Oscar De La Hoya vs Fernando Vargas official on-site programme also featuring Kelly Pavlik vs Edson Madrid and Miguel Cotto vs John Brown plus official bout sheet, billed "Bad Blood" 14th September 2002, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas.

Condition mint

De La Hoya W TKO 11

De La Hoya's nose was bleeding by the end of the fifth round, while Vargas was bleeding from a cut under his right eye by the seventh. De La Hoya stunned Vargas with a left hook, following a combination to the body, at the very end of the 10th round. Vargas was knocked down early in the 11th round by a left hook, before Referee Cortez stopped the bout when Vargas offered little resistance to a flurry of punches by De La Hoya. It had the second-largest grossing live gate in history for a non-heavyweight fight. De La Hoya's purse was $15 million. Vargas was suspended nine months and fined $100,000 by testing positive for steroids after this fight.

Pavlik W unanimous decision over 6 rounds
Madrid down in both the 1st and the 2nd rounds

Cotto W unanimous decision over 10 rounds

Price: £55

This "Golden Boy" of boxing was born on February 4th 1973 in East Los Angeles, California. He was one of America's top amateur boxers during the late 80-s and early 90's, until he turned pro right after winning a gold medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. The following November, he fought Lamar Williams and won the match with a first-round KO.

At 5'11 with an impressive 72-inch reach, he is one of today's most respected boxers, with a tremendous appeal to a broad audience of sports fan. His smooth character in the ring probably emanates from the fact that he "learned long ago to live with fear- controlled fear. Being relaxed, anticipating punches, translates into fear under control." He realizes that he is still young and that he still has a long road ahead, where he learns something new every time he finishes a daily workout. "The is always space for improvement, no matter how long you've been in the business."

Take away all the fame and glamour of this pretty boy of boxing, he still enjoys the time spent at home with his family. His entire family is very proud of Oscar's career, even if his brother Joel Jr. says that "Oscar hated physical confrontations." Part of Oscar's calling for boxing had to do with the time his father caught him playing, and said to him "How many times have I told you not to play baseball? I don't want you to get hurt. You can get killed out here. Go to the gym and learn how to defend yourself. That's what you've got to do." From that point on, it was clear that boxing was a tradition in the family, and he was going to be part of it.

"The incentive for my development as a boxer was my own family." Another reason was the fact that his close relatives would give him some money every time he would win a boxing during his mid-teens. They would give him some loose change and even a few dollars at times. He has come a long way since then, as he now receives 7 figure salaries for his fights, mainly due to his huge drawing power of fans. He has become a sports icon with tremendous promotional power as he can be found on promo items like t-shirts, boxing gloves, and even skin.

De La Hoya does his press conferences in Spanish, his mother tongue. His love for his roots and background make him a god-like creature among his own. De La Hoya does his press conferences in Spanish, his mother tongue. His love for his roots and background make him a god-like creature among his own. He won his first world title in 1994 against Jimmi Bredahl.

In 1995, he defeated Rafael Ruelas, later winning over Genaro Hernandez and Jesse James Leija. In June 1996, he clearly dominated his long time idol Julio Cesar Chavez in a fourth-round TKO. His 1997 defeat over the previously undefeated Miguel Gonzalez, won him the WBC lightweight title. Pernell Whitaker was his next in-ring victim with a close decision over the champ.

With an amazing record as a boxer, he seems to follow in the footsteps of other boxing legends like Sugar Ray Leonard, the one previously referred to as the "Golden Boy".




“If they told me I had to fight Godzilla I’d go home and [complain] but I’d do it”
Kelly Pavlik, The Undefeated World Middleweight Champion

Kelly Pavlik is the Undefeated Universally Recognized World Middleweight Champion. Growing up on the Southside of Youngstown Kelly began boxing in 1991 at the age of 9. After graduating from high school in 2000, at the age of 18, he became a professional boxer.

