Vargas Gets in More Swings at De La Hoya

Fernando Vargas, fresh from a first-round knockout and poised for his second professional fight, is still smarting from defeat.

Vargas, a former U.S. Olympic boxer from Oxnard, will face Claude Staten, a 28-year-old New York City police officer with a record of 1-1, in a four-round welterweight bout tonight in Atlantic City, N.J.

The fight highlights the undercard of the George Foreman-Lou Savarese heavyweight main event that will be televised by HBO. Vargas’ bout is scheduled to be aired locally on tape delay later in the evening.

Vargas, 19, who fell short in his bid for a gold medal in Atlanta, won his first fight last month and finally is making tracks as a pro after being sidelined for five months because of a hand injury.

But his thoughts recently have been dominated by what he witnessed from ringside two weeks ago in Las Vegas.

Vargas, a stablemate and sparring partner of Pernell Whitaker under trainer Lou Duva, argues that Whitaker was wronged by a 12-round unanimous decision that favored Oscar De La Hoya and cost Whitaker his World Boxing Council welterweight title.

“You can’t take away a guy’s title like that,” Vargas said. “How can that be? Whitaker landed more jabs and Oscar was missing all his combinations. I think Whitaker won the fight.”

Having been a critic of De La Hoya in the past, Vargas was quick to knock him again when Bob Arum, De La Hoya’s promoter, remarked that Whitaker wasn’t deserving of a rematch.

“Oscar doesn’t want to prove he’s a great champion,” Vargas said.

Vargas is scheduled to fight next month in New York and might have as many as 10 fights under his belt by December, according to Main Events, his promoter.

De La Hoya’s expressed desire to retire young, Vargas said, makes the prospect of a Vargas-De La Hoya fight unlikely.

“I’m not even thinking about him,” Vargas said. “I’ve just got to worry about what Fernando Vargas has got to do.”