Vargas will be the exception if this one is really the end

It’s difficult to get real warm and fuzzy about Fernando Vargas. Sure, he’s a boxer and you aren’t expected to take them home and toss them in the crib with the baby.

But with Vargas, it’s a special challenge.

You need to get past the tattoos, the six-inch diamond-studded cross necklace, the Rolex that hangs loosely from his left wrist, the limos, the entourage and all the gang-speak.

As in, “Friday, we gonna be kickin’ some ass, bro.”

In civil English, that would mean that he expects to emerge victorious in a 162-pound match against Ricardo Mayorga in the feature bout of a card at Staples Center tonight.

They are calling this one “The Brawl,” mostly because boxing seems compelled to call these things something. Maybe the sport has a long-term contract with a sign-maker who is somebody’s unemployed second cousin. Who knows?

Maybe they should have called it “The End.”

Vargas, of Oxnard is 26-4, will turn 30 in two weeks and has said he is finished after the fight, no matter what.

“I got my investments,” he says. “I don’t have to work anymore. I don’t want to end up like Eddie Futch, coming to the fights and walking around with a cane.”

If Vargas actually retires, he will break a 327-year string of boxers un-retiring within six months of their retirement announcement. Don’t schedule the ticker-tape parade yet.

Mayorga, of Nicaragua, is 33, has lost six of his 35 fights, has dished out many beatings and taken a similar number and, if Vargas is correct, is no longer comfortable in his pugilistic pursuits.

“He’s scared, man,” Vargas says. “The eyes don’t lie.”

Nor do the emotions.

Boxers generally feign dislike for each other to help the hype. Vargas and Mayorga aren’t feigning.

Vargas says that once Mayorga “feels the heat, he won’t be able to take it.”

Mayorga triggered a melee at a July 11 news conference when he insulted Vargas. These things are always phony, but this one actually drew blood.

Mayorga started the uprising by referring to Vargas as “fatty,” and that necessitated a question the other day when Vargas came to lunch at The Times. He was asked about the rumor that, in the last year, he had ballooned up to 262 pounds.

“Not true,” he said. “It was 264.”

Ah, a sense of humor buried amid all that machismo. There was hope.

“I got my investments, I don’t have to work anymore,” Vargas said, for the third time. “We’re going to open some pizza restaurants -- we’re committed to at least 12. I’m a food connoisseur, you know.”

Well, yes, 264 pounds would indicate that.

He said he has always had trouble making the lighter weights, is comfortable at 162, and won’t let himself get back to that 264, even in retirement.

“I’ll get up around 180, and stay there,” he said. “I’ll go to the gym. I’ll lift to eat. I’ll stay ripped. I’m ripped now.”

It was about his fifth reference to the condition of his abs, and yet, words didn’t seem enough. So, in a dining room where, over the years, heads of state and ambassadors to countries had met and discussed world affairs with buttoned-down editors in starched shirts, surrounded at one time by walls of original Picassos and Tamayos, Fernando Vargas stood up and raised his shirt to his shoulders.

“See,” he said.

At the end of the table, public relations czar Steve Brener, who arranged the lunch, was attempting to drown himself in his soup, but the bowl wasn’t deep enough.

It suddenly became more difficult to dislike Vargas. He was who he was, and honesty will always trump impropriety.

When he said, “I’m a Mexican from Oxnard,” he wasn’t trying to explain his striptease, he was trumpeting pride in his heritage and in a journey to success that was made against long odds. In his last two fights with Shane Mosley, both losses, he made almost $8 million total. So when he says he has investments, you know there was plenty to prime the pump.

Whether Vargas and Mayorga keep going or not, tonight’s fight is probably a last hurrah. They have both been on the receiving end of too much leather for too many years, and common sense needs to prevail, even if that is not a commodity easily found in boxing.

Staples is opening its doors for this because Staples is in the business of opening its doors. Showtime is filling its pay-per-view time with this because ESPN had locked up all the poker tournaments.

It is billed as the WBC Continental Americas super-middleweight championship. Quick, name the last two WBC Continental Americas supper-middleweight champs. That title is currently vacant. Stunning.

So, it will be boxing as usual. Lots of sound and fury, signifying nothing but another public rip-off.

But nobody can ever question the colorful characters.

Vargas is in a movie with actor Tom Berenger called “Stiletto,” to be released in 2008. In the end, Vargas is gunned down, and dies.

“But I don’t go easy,” he said. “I’m the last to go. I’m yelling and screaming to the end, like Scarface.”

Expect the same tonight.

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Bill Dwyre can be reached at bill.dwyre@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Dwyre, go to latimes.com/dwyre.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Neutral corner

Contributor Steven Harmon looks at why Fernando Vargas and Ricardo Mayorga will win tonight’s fight at Staples Center. The card begins at 7 p.m. on pay-per-view:

FIVE REASONS WHY FERNANDO VARGAS WILL WIN:

Vargas has an exceptional defense, in which he holds his fists high. As for Mayorga, he is well known for keeping his guard low, while taking major shots.

Health and age may play a factor in giving Vargas the advantage. Vargas is five years younger than Mayorga and knows that Mayorga has never been one to take his health seriously.

Vargas has tremendous heart that will push him in the later rounds as Mayorga’s punch rate diminishes.

Vargas’ four-inch reach advantage will come into play as he wears down Mayorga with stiff jabs.

Finally, Vargas’ superior power will be the most important element he brings into the fight -- 22 of his 26 wins have come by knockout.

FIVE REASONS WHY RICARDO MAYORGA WILL WIN:

Mayorga’s aggression will put pressure on Vargas that will frustrate him, as he does not fight well backing up.

Vargas’ inability to take a shot from a hard puncher will assuredly make him vulnerable to Mayorga’s one-punch power.

Mayorga throws shots from awkward angles that confuse his opponents. Also, he can counterpunch.

Vargas stands flat-footed with minimal movement, making him an easy target for Mayorga’s combinations and overhand rights.

Mayorga can take a solid punch, and likes to taunt his opponent after taking his best shot. That will work to discourage Vargas, as it did with Vernon Forrest and Andrew Lewis.