Mayorga Beats Vargas in Los Angeles

Ricardo Mayorga, right, throws a punch to the head of Fernando Vargas during the seventh round of their WBC Super Middleweight Championship at the Staples Center in Los Angeles Friday, Nov. 23, 2007. Mayorga won on majority decision. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian) (Kevork Djansezian - AP)

Mayorga began celebrating midway through the final round, thrusting his right fist into the air during brief lulls in the action.

There weren't many of those.

As the 12th round ended, both fighters celebrated as if they won.

But only one would win, and that was Mayorga.

"Vargas came out with a different style than I anticipated," Mayorga said through a translator. "I adjusted well and was able to land heavy punches. Vargas was faster than I thought, but I stuck with my game plan and put the pressure on him."

Both fighters weighed 164 pounds at Thursday's weigh-in _ a startling development for Vargas considering he admittedly ballooned to 264 following his second loss to Shane Mosley.

Mayorga said he wanted to keep fighting and drop to 147 pounds, with Miguel Cotto and Floyd Mayweather his preferred opponents.

"You saw the fight," Mayorga said. "I have a lot of fight left in me."

Mayorga, a 34-year-old three-time world champion from Managua, Nicaragua, raised his record to 28-6-1 with 22 knockouts. Vargas, a two-time world champion from nearby Oxnard who turns 30 on Dec. 7, finishes his career with a 26-5 record and 22 knockouts.

The bout matched a pair of once-prominent fighters who both entered having been idle for more than 15 months and each had lost two of their previous three fights.

Vargas hadn't fought since July 15, 2006, when he was stopped for the second time in five months by Mosley. Mayorga last fought May 6, 2006, when he was stopped by Oscar De La Hoya.

The WBC Continental Americas super middleweight title was at stake. The bout had been scheduled for Sept. 8, but was delayed after a routine blood test revealed Vargas had an iron deficiency.