?It will be a great fight between two great fighters who are very proud, one being Puerto Rican and the other being Mexican??
Ahead of the November 21st HBO pay-per-view fight between lineal middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (40-4, 33 KOs), from Caguas, Puerto Rico, and Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez (45-1-1 32 KOs), from Caguas, Mexico, at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas Nevada, former 154-pound titlist Fernando Vargas?who was on the losing end of a thrilling installment in the heated ?Mexico vs. Puerto Rico rivalry? against Felix ?Tito? Trinidad in the same arena in 2000?had this to say to El Vocero concerning his historic fight with Trinidad, his respect for the fighting cultures of both Mexico and Puerto Rico, and how Cotto vs. Canelo stacks up against his encounter with Trinidad.
?It will be a great fight between two great fighters who are very proud, one being Puerto Rican and the other being Mexican,? said Vargas. ?Two beautiful cultures, two cultures with a lot of love to their people. It will be a great fight and I will be very happy to be able to watch it. It will be a very tough fight, but it?s going to be difficult to beat my fight with Tito.
?It will be a big fight. It will be a clash of styles, which are similar to that of myself and Tito. Tito had a lot more experience and he won many championships, and Canelo is a young man, as I was?but [Canelo] has demonstrated that he can hold his own. It will be a great fight. A big fight for Puerto Rico and Mexico.?
Vargas, now 37, last fought in November of 2007. The former two-time 154-pound titlist dropped a close 12-round decision to former lineal welterweight champion Ricardo Mayorga in his final bout to end his thrilling career at 26-5, 22 KOs.
Vargas defeated the surging Yori Boy Campas in December of 1998 to win the IBF 154-pound title. He would successfully defend his title five times before eventually losing it to Trinidad in their epic war.
