OLYMPIC FESTIVAL : At 16, Vargas Proves Age Doesn’t Matter in Ring

Only 16, Fernando Vargas has learned that patience pays off.

On Tuesday, it earned him a gold medal.

Vargas, from Oxnard, defeated Datris Biagas, 29-15, to win the lightweight title at the Olympic Festival.

There will be a lot more medals for Vargas but probably not at future festivals.

Vargas is the youngest boxer at the Festival, and if not for his youth, he wouldn’t be here at all.

Already the U.S. lightweight champion, he was too young to participate in the competition to determine who would fight in the Goodwill Games or World Boxing Cup.

International rules do not allow boxers under the age of 17 to compete in an international event.

As the lightweight champion, there is little doubt Vargas would be on the U.S. boxing team headed for the Goodwill Games in St. Petersburg, Russia, if he were a year older.

His cruise through the Festival bouts supports the idea. Vargas has never lost at a U.S. Boxing-governed fight.

“You’re going to learn something every time you’re out there, so I don’t mind at all,” Vargas said. “My ultimate goal is to win the gold in the Olympics. This is a pretty good stepping stone. I have one gold, now I want another.

“A rule is a rule--it will come, so I just have to be patient.”

He was Tuesday.

“I knew he would like to come in on me and box, so I thought I could get him to commit,” Biagas said. “But he was more patient than I thought he would be. He’s a real good boxer.”

That’s classy praise from a man nine years older than Vargas and a winner of three consecutive Armed Forces titles.

Biagas aggravated a detached-nerve injury in his right elbow in the first of the three rounds after missing with a right cross. It limited his effectiveness considerably as he jabbed with his left and he clenched many times to try to land short hits with his right.

“Hey, I’ve won with the jab before, he was just too good,” said Biagas.

Biagas sported a raspberry-colored bruise under his left eye. “It doesn’t matter how old he is.”

So don’t be surprised if Biagas, in his second consecutive Festival, starts a petition to reduce the international age requirement.

Vargas can get international experience later this month and next at the Elite Junior Olympic Program in Colorado Springs, or at Junior Olympic Dual matches against Ireland and Canada.

“I want to enter because I want international experience,” Vargas said. “I want to win a gold at the Olympics, I want to be famous, and I want to be on TV and have everyone say ‘I know that guy.’ ”

He even says he wants to look good winning.

Those are not so small goals for a fighter whose trainer didn’t think he would pan out as a boxer.

“He thought I had fear in me or that I would take one punch and go down,” Vargas said. “Luckily, I’m not like that.”

A quick fighter, Vargas hasn’t taken many punches.

Olympic Festival Notes

In the super-heavyweight division, Lamont Brewster of Los Angeles won the gold over Juan Cruz. . . . . Marion Jones of Thousand Oaks scored 17 points to lead the South women’s basketball team to a 94-92 victory in the gold medal game. . . . . Joy Burkholder of Mission Viejo won the silver in women’s platform diving with a score of 399.45. Patty Armstrong of Woodlands, Tex., won the gold (427.45). . . . . In tennis, Amanda Augustus of Palos Verdes teamed with Katy Propstra of Arizona to win the women’s doubles gold medal for the West. Jakub Pietrowski of Huntington Beach teamed with Elliot Weiss of Dallas to win the men’s doubles title.