Although his professional debut was on ESPN Kelly’s career did not register on the radar of sports media and news. He amassed a record of 29-0 with 26 knock outs by the time he landed on an internationally televised HBO broadcast in January 2007.

In 2007 Kelly defeated top ranked Jose Luis Zertuche, Edison Miranda, and the World Champion Jermain Taylor. None of these opponents had been knocked out. All of them got knocked out by Kelly.

6 of Kelly’s last 7 opponents had never been knocked out. All of them got knocked out by Kelly. He is the greatest KO artist in the history of the Middleweight Championship and one of the greatest KO artists of all time.

Kelly Pavlik is the Reigning World Middleweight Champion, Undefeated, 34-0 with 30 Knock Outs.




Miguel Ángel Cotto (born October 29, 1980 in Caguas, Puerto Rico). Former World Boxing Organization Light Welterweight champion and is the current World Boxing Association Welterweight champion. Cotto is currently ranked seventh in the world on the pound-for-pound rankings of The Ring magazine. As an amateur, Cotto represented Puerto Rico in the Lightweight and Light Welterweight divisions at various international events including the 1999 Pan American Games, the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 1998 Junior World Championships where he finished 2nd. Cotto began his professional career in 2001, and on September 11, 2004 he defeated Kelson Pinto for the WBO Junior Welterweight Championship. He defended the title successfully a total of six times before vacating it when he ascended to the Welterweight division. In his first fight in this division he defeated Carlos Quintana for the vacant WBA Welterweight Championship. Cotto has successfully defended this title against Oktay Urkal, Zab Judah, Shane Mosley, and Alfonso Gómez.

Cotto was born and raised in Caguas, with several figures linked to boxing in his family, including his father Miguel Cotto Sr., his brother José Miguel Cotto, his second cousin Abner Cotto and his uncle and boxing trainer Evangelista Cotto. He is married to Melissa Guzmán with whom he has two children, Alondra and Miguel Cotto III. Cotto has a daughter outside of this marriage with another woman, who was born in November 2006.On May 29, 2007 Cotto solicited a Protection Order against the mother of his child. The order was granted and it prevented her from gaining access to Cotto's house in the "Valle del Turabo" sector of Caguas, Puerto Rico and the Bairoa Gym, where he usually trains for his fights. The case was dropped on June 14, 2007 when Cotto attended a citation and asked judge Bernardo Solá to lift the Protection Order.

As a child, Cotto was taken to the Bairoa Gym in Caguas. There, he was able to develop into a top amateur fighter who won several international competitions and represented Puerto Rico at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. After being eliminated from those games in the first classificatory round, Cotto decided to turn professional.
Cotto participated in several international tournaments, these include: The 1998 Junior World Championships that took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he finished in second place while competing in the Lightweight division. His three victories here were by points, the results were: Andrey Kolevin of Ukraine by points 15-3; Dana Laframboise of Canada by points 6-1, and Darius Jasevicius representing Lithuania 9-5. His only loss was to Anton Solopov of Russia by points with a score of 8-9. In 1999, Cotto competed in the Pan American Games that took place in Winnipeg, Canada. He only fought once in a loss to Dana Laframboise of Canada by points with a final score of 2-5. Following his participation in the Pan American tournament, Cotto was part of the Boxing World Championships in Houston, Texas. He lost his only fight by points to Robertas Nomeikas. In his final amateur tournament, Cotto represented Puerto Rico as a Light Welterweight at 2000 Sydney Olympic Games where he lost to Mahamadkadir Abdullayev of Uzbekistan by points.

Early in his career Cotto defeated former world title contender John Brown by decision in the tenth round, he led through the entire fight and scored a knockdown in the second round. The judges gave Cotto scores of 100-89 twice and 100-88. Miguel also won a fight against former world champion Cesar "Cobrita" Soto by knockout in the eleventh round. In 2001, Cotto suffered a dangerous injury that threatened his boxing career. As he was driving to the gymnasium at 5 a.m. in the morning one day, he apparently fell asleep and had an accident, breaking his arm and requiring hospitalisation.

