PROUD CHAMPION; PROUD IN DEFEAT.

Byline: MICHAEL ROSENTHAL Boxing

LAS VEGAS - Fernando Vargas proved again Saturday he's an unusually talented, tough fighter. Oscar De La Hoya is simply better.

That's the attitude Vargas and those close to him seem to have in the wake of De La Hoya's spectacular and convincing 11th-round knockout of Vargas: the better man won.

Oh, Vargas is hurting, according to co-manager and close friend Rolando Arellano. The Oxnard resident was released from Valley Hospital with no serious health problems but spent Sunday with his family to begin healing emotionally.

Vargas chose not to speak to the media immediately after the fight or Sunday but Arellano said a news conference will be scheduled for Thursday.

Arellano, emotional a day after the fight, said ``reality is setting in.''

``We lost with pride,'' he said. ``Oscar is a great champion. Fernando isn't depressed. Oscar is going to be asked one day who gave him the hardest time, who hit him the hardest, and he's going to say Fernando Vargas.

``Fernando is no joke. Oscar was just the better man.''

Arellano hesitated to address the future, saying now is a time for healing. However, Vargas, while clearly not quite at the level of De La Hoya, has more good paydays ahead of him after another gritty performance.

No, he won't soon make the $6 million-plus he'll walk away with after Saturday's fight. He now has been brutally knocked out in his two biggest fights - by De La Hoya and Felix Trinidad - and a return to near-superstar status seems unlikely for the time being.

However, potential matchups with fighters like Winky Wright or Vernon Forrest would earn him significant money and the chance to rebuild his career.

And if there are any doubts that Vargas, 24, will be back, Arellano seemed to dispel them.

``Our first concern was to make sure he's physically healed,'' Arellano said. ``Our second is to make sure he's psychologically healed. Once we've determined that, once we understand how he feels and he says he wants to fight, we'll go forward.

``And I'm sure he will go forward. Ask him and he'll tell you he wants a rematch tomorrow.''

--No handshake: Vargas was criticized for failing to congratulate De La Hoya after the fight. Arellano said he had no opportunity.

``He was hurt,'' he said. ``It wasn't him. The (ring) doctors came around him and took him to the back (of the arena). It wasn't that Fernando was unwilling to shake Oscar's hand.

``We'll see the man Fernando Vargas is on Thursday.''

Vargas did seem to be badly shaken immediately after the fight. In the 11th round, he absorbed a vicious left hook that knocked him down and then took more than a dozen hard punches as he lay helplessly against the ropes.

He looked disoriented as he was helped to his dressing room by two members of his camp. Later, he reportedly climbed unassisted into a waiting ambulance and was released from the hospital a few hours later.

--Jab, jab, jab: De La Hoya hurt Vargas badly with the left hook in the 10th round and then put him down with the same punch in the 11th, which led to Vargas' demise.

And many pointed out it was De La Hoya's right, a punch he has used infrequently in his career, that set up the lefts. He gave credit to trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr., who pushed him to use his right more often.

However, no punch was more important than his jab, which beautifully set up Vargas for all the power punches.

De La Hoya connected on 171 of 423 jabs, according to CompuBox statistics. Vargas was 59 for 136.

Overall, De La Hoya landed 281 of 660 punches, Vargas 227 of 525. Vargas landed more power punches than De La Hoya, 168 of 389 to 110 of 237.

However, De La Hoya landed 23 of 33 power punches in the 11th round.

--Next for De La Hoya? De La Hoya was congratulated by a reporter at his victory party after the fight.

The skin on his face was marked with scrapes and he moved slowly, evidence he'd been in a taxing battle. And the fighter offered a weak grip when the reporter stretched out his hand, which means his hands were sore.

However, his spirit superseded his physical condition. This was his moment and he never seemed happier, or more confident in his ability.

``Well, you finally have your defining fight,'' the reporter said. De La Hoya smiled broadly and said, ``The first one, only the first one.''

