TRAINER: `FERNANDO LOST FOCUS'.

Byline: MICHAEL ROSENTHAL Boxing

Fernando Vargas' cornermen saw the first signs of trouble in the seventh round of his fight against Oscar De La Hoya on Sept. 14 in Las Vegas.

Vargas had fought well in the first half of the fight, maintaining pressure on his more-experienced opponent and impressing the judges. He led by two points on Patricia Jarman- Manning's dubious card and the two others were even after six rounds.

Then things changed. De La Hoya continued to score consistently with his unavoidable left jab but also began to land hard punches with his normally absent right hand. It turned the momentum in his favor.

De La Hoya picked up the pace in the eighth. He landed at least four solid rights that didn't seriously hurt Vargas but apparently set up the left hooks that would lead to De La Hoya's knockout in the 11th.

``I think Fernando lost focus,'' said assistant trainer Robert Garcia, reflecting on the fight at a news conference Thursday. ``I don't know what it was. He must have thought he had the fight or something. He was flat-footed, not moving his head.

``I said, `Are you feeling his punches? Is he hurting you?' He said no. I said, `So, go out there and work your way in.' ''

Vargas did wake up in the ninth. He returned to his aggressive tactics - pinning De La Hoya against the ropes at one point - to win the round on all cards and fought evenly with De La Hoya for most of the 10th.

He was in the fight with only two-plus rounds remaining. After nine, he led by three points on Jarman-Manning's card and trailed by only one point on the two others.

``In the seventh and eighth rounds, he allowed himself to get hit too often,'' said Eduardo Garcia, Vargas' lead trainer and Robert's father. ``... But we gave him instructions (after the eighth round) to make adjustments and we got results. We won the ninth, and I think we were winning the 10th.''

Then came the punch of the fight, a left hook to Vargas' jaw that sent him reeling with only seconds remaining in the 10th round. Vargas survived temporarily but was so badly dazed the fight was effectively over.

``It was a hard punch,'' Eduardo Garcia said. ``He came to the corner hurt. We put cold water on him and used a lot of strong words to motivate him as much as we could, but he had limited time to recover. It was eight seconds before the bell (to end the 10th round). It wasn't enough time to recover.

``I knew we had problems (going into the 11th). I told him, `Be as careful as you can, be very careful.' Unfortunately, Oscar went after him knowing he was hurt and hit him with the big punch.''

De La Hoya put Vargas down with another perfect left hook and then ended the night when he landed more than a dozen punches in rapid succession as Vargas lay defenseless against the ropes, and a crowd that had been evenly divided cheered wildly.

Eduardo Garcia had no objection when referee Joe Cortez stopped the fight at 1:48 of the round - only 4 minutes, 12 seconds before the end of the scheduled 12 rounds.

``I can't criticize him,'' he said. ``I didn't want to see Fernando hurt any more.''

--Age on his side: Vargas' handlers admit that lingering effects of crushing losses to Trinidad and De La Hoya in his two biggest fights are a concern.

However, they believe he'll survive the setbacks in part because of his age.

``The one striking thing about the tale of the tape before the fight was Fernando's age,'' Carl Moretti of Main Events said. ``He's only 24. De La Hoya and Trinidad were 29, 30.

``That's not an excuse. I just can't wait to see how good he is in a couple of years. ... This ride's got a little more to go.''

Kathy Duva, CEO of Main Events, added it's important to consider who beat Vargas.

``He lost to two Hall of Famers,'' she said. ``Most fighters don't face two Hall of Famers.''

--Too much too soon? The question came up again: Did Vargas take on talented veterans Trinidad and De La Hoya too early in his career?

Vargas fought Trinidad, perhaps the hardest puncher pound-for-pound, when he was 22 and De La Hoya at 24.

``When you have a big fight like these, you have to take it,'' Moretti said. ``He made $6 million when he fought Trinidad; you can't say no to that. ...

``No one has 35, 40 fights before they get their first title shot anymore. Fernando fought (Yory Boy) Campas for his first title in his 15th fight.''

--Big-time player? Duva said the fight proved her fighter is one of the sport's biggest draws.

She used the pay-per-view numbers - 900,000 buys - to make her point.

``To put it in context, the bulk of De La Hoya's fights sold 500,000 or less (pay-per-view buys) and many heavyweight fights sell less than 500,000.

``This goes down as the second-largest (nonheavyweight) fight ever. What we have is a bankable box-office attraction in Fernando Vargas.''

--Positive step: A bill to create a federal commission to oversee boxing in the United States was approved by a Senate committee last week but must be approved by the full Senate.

The U.S. Boxing Administration, a pet project of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., would work with the state commissions that oversee the sport - not run it on a day-to-day basis.

``An example would be the Mike Tyson-Lennox Lewis fight,'' said Pia Pialorsi, Republican press secretary of the Senate Commerce Committee. ``The Nevada Athletic Commission exercised its authority (by rejecting the fight) and then they went to other states. You see the lack of uniformity.

``The USBA could step in and look at that situation.''

The USBA also would license all boxers, promoters, referees and judges, and it would test boxers for infectious diseases and maintain their medical records.

A law to protect boxers' health and financial interests already is on the books.

--Public appearance: De La Hoya has scheduled a public news conference Oct. 8 at Olvera Street to formally announce his deal with HBO to promote fights on HBO Latino next year.

COMING UP

THURSDAY

--Darius Watson vs. James Brock, cruiserweights, Hollywood Park, No TV

FRIDAY

--Cruz Carbajal vs. Danny Romero, bantamweights, Albuquerque, N.M., ESPN2.

--Miguel Figueroa vs. Rocky Martinez, junior welterweights, Chicago, Telefutura

SATURDAY

--Jorge Paez vs. Juan Angel Macias, junior lightweights, at the Pond, Channel 9

--Ricky Hatton vs. Stephen Smith, junior welterweights, Manchester, England, Showtime

SUNDAY

--Jeremy Williams vs. Gilberto Martinez, heavyweights, Lemoore, Calif., Fox Sports Net

OCT. 12

--Eric Morel vs. Denkaosaen Kaowitch, for Morel's flyweight title, the Pond, Showtime

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

Fernando Vargas sits in his corner between late rounds in his bout against Oscar De La Hoya on Sept. 14.

Laura Rauch/Associated Press

Box:

COMING UP (see text)