On September 13, 2003, Cotto defeated Demetrio Ceballos by knockout in the seventh round at Las Vegas. In a fight where Cotto punished Ceballos with numerous combinations in the sixth round, switching between the orthodox and southpaw stances. In the seventh round Cotto displayed an aggressive style that led to the referee stopping the fight with 0:32 remaining in the round. With this, he was ranked number one in his division by the WBA. Cotto's first fight of 2004 was a fourth round knockout victory over the former world title contender Victoriano Sosa. This was after an eventful week prior to the fight, which included Cotto having to wait four hours for his luggage to arrive (after a 2 a.m. local time arrival) at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, and almost being removed from the Mandalay Bay Hotel, where the fight was held at, by a security guard who thought he was an unaccompanied minor. On April 8, 2004 he defeated the former world title challenger, Lovemore Ndou, by unanimous decision in Las Vegas. The first three rounds of the fight had a slow pace with neither of the boxers establishing control of the fight. Cotto dominated the fourth and fifth rounds managing to land combinations on Ndou's head. Ndou won the seventh and eighth rounds after landing more accurate hits than Cotto. The last three rounds were even with both fighters establishing short periods of control in the fight. The judges gave Cotto scores of 117-111, 116-112 and 115-113.

On September 11, 2004 Cotto faced Kelson Pinto from Brazil, for the vacant WBO junior welterweight title. This represented the third fight between them, with Pinto being victorious in their two previous encounters, both of which took place while they were still amateurs. The fight was televised by HBO from San Juan, Puerto Rico. During this fight Cotto showed defensive smarts with his hands held high instead of his usual aggressive orthodox stance. Over the course of the fight Cotto scored three knockdowns and won the World Boxing Organization Junior Welterweight Championship by knockout in the sixth round. On December 11, 2004 he successfully defended his title, beating former world champion Randall Bailey by knockout in the sixth round, as part of the Vitali Klitschko-Danny Williams undercard in Las Vegas. Cotto's performance was described as a result of hand speed and accuracy. During the fight Bailey received punches to the head that opened cuts over and under both of his eyes. As a result of the cuts Bailey was examined by the ringside physician. Following this Bailey expressed that he didn't want to continue and the referee stopped the fight at 1:39 of the sixth round. Eleven days later, on December 22, 2004 the Puerto Rican boxing commission named Cotto as Puerto Rico's fighter of the year for 2004. Cotto's second title defence took place on February 26, 2005 in the Rubén Rodríguez in Bayamón, Puerto Rico against Demarcus Corley. During the fight Cotto was more aggressive than usual, trading blows with Corley over the course of the first round. During the fight both boxers were deducted one point following illegal low blows. Cotto scored three knockdowns before the fight was stopped by the referee at 2:45 of the fifth round following a combination by Miguel. Corley claimed that the referee stopped the fight prematurely stating that "the ref just stopped the fight premature. If he wanted to stop the fight, he could have stopped it when I had Cotto hurt." Just a few days after retaining the crown versus Corley, Cotto received a personal blow, when his stable-mate and friend, former 2004 Olympian Joseph Serrano, was shot in the head upon leaving the Bairoa gym. Serrano survived the shot, but was in critical but stable condition at a local hospital. On June 11, 2005 Cotto faced the last man to beat him as an amateur, former Olympic gold medalist Mohamed Abdulaev from Uzbekistan. As amateurs, Abdulaev eliminated Cotto from the first round of the 2000 Sydney Olympics. This time they met as professionals in New York City's Madison Square Garden. Before the beginning of the fight Cotto received a positive ovation from the public. During the first round Miguel went on the offensive scoring hits on Abdullaev's head and body while he was in a defensive stance. In the fourth round a left hook by Miguel hurt Abdullaev, who proceeded to focus his hits on Cotto's body. Abdullaev's offence was effective in the sixth and seventh rounds and as a result of this Cotto went on the defensive. Following the eighth round Abdullaev's eye was swollen to the point of being almost entirely closed. In the ninth round following accurate punches by Cotto the fight's referee paused the fight and asked the ringside doctor to examine Abdullaev's eye. After being examined by the doctor Abdullaev indicated to the referee that he could not continue, this way Cotto retained the Welterweight division championship.

