Vargas Cancels Las Vegas Fight

By DONALD EMMONS
Saturday, April 28, 2007

Fighting in Las Vegas – the modern-day mecca for professional boxing – will have to wait for Toledo’s Devin Vargas.

The 2004 United States Olympic heavyweight hyperextended his elbow earlier this week during a training session in Chicago. He was preparing for a scheduled Showtime ShoBox undercard bout with Chris Arreola (17-0, 15-0 KOs) next Friday at The Palms.

The injury forced Vargas to drop out of the fight. The 25-year-old was returning to Toledo yesterday afternoon to meet with a doctor concerning the injury.

“It’s nothing serious,” said Vargas, sounding optimistic by telephone prior to having the injury examined.

Nevertheless, the Toledo native, who is 11-0 overall with six knockouts since turning pro after the 2004 Olympic Games, will miss out on fighting for the first time in Las Vegas as a professional. Vargas, who has been anticipating his first fight in 2007, last fought in November and totaled only three fights in 2006.

Vargas, who had trimmed down from 240 pounds to 211 over the past three months, had been waiting for an opportunity like the one that presented itself in recent weeks to take on Arreola in a bout pitting two unranked up-and-comers in the heavyweight division. The matchup was also intriguing for the Glass City fighter since Arreola defeated Vargas’ older brother, Dallas, in a National Golden Gloves 178-pound championship fight in 2001.

Vargas recently signed with Chicago-based boxing adviser Mike Joyce to manage his career after his father, Ray, gave up managerial responsibilities. Vargas has spent some time over the past few months training in a Chicago gym. He also eliminated fast foods from his daily diet to help him return to the weight he fought at as an amateur.

The main event for the Showtime production features heavyweights Eddie Chambers and Dominick “The Southern Disaster” Guinn.

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Spinks/Taylor 30 Day Weigh-in

IBF junior middleweight champion Cory ’The Next Generation’ Spinks cleared a World Boxing Council 30-day weigh in at 168 ¾ pounds at the Don King Productions headquarters in Deerfield Beach, Fla.
Spinks is moving up to middleweight to challenge WBC and World Boxing Organization champion Jermain ’Bad Intentions’ Taylor at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tenn.on May 19 in a match televised on HBO’s World Championship Boxing at 10:15 p.m. ET/7:15 p.m. PT.

WBC rules require all fighters to be within 10 percent of the contracted weight 30 days prior to championship matches, in this case up to 16 pounds over the 160-pound middleweight limit.

“I feel good,”Spinks said. “I’m right where I need to be and I’m really looking forward to this fight.”

Promoter Lou DiBella sent a certification from Todd Brooks, M.D., that Taylor’s weight today was 174 pounds.

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Felix Cora vs. Matt Godfrey

Cora Could Fight For World Title
By Joey Richards
March 29, 2007

GALVESTON — When referee James Warring stepped in to stop Felix Cora’s last fight, 2:52 into the fourth round of a scheduled 12-round bout on May 18, giving Vadim Tokarev the victory, it appeared Cora’s road to a possible world title had taken a detour.

Not only did Tokarev take away Cora’s North American Boxing Federation title in a battle of unbeaten cruiserweights, but he also handed the Galveston resident his first professional loss and sidetracked his world title hopes.

The loss hit Cora hard. The Ball High grad — then ranked No. 10 in both the World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation — tumbled in the rankings.

He resigned himself to a long, tough road back to contention.

Well, it turns out that road may not be too long after all.

The 26-year-old Cora will fight Matt Godfrey on April 6 at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn.

The 12-round bout is the main event on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights. It will be televised live, starting at 8 p.m. April 6.

Godfrey’s NABA, WBC Continental Americas and WBC United States titles are all on the line, along with the vacant NABF title.

But there is an even bigger prize awaiting the winner. According to Cora’s dad and manager, Felix Cora Sr., the WBC has promised that the winner will become the No. 1 contender in the world and be in line for a shot at the WBC world title.

The younger Cora feels blessed to get a fight of this magnitude so quickly.

“God opened the door for me that I thought would take a while to have open for me ever again,” he said. “I thought I was out of the picture for a while. But, apparently, He looked into it and opened some doors for me.”

Ironically, it could take Tokarev longer to get that title fight than Cora, even though he’s still unbeaten.

Tokarev, ranked No. 11 in the World Boxing Association, No. 12 in the World Boxing Organization and No. 13 in the WBC when he fought Cora, has moved up to No. 5 in the WBC and IBF. He’s scheduled to fight Marco Huck later this year in an IBF eliminator fight. The winner is supposed to get a shot at IBF champ Krzysztof Wlodarczyk.

So Cora could beat Tokarev to the punch, so to speak.

“I’m in the same position I was in before, maybe better, and I give all the credit to God,” Cora said.

Godfrey (14-0, 8 knockouts) will be the highest-ranked professional boxer Cora has fought to date. The Providence, R.I., native is ranked No. 6 in the WBC, No. 9 in the IBF and No. 10 in the WBA.

Cora (18-1-2, 9 KOs) had moved up to No. 12 in the WBC, but dropped to No. 16 in the latest rankings, released Sunday.

Jean Marc Mormeck (33-3, 22 KOs) is the current WBC and WBA champ, after winning a decision over O’Neil Bell on March 17 to claim Bell’s titles.

The elder Cora said that fight opened the door for Godfrey and Cora, who are ranked Nos. 1-2 in the WBC’s NABF rankings.

The 26-year-old Cora is eager to make amends for his loss to Tokarev. He said the defeat was heart wrenching — like losing a girlfriend.

“I know what it feels like to be dumped,” he said. “I was dumped. I know what it feels like to be rejected. Nobody wants to talk to you. Nobody wants to deal with you. You’ve got to wait your chance. You wait for that opportunity again so you can say the right things or do the right things to win her back. I’m taking this fight that way.”

Notes: Cora has cut ties with Florida-based Warriors Boxing, and he’s currently fighting as a free agent, so to speak.

Cora hadn’t fought since May 18, and the elder Cora felt that Warriors wasn’t in a hurry to get his son a bout.

“They just kind of put Felix on the shelf,” he said. “Since our contract would have expired this month, we decided to part ways.”

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