Round by Round Notes. Pat Lynch thought he was going on a family vacation. Some of his worst days followed. BY GEORGE WILLIS
Round 1:
Pat Lynch, the well-regarded boxing manager who helped mold Arturo Gatti into a featured attraction, was hoping to spend a couple of weeks enjoying a family vacation in St. Petersburg, Florida. But the trip has been memorable for all the wrong reasons.
The peace and tranquility that comes with spending time with loved ones was shattered last Saturday morning when a 5:30 a.m. phone call brought tragic news. Ronny Vargas, the 20-year-old boxer from the Bronx, had been shot and killed.
Vargas wasn’t just any fighter. He was Lynch’s fighter. He was his next Gatti. “I truly believe the kid had all the talent in the world to be a world champion,” Lynch said. “He was the complete package.”
Vargas was 8-0 with six knockouts and set to fight on the undercard of the Oct. 18 showdown between Kelly Pavlik and Bernard Hopkins in Atlantic City. Instead, of looking forward to that fight, Lynch was trying to get back to Bronx to attend Vargas’ wake. But even that has been nightmare.
Tropical storm Fay was wrecking havoc on Lynch’s travel plans for getting back to New York in time for Vargas’ wake set for Tuesday and Wednesday. Contacted on Monday, Lynch was booked on a Wednesday flight, but was hoping to get out of Florida sooner. “It’s been a mess,” he said.
Understandably, his emotions have run the gamut. He said he has been in “shock” since learning of Vargas’ death. “I left (New York) on Friday and I had spoken to him on Thursday and said I’ll be gone for a week and half and to stay in the gym and stay focused,” Lynch said. “That was the last time I spoke with him.”
Round 2:
Brian Adams, the director of New York’s prestigious Golden Gloves Tournament, was the one who put Vargas and Lynch together. “I told Pat to take a look at him and see if he could work with him,” Adams said. “Every time I saw (Vargas) I thought he got better.” Adams got the news of Vargas’ death early Saturday morning. It was the second time in less than a week a friend of his boxing fraternity had been killed. Adams was also close to 1996 Olympic bronze medalist Roshii Wells, who was shot and killed in Las Vegas on Aug. 11. “They say as you get older people will start to die around you, but this is crazy,” Adams said.
Round 3:
Hamill
Matt “The Hammer” Hamill, who fights out of Utica, NY, has been added to the undercard of UFC 88: Breakthrough on Sept. 6 in Atlanta. Hamill (6-1) will take on Rich Franklin. Other fights added to the undercard include: Yoshiyuki Hoshida vs. Karo Parisyan; Rousimar Palhares vs. Dan Henderson; and Nate Marquardt vs. Martin Kampmann. The main event features former champion Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell and unbeaten “Sugar” Rashad Evans. Hamill, a light heavyweight, has proven that being deaf isn’t a handicap, but instead, a mere obstacle to be overcome on the way to bigger and better things. This was never more evident than in his April 2 win over Tim Boetsch, in which he took out his highly-regarded foe with strikes in the second round. A three-time Division III National and two-time World champion wrestler, Hamill first made his mark in the UFC on season three of The Ultimate Fighter show. He has since shown off his improving mixed martial arts game, defeating Boetsch, Seth Petruzelli and Rex Holman, while only losing a highly controversial decision to Michael Bisping in September of 2007.
Round 7:
Check out http://www.Fightnews.com to see a picture of a smiling Miguel Cotto. The former welterweight champion has started his own promotional company and is promoting Friday’s Telefutura card at the Ponce Hilton & Casino Resort in Ponce P.R. Seems Cotto has learned a thing or two from Arum, saying “This is going to be a great show for the fans. You can’t miss this fight.”
Round 8:
I guess Don King scored more points during his trip to China than the American boxing team.
Round 9:
Frank “El Gato” Figueroa is from the Bronx and what he had to say in the aftermath of Ronny Vargas being shot is worth noting. “You don’t hang out until 3 in the morning no matter how grown you think you are,” he said. “The later it is at night, the risk of potential trouble goes up.”
Round 10:
I just sent my pound-for-pound list for the Yahoo.com poll. It hasn’t changed from last month. In order: 1. Manny Pacquiao, 2. Joe Calzaghe, 3. Kelly Pavlik, 4. Israel Vasquez, 5. Antonio Margarito, 6. Miguel Cotto, 7. Juan Manuel Marquez, 8. Paul Williams, 9. David Haye, 10. Joan Guzman.
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