BIGGEST WINNER
Jessie Vargas: Vargas has evolved from a capable contender into a badass. The 26-year-old from Las Vegas isn?t as good a technician or athlete as Sadam Ali, as we saw when they met Saturday in Washington, D.C. But Vargas is the better fighter. He kept the pressure on Ali even as he was taking punches, slowly but surely breaking him down and setting him up for the kill. The end came in two brutal rounds. Vargas sent Ali to the canvas with a perfect overhand right late in the eighth. Ali survived but was wobbly and Vargas smelled blood, which didn?t bode well for the loser. Ali went down again from a right in the following round, got up but couldn?t adequately defend himself. That was that. Vargas had won the WBO welterweight title ? his first major belt ? in the finest performance of his career. He had always been a spirited fighter but not this fierce. And where did that power come from? Our first glimpse of it came dramatically in his previous fight, when another booming right staggered Tim Bradley in the final seconds of a losing effort. The right that found Ali?s chin looked an awful lot like the Bradley shot. Vargas credits new trainer Dewey Cooper, who ?showed me a new technique to develop more power. It was a move to turn my hips more and drive into the power.? Suddenly Vargas (27-1, 10 knockouts) is a puncher, a ferocious, supremely confident puncher. I like this Jessie Vargas.
BIGGEST LOSER
Sadam Ali: Ali (22-1, 13 KOs) had the look of a fighter who wasn?t quite sure what had hit him immediately after his loss to Vargas. The loser boxed well, moving deftly in and out of range and landing quick, sometimes hard combinations. However, no matter what he did, he couldn?t hurt or deter Vargas. The Mexican-American just kept coming until that big overhand right spelled the beginning of the end for Ali, who learned painfully what it?s like to lose a professional fight. I don?t know what to think about Ali?s future. He acknowledged that ?I got caught? and added that he injured his leg when he fell, which he said compounded his problems. Maybe it was one punch that effectively did it, maybe things would?ve ended differently had he avoided the big blow in the eighth round. Maybe not. I don?t think he was able to handle Vargas physically. Ali did what he usually does ? box beautifully ? but this time that wasn?t enough. He needed to dig deeper than usual in this fight and was unable to do so. The key for him going forward might be his confidence. If he looks back at this disappointment as a learning experience ? and perhaps works on his strength ? then he might become a better fighter. If he loses faith in himself, which is possible, we might?ve seen the best of Sadam Ali.
MOST PREDICTABLE
Luis Ortiz KO 6 Tony Thompson: Ortiz added a faded Tony Thompson to his list of knockout victims Saturday night in Washington, D.C., putting the former world title contender down three times and stopping him in the sixth round. The fight wasn?t much of a test for Ortiz (25-0, 22 knockouts) because of Thompson?s limitations at age 44 but the Cuban continues to move briskly toward the biggest names in the heavyweight division: champion Tyson Fury, titleholder Deontay Wilder, Wladimir Klitschko and the other top big men. And, based on what we?ve seen, it seems increasingly possible that Ortiz will give anyone problems. Thompson (40-7, 27 KOs) is old but remains fairly clever. He was only 4-3 in his previous seven fights going into his meeting with Ortiz but none of the losses were stoppages. On Saturday, he had no idea how to avoid his southpaw opponent?s powerful left hands, which put Thompson down in the first, third and final rounds. Ortiz?s ability to land the punch says something about his skills and his ability to hurt Thompson underscores his reputation as powerful puncher. I want to see what happens when (if?) he lands such shots against a higher caliber opponent. It?s too early to anoint Ortiz as the next coming of anything ? even though he?s 36 ? but he is definitely an intriguing contender.
RABBIT PUNCHES
Julian Williams (22-0-1, 14 KOs) did his job against Italian Marcello Matano (16-2, 5 KOs) in an IBF junior middleweight title eliminator in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, scoring a seventh-round knockout. Williams is now the sanctioning body?s No. 1-rated 154-pounder, meaning he?s the mandatory challenger to Jermall Charlo?s IBF title. Williams is bound to get a truly big fight soon. ? One item could be filed under ?most meaningless.? I?m referring to Lucas Browne?s knockout victory over Ruslan Chagaev (34-3-1, 21 KOs) on Saturday in Russia. Nothing against Browne, who got up from a knockdown in the sixth round to stop Chagaev in the 10th round of a fight he was losing. Just don?t call Browne (24-0, 21 KOs) a champion. He won the WBA?s ridiculous ?regular? title, which means nothing given that Tyson Fury is the true WBA titleholder. Browne, a 6-foot-5 Aussie, is a good story but it?s hard to imagine him accomplishing much on the world stage. ? Shinsuke Yamanaka (25-0-2, 17 KOs) continued to roll, outpointing Venezuelan Liborio Solis (23-4-1, 10 KOs) to retain his WBC bantamweight title in Kyoto, Japan. Yamanaka is No. 9 on the RING?s pound-for-pound list. ? Antonio Margarito (39-8, 27 KOs) got up from the canvas to outpoint Jorge Paez Jr. (39-8-2, 23 KOs) in Mexico City, the former welterweight titleholder?s first fight in more than four years. I still wince when I think of him fighting with that eye injury. ? Two middleweights had big nights in Bethlehem. Five-foot-4 middleweight Avtandil Khurtsidze (32-2-2, 21 KOs) upset Antoine Douglas, scoring a 10th-round KO. The Georgian threw an astonishing 813 power shots (landing 276), which overwhelmed Douglas (19-1-1,13 KOs). Khurtsidze is one to watch. And Tony Harrison (23-1, 19 KOs) stopped Fernando Guerrero (28-4, 20 KOs) in six rounds in six rounds. Harrison looked pretty good. Guerrero seemed ill-prepared. His trainer asked him at one point, ?What are you doing?? Guerrero responded: ?I don?t know.?
