Vargas Wins in His Return

After a 15-month layoff because of a bad back, former two-time world junior middleweight champion Fernando Vargas made a successful return to the ring Saturday night, scoring a unanimous 10-round decision over Raymond Joval of the Netherlands.

Judges scored the fight 98-92, 96-94 and 97-93 for Vargas, who had not fought since December 2003 when he stopped Tony Marshall in the seventh round.

“I have been away for a while but I wanted to come back and try new things,” said Vargas, 27, of Oxnard. “I may not have been as tough as I wanted, but I am my own worst critic.

“I was just glad I was able to go 10 rounds and box and do some of the things that [trainer Danny Smith] has been teaching me.”

Vargas (25-2, 22 knockouts) barely was challenged, aside from a moment in the ninth round when he took a low blow that the referee did not see.

The blow allowed Joval, 36, to get in a few quick shots while Vargas winced in pain and collapsed to the ropes.

But Vargas recovered and maintained his domination of Joval (33-4, 15).

Vargas landed the bout’s first big blow, connecting with a left hook in the second round that staggered Joval, much to the delight of the pro-Vargas crowd of 9,332, the largest for a boxing card in Corpus Christi.

“I didn’t get too overly excited when I hurt him,” Vargas said.

“I used my jab. I never thought I had a jab until Danny Smith told me I had a great jab.”

Vargas used the jab effectively in the middle rounds, which brought little action. But when Joval began to tire in the later rounds, Vargas became more aggressive.

Although both fighters agreed to enter two pounds above the weight limit, Vargas, who weighed 169, said afterward that he would return to the light middleweight class and wants a shot at World Boxing Council titleholder Javier Castillejo.

Joval weighed 175.