BOXES KEEPS AGGRESSION IN RING : OXNARD BOXER HAS RARE BLEND OF YOUTH, SKILL.

Byline: Michael Rosenthal Daily News Staff Writer

One way or another, Fernando Vargas was going to fight.

Even as an elementary school-aged child, he said, ``I loved to fight.'' And he did. In time, it was no longer news when Vargas was suspended from school, apparent evidence the boy was headed in a self-destructive direction.

And then, when he was only 12, came a turning point.

``I was watching a local amateur boxing tournament on cable TV and was just mesmerized,'' said Vargas, a resident of Oxnard. ``I didn't know there was such a thing for kids. So all by myself, without my mom knowing, I found out where the gym was and went there.

``My mom didn't like it at all when she found out. She thought I would get hurt. When she saw I was hurting other people, though, I guess it was all right.''

Seven years later, Vargas is hurting other people with great efficiency as a member of the U.S. Olympic boxing team.

And he enjoys it as much as ever. Only now, at 18, the aggressiveness of his childhood is confined to the ring.

Outside it, he learned to treat people with respect and keep his priorities in order, an about-face in character that allowed Vargas to avoid trouble and find his place in school.

Last month, he fulfilled a promise to his mother and himself by becoming the first member of a his family to graduate from high school.

``Boxing kept me out of trouble,'' he said. ``I would've kept on fighting. I know I would've ended up in jail.

``As a kid, I guess it's all right to fight. When you do that as a teen-ager, a young adult, you end up in jail.''

Instead, Vargas sentenced himself to the gym.

Vargas' mother, Alicia Romo, said he apparently was born with the discipline it would take to lift him to the international-class level.

From the day he first walked into the gym as a 10-year-old to the present, no one has had to coerce Vargas to train.

``If he didn't make his bed or take out the trash or something, I would say, `No boxing,' '' Romo said. ``And he would cry. He was like that from the beginning.

``I never really did anything. If he didn't have a ride to the gym (about four miles from their house), he'd run there and back. He never took a break.''

And it paid off.

Vargas combined his natural aggressiveness - ``If he has a weakness, it's that he's too aggressive sometimes,'' Olympic coach Al Mitchell said - with the fundamentals he learned and polished in the gym and became a quick success.

In 1994, only four years after he took up the sport, Vargas became the youngest-ever national champion when he outpointed Terrance Cauthen in the final of the 132-pound competition.

And this year, Vargas, the favorite in the 147-pound division, realized his primary goal when he beat Brandon Mitchem in the Olympic boxoffs in April to earn a berth on the Olympic team.

He has only one goal remaining as an amateur.

``The gold medal, that's my dream,'' he said. ``If people think I'm getting recognition now, winning the gold medal would give me five times more.

``It opens a lot of doors everywhere. That's what I want.''

PROFILE Age: 18

Class: Welterweight (147 lb.)

Fast fact: He fulfilled a promise to his mother when he became the first member of his family to graduate from high school.

When to Watch Preliminaries: July 20-24

Second Round: July 25

Quarterfinals: July 30

Semifinals Aug. 1 5 p.m.

Gold-medal bout: Aug. 3, 2:30 p.m.

BOXING Because of a controversy over scoring in the Eric Griffin-Rafael Lozano fight in 1992, an embarrassed International Amateur Boxing Association has kept the complete results from Barcelona under lock and key.

CAPTION(S):

6 Photos, 3 Boxes

Photo: (1) Oxnard's Fernando Vargas began boxin g at age 12 and in six years has gained a spot on the Olympic team in the 147-pound division.

Associated Press

(2) Fernando Vargas

(3-6) THROUGH THE YEARS

1986: An 8-year-old Vargas, hardly one to hold up his opponents, makes an exception for his younger brother.

1988: Vargas joins a boxing club as a 10 year old.

1989: Fighting out of Oxnard, Vargas finds success quickly.

1992: In first Junior Olympics tournament, loses on points in the final of the 112-pound division but comes back to win championship in box-off.

1994: At 16, he becomes the youngest national champion

1995: Cover kid: On the right, he pedals Olympic merchandise

Box: (1) PROFILE (see text)

(2) When to Watch (see text)

(3) BOXING