Martín Vargas
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Martín Vargas Fuentes (born 24 January 1955) is a Chilean former professional boxer who challenged for a world title four times. As an amateur, he represented his native country at the
1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...
in Munich, West Germany.


Professional career

On March 23, 1973, Vargas made his professional debut, beating Martín Muñoz by a decision in six rounds. He won twelve fights in a row before drawing (tying) with Nelson Muñoz on December 13, 1973. In 1974, he tasted defeat for the first time when he was
knocked out A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...
in seven rounds by Alfredo Alcayaga. On October 11 of that same year, he and Alcayaga had a rematch, this time with the Chilean national flyweight title at stake. Vargas avenged his first defeat with a seven-round knockout win. One month later, he had his first fight abroad, a ten-round draw with Carlos Escalante]in Buenos Aires. After fourteen wins in a row, Vargas had a chance to add the South American regional belt to his resume, and he did so by knocking out Gonzalo Cruz in round one on December 20, 1975 in Santiago. He defended that title twice, and after beating Carlos Escalante in their Uruguay rematch, Vargas' win streak reached 27 wins in a row. On September 17, 1977, he fought for the world title for the first time; World Boxing Council world flyweight champion Miguel Canto defeated Vargas by a fifteen-round decision in Yucatán, Mexico. Vargas had one more win: two months after their first fight, Vargas once again challenged Canto, this time in Santiago. Canto broke the hearts of most Vargas fans on November 30, 1977 by defeating the hometown favorite, again by a fifteen-round decision. On April 22 of 1978, Vargas beat future world champion Alfonso López by a knockout in round one to defend his South American title with success. On November 4 of that year, he challenged World Boxing Association (WBA) world champion
Betulio González Betulio Segundo González (born October 24, 1949) is a former boxer from Venezuela, who is considered a national hero in Venezuela. He is considered by many to be Venezuela's greatest world champion in boxing history. A combatant of 91 bouts, he ...
in the champion's hometown of Maracay, Venezuela, but González retained the crown with a twelfth-round knockout victory. This defeat was followed by thirteen wins in a row, including points wins over future world champions
Joey Olivo Joey Olivo (born January 25, 1958) is an American former professional boxer of Mexican descent who competed from 1976 to 1989. He held the WBA world light flyweight title in 1985 and challenged for the WBC world light flyweight title in 1981. A ...
and
Rafael Pedroza Rafael Pedroza (born March 27, 1955) is a retired Panamanian boxer and was briefly a super-flyweight world champion in 1981. Pedroza turned professional in 1974; he lost his first two attempts at a world title in 1977 and 1979 but became the ...
(cousin of
Eusebio Pedroza Eusebio Pedroza (March 2, 1956 – March 1, 2019) was a Panamanian boxer who held the WBA and lineal featherweight championship from 1978 to 1985, having defended the title against 18 different contenders, more than any other boxer in featherwe ...
). Vargas then traveled to
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, where on June 1 he lost by a knockout in round eight what turned out to be his last world title bid to WBA world Junior flyweight champion Yoko Gushiken. After the Gushiken fight, Vargas had a rather ordinary record of 21 wins and 7 losses before retiring for the first time in 1987. He did, however, add another regional title to his trophy case when he beat Delis Rojas on July 23, 1982 by a decision in twelve rounds in Miami, to earn the WBC Continental Americas flyweight title. Having retired, Vargas' legend continued to grow among Chileans, many of whom spoke of the many times Vargas seemed to be close to become Chile's first world boxing champion. He is still seen by many as the best boxer ever to come out of that country, and as a national hero of Chile. In 1997, ten years after his original retirement, Vargas attempted a comeback. His first fight back was videotaped by a crew making a documentary film about him, and he defeated Gerónimo Rojas by a knockout in round two on July 4. On February 7, 1998, he added the Chilean Super Flyweight title to his collection of regional titles with a first-round knockout over
José Carmona José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...
. One month later, he beat Juan Lielmil, also by knockout in round one, to regain the Chilean flyweight title. But after losing to Joel García, by knockout in round one on July 31 of that same year, he decided to retire permanently. Vargas had a record of 91 wins, 15 losses and 3 draws, his 62 knockout wins making him a member of the exclusive group of fighters who have won 50 or more fights by knockout. In addition to the documentary about his comeback, a biographical movie about him was also produced in Chile.


1972 Olympic results

Below are the results of Martín Vargas, a Chilean flyweight boxer who competed at the 1972 Munich Olympics: * Round of 64: bye * Round of 32: lost to Calixto Perez (Colombia) on points, 0-5.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vargas, Martin 1955 births Living people Chilean male boxers Flyweight boxers Super-flyweight boxers Boxers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers for Chile Sportspeople from Osorno, Chile