Vargas’ Big Night Is Over in a Hurry

Fernando Vargas as under the impression he would be defending his International Boxing Federation junior middleweight title at about 9 p.m. EST Saturday at Madison Square Garden.

The press was informed the fight could begin as early as 8.

So imagine Vargas’ surprise when there was a knock on his dressing room door at a little past 7:30 alerting him he was on in five minutes.

Vargas’ first concern?

“I didn’t even have my gloves on,” he said.

Vargas, 21 and fighting as a professional for only the 16th time, was both shocked and angry at the quick stage call.

The Oxnard fighter went on to successfully defend his title for the first time since winning it last December, knocking out Howard Clarke (26-11-2, eight knockouts) of West Ham, England, in the fourth round to remain unbeaten, all his wins coming by way of knockout.

But it wasn’t easy.

“I usually like to get wrapped [with tape], stretch out, put the gloves on and [spar] with the pads,” Vargas said. “All I got after my gloves were put on was two minutes of work.

“I know it was a Don King production, but they should let you know what’s happening.”

Vargas got another shock when he entered the ring and looked out at the seats. There was hardly anybody in the sold-out arena, not surprising considering the main event was still more than three hours away.

“I drive myself off the crowd,” Vargas said. “To work my butt off for a month and a half and then to come out and see nothing was a letdown.”

Vargas was sluggish for the first two rounds, began to find his range in the third and then unleashed powerful combinations on Clarke, who went down four times in the fourth round before the fight was stopped at the 2:29 mark.

Also on the undercard, James Page (24-3, 18 KOs) defended his World Boxing Assn., welterweight title with a unanimous, but unimpressive performance against Sam Garr (25-3, 21 KOs).

Leo Gamez (31-6-1, 23 KOs) of Venezuela won the WBA flyweight championship from Hugo Soto (50-6-2, 33 KOs) of Argentina by stopping him in the third round.

The fight was stopped 33 seconds into the round after Soto went down for the third time in the fight.