Loyalties Outweigh Royalties for Vargas

For Fernando Vargas, there’s no place like home.

Vargas, who fell short in his bid for an Olympic gold medal last summer in Atlanta, was granted his wish of making his professional debut in his hometown of Oxnard.

Vargas, 19, a graduate of Channel Islands High who signed a multiyear promotional contract in August with Main Events Productions, will fight at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center in late November against an opponent to be determined.

A date for the fight has not been set, but it likely will be Nov. 20 or 22, Main Events president Dino Duva said. The undercard will include bouts involving local fighters, Duva said.

“When we first met with Fernando and were getting his schedule together, he told us that he had it in his heart to fight his pro debut in his hometown,” Duva said. “He wants to show his hometown people that he won’t forget his roots when he becomes a superstar--which we all know he will be.”

Main Events tentatively had planned for Vargas to headline a televised program at a vast Los Angeles-area arena, concluding that no venue in Ventura County was suitable because of size. However, Vargas’ desire won out.

On Tuesday, Main Events representatives toured the Oxnard Performing Arts Center, which has a capacity of about 1,800, and decided to schedule the fight there.

“He’s certainly sacrificing money doing this,” Duva said. “He could have made his debut in a big television show and it could have been a bigger gate in an arena in the city.

“But he’s saying the money isn’t important to him. After this fight, he’ll start moving around and fight in good spots with high exposure.”

Vargas tentatively is scheduled to fight on the undercard of the Riddick Bowe-Andrew Golota rematch in Atlantic City, N.J., on Dec. 14.

Vargas, a welterweight, lost a controversial decision to Marian Simion of Romania in the second round of the Olympic Games in Atlanta.