Four days after the fight was postponed, Fernando Vargas' farewell bout against Ricardo Mayorga was rescheduled Wednesday night.
The new date is Nov. 23, and the fight will still take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Staples was to have hosted the Showtime PPV fight on Sept. 8, but on Saturday Vargas was diagnosed with anemia, a blood condition that was making him sluggish during his training camp, and had to postpone the bout.
Co-promoters Main Events and Don King had been working on a new date with Staples Center officials for the past few days and they came up with Sept. 23, an unusual date for a pay-per-view boxing event because it falls on a Friday, not Saturday, which is the typical day for a major PPV card. This year, it is also the day after Thanksgiving, traditionally a weekend promoters try to avoid.
Nonetheless, they're going to give it a go.
"We said it was OK," Shelly Finkel, Vargas' manager, told ESPN.com. "The doctor said that in three weeks Fernando can train, so he will be OK for the new date."
Finkel acknowledged that the new date wasn't ideal, but thought it would still work out well. He said the fight had already sold more than $1 million in tickets before the postponement and he expects a big crowd to turn out on the new date.
"There weren't that many dates available to work with, but I think people will surprised at how well it does. Fernando and I spoke earlier. He's OK. He sounded much better today than he did the past few days. He will be fine."
Vargas and Mayorga, both brawlers, will meet at the catch weight of 162 pounds.
Although Vargas (26-4, 22 KOs) is only 29, the former two-time junior middleweight titleholder has insisted that this will be his final fight after a career filled with brutal battles. He is coming off back-to-back knockout losses to Shane Mosley last year.
Mayorga (27-6-1, 22 KOs), a former welterweight champion and junior middleweight titlist, hasn't fought since Oscar De La Hoya crushed him in six one-sided rounds to take his junior middleweight belt in May 2006.
At the July 11 news conference to announce the fight, Mayorga taunted Vargas, causing Vargas to attack Mayorga.
Vargas wound up with cut hand, Mayorga was cut over his left eye and had a bloody lip, and organizers had a highlight reel to play over and over to hype a fight that now has a new date.
Details on the undercard arrangements are pending.
Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.
Source: ESPN.com
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