De La Hoya's handlers will begin negotiations for a rematch with Shane Mosley in May.

The matchup doesn't have the luster of their first meeting, in June 2000, because Mosley lost to Vernon Forrest in his last two fights. However, it's important to De La Hoya personally.

At 29, he's motivated by the prospect of avenging his losses to Mosley and Felix Trinidad.

``I'll keep fighting until I secure my legacy in boxing,'' he said. ``You have to fight the best to be the best.''

Meanwhile, a rematch with De La Hoya would be a tremendous opportunity for Mosley to bounce back from his recent disappointments.

``Shane was the second winner tonight,'' someone close to Mosley said Saturday.

--The fans: The fight apparently proved to be a big draw. One television executive said pay-per-view sales were on pace to hit at least 800,000, which would rank second all-time behind the 1.4 million of De La Hoya-Trinidad among nonheavyweight bouts.

The arena at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino was packed. Attendance was announced at a sellout of 11,425, but officials estimated the actual crowd exceeded 12,000.

Ticket sales certainly were hot. In one case, last-row tickets valued at $100 sold for $650 each on the day of the fight and other tickets reportedly went for as high as $5,000 each.

No one complained: The crowd was treated to a memorable fight and was as passionate as the fighters.

The fans were equally divided as the fighters made their entrances into the ring. However, Vargas' fans seemed to cheer more vociferously in the first half of the fight, repeatedly chanting their hero's name.

Then, when it became clear De La Hoya had taken charge, those chants changed to ``Oscar, Oscar, Oscar'' and then crescendoed into wild cheering when he knocked Vargas down and then won the fight.

--Judging judges: The scorecard of Patricia Jarman-Manning was so out of line it merits serious review. She had it 97-94 in favor of Vargas going into the decisive 11th round: six rounds for Vargas, three for De La Hoya and one even.

The two judges and the Daily News scored the fight round-for-round exactly the same, 96-94 for De La Hoya.

At best, the fight was even going into the 11th, and that's a stretch.

Manning gave Vargas the seventh round, which De La Hoya dominated, and somehow scored the 10th round even. That was when De La Hoya staggered Vargas with a left hook, effectively ending the fight.

Theoretically, the judges call the fights as they see him. Jarman-Manning must not see very well.

--Unamicable split: Vargas and fitness trainer John Philbin parted on bad terms after the fight. Philbin, speaking at the postfight news conference, cited a poor diet prescribed by a dietitian as one reason Vargas lost.

Philbin, who announced he was leaving the team, said dietitian Mezzan Ali had Vargas eating primarily fish the last month of training and believes it worked to Vargas' detriment.

Vargas handlers were livid afterward that Philbin brought up the issue.

``He made an excuse, he said Fernando didn't eat right,'' Arellano said. ``I tell you right now: We have no excuses for our loss. How dare he take the spotlight away from Oscar De La Hoya and Fernando Vargas to basically cleanse his personal disputes.

``... Whether it was fish or steak or pasta, nothing could've prevented that left hook in the 10th round. De La Hoya was simply the better man.''

--Replay: The fight will be replayed at 9:45 p.m. Saturday on HBO and shown again on HBO2 at 9 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sunday and 11:15 p.m. Sept. 24.

COMING UP

FRIDAY

--Juan Lazcano vs. David Armstrong, lightweights, El Paso, Texas, Telefutura.

--Daniel Attah vs. Tonto Tontchev, junior lightweights, Jersey City, N.J., ESPN2.

SATURDAY

--Wayne Braithwaite vs. Vincenzo Cantatore, for vacant WBC cruiserweight title, Rome, no TV.

SUNDAY

--Tim Witherspoon vs. Lou Savarase, heavyweights, Friant, Calif., Fox Sports Net.

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

Fernando Vargas, left, and Oscar De La Hoya both connect in their fight Saturday.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News

Box:

COMING UP (see text)