home. “I'm just blessed my wife stuck it through. I have a strong woman. I'm a
good man but I got a greater woman,” he admits.
There were
reports a few years ago of Vargas attempting another go-round in the ring. But
alas, don't call it a comeback. It ain't happening. “I moved on from that. There
was a time where I wanted to come back but you've got to understand; I have a
one-on-one relationship with God and everybody here in this house can be sick. Me,
I can walk around in a tank-top and I never get sick. My kids can be having
fevers; my wife could be like coughing up a storm and I never get sick. But
when I was trying to come back, I caught pneumonia when I was in training camp.”
The message was
clear to Vargas.
“God told me to
leave it alone and I left it alone,” he says. But boxing is still in his blood
and he now works with fighters and has opened up his own gym in Las Vegas, the
Feroz Fight Factory (which he wants everyone to know is located at 3240 Civic
Center Drive).
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Vargas Family on Film Roll - Image made by icheehuahua, Doghouse Boxing & MaxBoxing. |
Remember those
cute toddlers you'd see on the shoulders of his handlers as Vargas made his
ring walk? Well, Fernando Jr. is now 17; Amado is 13; Emiliano is 10 and he has
a daughter to boot, Mibella Lorena, who is six years old. As you see his kids
now grown up (Fernando Jr. is just months from the Senior Prom), you begin to
think about how much time has passed since Vargas was this young, precocious
boxer from Oxnard.
“It's crazy because
my son got his driver’s permit and he's driving me around and I'm looking at
him and I'm like, ‘I can't believe it. I was carrying you in my arms yesterday,
man,’” said Vargas, who isn't so sure himself where time went. His son is
actually taller than the father. “But I tell him, ‘That don't change nothing. You
can be like six feet, seven feet; I'm still going to bring you down,’” Vargas
says laughing. “[Fernando Jr.] goes, ‘Dad, why does everything have to be a
fight for you?’”
Well, it's
simple: it's because his old man is a
fighter at heart. Bottom line is Vargas had to fight. He really had no other choice. His sons - largely because of their
father’s success as a prizefighter - never had to consider this occupation. But
Vargas points out, “My kids have talent. If you go on my Facebook page and see
my kids, they can box. Amado was knocking kids out left and right and then one
day, he goes, ‘Dad, I don't want to go to the gym no more.’ I said, ‘You made
me sign you up for the gym, this and that, for nothing?!’ So I leave it alone but
they know how to fight.”
The key is -
they don't have to.
“You gotta
understand; their struggle is good because of the fact that God is good and I'm
able to make their lives more comfortable because I didn't have the Jordans. I
had to fight for my stuff. Everything I bought, everything I have in my life,
literally, I fought for. So my kids, you work hard to give them a life they
never had and for which I'm blessed,” said Vargas, once a rather incorrigible
youngster who spent time in juvenile hall and was suspended from school in
Oxnard before seeing a local commercial on TV for an amateur tournament that
brought him into the gym and to the sport of boxing. It's also where he met
Eduardo Garcia, who Vargas calls, “‘Mi Jefe,’ which is my boss, my dad. I'm so
grateful that God put somebody like him in my life so I can learn from and try
to be the father I didn't have to my kids.”
For all his
notable achievements in the ring and the millions he earned, Vargas is proudest
of the promise he kept to his wife years ago: to be a responsible father to
their kids and a husband who could be relied upon (eventually). He didn't want
to repeat the vicious cycle of his absentee father, whom he despised. As Vargas
began his amateur career, he was known as “Fernando Javier Chavez,” using his
mother’s maiden name before switching to “Vargas,” vowing to make it a surname his
family would be proud of.
Vargas sounds
happy. He seems to be in a good place, content with his life, what he's
accomplished and excited for what lies ahead. Yeah, he's now Peter Griffin - a
family guy. And it's for the whole world to see on mun2, which will broadcast
13 one-hour episodes this season.
Vargas makes it
clear; this won’t be “Jersey Shore” with Mexicans.
“I'm not going
to put my family out to look like a circus; this is not “Circus Vargas,’” he
points out with a laugh. “It's ‘Welcome to Los Vargas’; my family's not a
circus. I don't want none of that and I'm here to give the world and families
hope that through struggle, through trials and tribulations, keeping God first
and loving your family all the time - along with a lot of laughter - your family
will be alright.”
LOS VARGAS
Vargas has lived
in Las Vegas for several years now, having moved away from the 805 long ago, a
place he helped put on the map as his career ascended in the late ‘90s.
“You gotta
understand; the Bible says (paraphrasing), ‘No man is a king in his own land,’
and regardless if you have a lot of supporters, you're always going to have a
lot of haters. But that wasn't the reason that I moved,” he explained. “I moved
because you have old friends; you get old ways and their old friends that want
to hang out with you, y’ know? They're not even your friends - they're
acquaintances. So what do you do? What do you say? ‘I gotta do this. I gotta do
that.’ And I hated to keep doing that, so you gotta understand as soon as I
made money, I actually moved to Camarillo - with all the white folks.”
WEEKEND FLURRIES
ESPN3 will stream the cruiserweight title fight between Marco Huck and Firat
Arslan today...The HBO card starts at 9:45 p.m., ET...The Showtime card begins
at 9 p.m., ET...If there's an upset tonight, I think it could be Dierry Jean
over Lamont Peterson...More on this later but the IBF has mandated that Carl
Froch and George Groves have a rematch within 90 days of January 24th...I
really enjoyed “A Football Life” on Jerry Smith on the NFL Network...Did anyone
actually watch the Pro Bowl Draft? If you did, seek help…
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