Speed Pays Off for Anchondo

“Mighty” Mike Anchondo must not have gotten that memo about respecting one’s elders.

Because for most of Thursday evening, the 21-year-old Anchondo administered a beating to one-time World Boxing Council featherweight champion Gregorio “Goyo” Vargas, 32, and came away with a career-elevating unanimous decision -- 100-89, 98-91, 97-92 -- in the main event of an HBO Latino card at Grand Olympic Auditorium. The Times scored the 10-round lightweight bout, 98-91.

“Everyone said this was a step up,” said Anchondo, the La Puente native whose record improved to 23-0.

“I knew it was going to be the toughest fight of my life, and that’s exactly what it was. He didn’t hurt me, but he put a lot of pressure on me. A lot.”

And Anchondo, who was simply too fast, too powerful and too young, put a lot of leather on the face of Vargas, who dropped to 44-8-1.

Vargas’ face was already full of Vaseline and frustration when Anchondo caught him with a thunderous left hook to the head early in the fourth round, staggering Vargas back a few steps and bringing the vocal crowd of 1,905 to its feet.

Then Anchondo opened a cut under Vargas’ right eye near the end of the round, causing a nasty lump to emerge.

In the sixth, Anchondo, who was connecting with combinations at will, teed off with a right hand just behind Vargas’ right ear, sending Vargas sprawling to the canvas.

“The knockdown was gravy,” Anchondo said.

But while Anchondo could not finish him, Vargas seemed reenergized at the end of the fight, stunning Anchondo with a left hook to the ribs near the close of the ninth.

“He was just too quick,” Vargas said of Anchondo. “His hands were a lot faster than I expected. I never got into any rhythm at all. I just missed him too much.”

Said Anchondo: “I had a lot more patience -- I lunged a lot less -- and didn’t lose my cool, because I know one punch can end it.”

Anchondo, who fights under Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions banner, may have put himself in line for a title shot next year against International Boxing Federation 135-pound champion Javier Jauregui, according to Richard Schaefer, who oversees Golden Boy. (Schaefer also said that Golden Boy, which will begin its new season on HBO Latino on Jan. 29 at New York’s Gotham Hall, will promote six bimonthly cards at Olympic Auditorium next year, beginning in February.)

“I’m a junior-lightweight,” Anchondo said in semi-protest, even though he has often struggled to make the 130-pound limit and the Vargas fight was set for 133. “There’s a lot of rumors about different fighters, Carlos Hernandez [the IBF 130-pound champ] being one. We’ve got to sit down with my promoter and management and map out a plan.”

In the 10-round co-main event, lightweight Urbano Antillon of Maywood survived a slow start to win a surprisingly easy unanimous decision -- 97-93, 97-93, 98-92 -- over Adan Hernandez of El Paso.

“In the beginning, I didn’t know nothing about him,” said Antillon, who was susceptible to left hooks but improved to 12-0. “So I just had to learn and take my time to get comfortable.”

Hernandez, whose record fell to 13-2, thought Antillon was the recipient of some home cooking by the judges.

“To win over here,” Hernandez said, “we have to kill the opponent.”