Fibroso
03-07-2016, 02:34 PM
Jessie Vargas stops Sadam Ali to win welterweight belt WASHINGTON -- When welterweights Sadam Ali and Jessie Vargas were matched for a vacant world title most viewed it as a toss-up fight with neither man holding any significant advantage. But when it was over it wasn't close.
Vargas won decisively, knocking Ali down twice and knocking him out in the ninth round to win a vacant welterweight world title Saturday night in the co-feature of the Luis Ortiz-Tony Thompson heavyweight fight at the DC Armory.
"I tore him apart piece by piece," said Vargas, who won his second world title after a stint with a junior welterweight belt. "I was patient. I looked for openings and when I had the openings I fired the shots. This is what I have been working for all my life since I was 8 years old. Now I'm a two-time world champion."
Punch statsPunches Vargas Ali
Landed 159 118
Thrown 428 408
Percent 37% 29%
-- Courtesy of CompuBox
Vargas credited new trainer Dewey Cooper -- his sixth trainer in eight years as a pro -- for the game plan and conditioning.
"Adding Dewey Cooper to the team was huge," Vargas said. "He brought out the power, without a doubt. He got the best out of Jessie Vargas tonight. Jessie Vargas is here to stay."
It was the kind of explosive victory that will put Vargas into the conversation for a much bigger fight.
"I will put him with any welterweight in the world. Maybe the winner of the [April 9 Manny] Pacquiao-[Timothy] Bradley fight," Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said.
Vargas came into the fight still steamed by how his last fight in June ended. That was when he challenged Bradley for a world title and nearly knocked him out in the final seconds of the bout. However, Vargas, who lost a clear unanimous decision, felt as though he was robbed of the chance to finish Bradley because referee Pat Russell mistook the clapper signaling 10 seconds left in the round as the final bell and stopped the fight with about seven seconds left. Now he wants a rematch.
"I want Bradley, win or lose [against Pacquiao]," Vargas said. "We have unfinished business."
Ali and Vargas both came out quickly looking to earn the respect of the other man, and both landed some heavy shots in the early rounds as they went back and forth. Ali looked a little quicker but Vargas' left hook was sharp.
The fourth round featured good back-and-forth action with Vargas in control early and Ali pouring it on late as they each landed heavy shots, although Ali's right eye began to swell in the round.
Ali fell into the ropes in the fifth round but not from a clean punch. He was off balance, but Vargas finished the round with a combination to Ali's head that seemed to buzz him.
Ali (22-1, 13 KOs), a 27-year-old 2008 U.S. Olympian from Brooklyn, New York, had been having a very good eighth round when just as the clapper signaling that there were 10 seconds left sounded Vargas nailed him with a clean overhand right that crumpled Ali along the ropes. He got to his feet just as the round ended.
"I take nothing away from Vargas," Ali said. "He caught me with a good shot. When I got up my right ankle was messed up. No excuses. He landed some good shots, some shots I didn't see. I was a little off. No excuses. He looked good. I have to go back to the drawing board."
Vargas (27-1, 10 KOs), 26, a former junior welterweight titlist from Las Vegas, was all over him in the ninth round. Ali looked unsteady and Vargas pounded him to the head and body. A right hand hurt Ali badly, and moments later Vargas landed another right hand that dropped him midway through the round. He beat the count and was very shaky.
Vargas went right to him and clubbed him with a right hand that rocked him again, and referee Kenny Chevalier jumped in and waved it off at 2 minutes, 9 seconds, disappointing the pro-Ali crowd, many of whom made their way from New York for the fight.
"We finally saw [the talent] tonight," Arum said. "We said to him you got to let your hands go and he had really good training. We always knew he had punching power, but he would never really let the hands go. Tonight he was great."
Vargas won decisively, knocking Ali down twice and knocking him out in the ninth round to win a vacant welterweight world title Saturday night in the co-feature of the Luis Ortiz-Tony Thompson heavyweight fight at the DC Armory.
"I tore him apart piece by piece," said Vargas, who won his second world title after a stint with a junior welterweight belt. "I was patient. I looked for openings and when I had the openings I fired the shots. This is what I have been working for all my life since I was 8 years old. Now I'm a two-time world champion."
Punch statsPunches Vargas Ali
Landed 159 118
Thrown 428 408
Percent 37% 29%
-- Courtesy of CompuBox
Vargas credited new trainer Dewey Cooper -- his sixth trainer in eight years as a pro -- for the game plan and conditioning.
"Adding Dewey Cooper to the team was huge," Vargas said. "He brought out the power, without a doubt. He got the best out of Jessie Vargas tonight. Jessie Vargas is here to stay."
It was the kind of explosive victory that will put Vargas into the conversation for a much bigger fight.
"I will put him with any welterweight in the world. Maybe the winner of the [April 9 Manny] Pacquiao-[Timothy] Bradley fight," Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said.
Vargas came into the fight still steamed by how his last fight in June ended. That was when he challenged Bradley for a world title and nearly knocked him out in the final seconds of the bout. However, Vargas, who lost a clear unanimous decision, felt as though he was robbed of the chance to finish Bradley because referee Pat Russell mistook the clapper signaling 10 seconds left in the round as the final bell and stopped the fight with about seven seconds left. Now he wants a rematch.
"I want Bradley, win or lose [against Pacquiao]," Vargas said. "We have unfinished business."
Ali and Vargas both came out quickly looking to earn the respect of the other man, and both landed some heavy shots in the early rounds as they went back and forth. Ali looked a little quicker but Vargas' left hook was sharp.
The fourth round featured good back-and-forth action with Vargas in control early and Ali pouring it on late as they each landed heavy shots, although Ali's right eye began to swell in the round.
Ali fell into the ropes in the fifth round but not from a clean punch. He was off balance, but Vargas finished the round with a combination to Ali's head that seemed to buzz him.
Ali (22-1, 13 KOs), a 27-year-old 2008 U.S. Olympian from Brooklyn, New York, had been having a very good eighth round when just as the clapper signaling that there were 10 seconds left sounded Vargas nailed him with a clean overhand right that crumpled Ali along the ropes. He got to his feet just as the round ended.
"I take nothing away from Vargas," Ali said. "He caught me with a good shot. When I got up my right ankle was messed up. No excuses. He landed some good shots, some shots I didn't see. I was a little off. No excuses. He looked good. I have to go back to the drawing board."
Vargas (27-1, 10 KOs), 26, a former junior welterweight titlist from Las Vegas, was all over him in the ninth round. Ali looked unsteady and Vargas pounded him to the head and body. A right hand hurt Ali badly, and moments later Vargas landed another right hand that dropped him midway through the round. He beat the count and was very shaky.
Vargas went right to him and clubbed him with a right hand that rocked him again, and referee Kenny Chevalier jumped in and waved it off at 2 minutes, 9 seconds, disappointing the pro-Ali crowd, many of whom made their way from New York for the fight.
"We finally saw [the talent] tonight," Arum said. "We said to him you got to let your hands go and he had really good training. We always knew he had punching power, but he would never really let the hands go. Tonight he was great."