Miguel's third championship defence took place on September 24, 2005 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, against Ricardo Torres of Colombia. In the first round Cotto scored a knockdown. In the second round after trading blows Torres scored a knockdown. The last seconds of the round were evenly matched with both fighters finishing the round badly shaken. Cotto was apparently in better condition when the third round began and was dominating the fight at that point. With two minutes remaining in the round one of Cotto's punches landed borderline. Following this Torres was granted thirty seconds to recover by the referee. Cotto dominated the fourth round and Torres won the fifth. Cotto won and scored a knockdown in the sixth round. At 1:24 of the seventh round a left hook by Cotto knocked Torres out. On March 4, 2006, Cotto defended his WBO Junior Welterweight title by knocking out Gianluca Branco, who had given up during the eighth round of their bout due to a shoulder injury. Cotto dominated the fight as a result of a strong and accurate jab in a card that took place in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. Cotto's next scheduled fight was against the then-undefeated Paul Malignaggi in a fight that took place on June 10, 2006 in Madison Square Garden. Cotto opened a cut over Malignaggi's right eye in the first round, which, according to Malignaggi, affected his performance over the course of the fight, by stating "this was the first time in which I was cut, and the blood kept going into my eye. And it bothered me the entire fight. I was not able to see very well. Cotto's a great fighter, but I'm disappointed, as I wanted to be the champion". Cotto won the fight by unanimous decision with scores of 116-111 and 115-112. Malignaggi suffered a fractured right orbital bone and his jaw was injured, he was taken to Roosevelt Hospital after the fight's outcome was announced.

Cotto relinquished his title in late 2006 and announced his intention to move to the Welterweight division to challenge Carlos Quintana for a major title. The fight took place on December 2, 2006. Cotto defeated Quintana by technical knockout in the fifth round. Following a shot to the body, Quintana surrendered prior to the start of the sixth round and Cotto won the vacant World Boxing Association Welterweight Championship. Cotto's Welterweight reign began successfully on March 3, 2007 when he retained his belt with a technical knock out victory in the eleventh round over Oktay Urkal. Urkal's corner threw in the towel because he was apparently down in the fight, and had just had a second point deducted for a head butt, leading to his corner's belief that the referee was unfair. On June 9, 2007 Cotto defended the WBA Welterweight Title against Zab Judah in New York City before a sell-out crowd at Madison Square Garden. The bout included two low blows by Cotto (which led to a point deduction) and at stoppage had Cotto leading 97-91. Cotto won by technical knockout in the eleventh round when the referee stopped the fight. Judah argued that the illegal blows played a role in his defeat. "He hit me hard twice and the referee didn't do anything about it," he said. "I thought they were intentional. Those low blows took a lot out of me. I want a rematch," added Judah. Judah made numerous claims including a biased referee. Miguel Cotto and Shane Mosley fought on November 10, 2007 at Madison Square Garden in a card made possible by a legal settlement between Top Rank Boxing, Cotto's promoter, and Mosley's promoter, Golden Boy Promotions. The fight was broadcast on HBO Pay-Per-View and was won by Cotto via unanimous decision. During the course of the fight Cotto pursued Mosley who was reacting in a slow fashion. Late in the fight Mosley displayed more aggression at one point becoming the aggressor. Cotto's performance was described as "a rare moment in sports when a sudden star rises from what is categorically termed as goodness, to the cusp of greatness." On April 12, 2008, Cotto successfully defended the championship against Alfonso Gómez. Throughout the fight Cotto scored three knockdowns before the fight was stopped following the fifth round, when the doctor indicated to the referee that Gómez couldn't continue.