Vargas fights mom, eyes comeback

My mother is a small, forgetful, cheerful Irish immigrant who never drove a day in her life, is convinced mashed potatoes aren't the same without mixing in that fourth stick of butter and always thinks the next cup of coffee she drinks is the best of her lifetime.

The woman can't get through a day without hunting for an episode of "America's Most Wanted" and spends every available cent on a lottery in which she has a better chance of John Walsh stopping by for dinner than winning.

Suddenly, all the quirks seem a lot more lovable.

If there are two sides to every story and somewhere in the middle exists the truth, the controversy that is former junior middleweight champion Fernando Vargas and his mother is one for the books.

The drama recently played out in a California courtroom, where Vargas attempted to have his mother, two brothers and a 75-year-old aunt removed from their home, which the fighter insists is his.

"My mother is a cocaine addict," Vargas said Tuesday. "She has done many unscrupulous things."

"He is my son," Alicia Romo told reporters in October, "but he is evil."

Throw in another stick of butter, Ma. We'll be fine.

Vargas is here promoting a card on Friday night at the Palms, one that includes former southpaw world champions Zab Judah and Joel Casamayor in separate fights.

Vargas Entertainment Promotions received its Nevada license six months ago and also has hosted cards in mixed martial arts. The boss has more ideas.

Like promoting himself.

Vargas will turn 32 next month and wants to fight again, which is no surprise when you consider there isn't a boxer alive who ever really bows to Father Time. The list of great athletes who fall victim to the same competitive trait that made them so talented in the first place is endless.

They refuse to admit the obvious, and Vargas is convinced a career that ended in November 2007 with a majority-decision loss to Ricardo Mayorga can be revitalized without him suffering irreversible damage.

It seems the relationship with his mother long passed that stop.

I don't know Vargas but for a 20-minute interview at the Palms, and I know nothing about his mother other than what he has said and the media has reported.

But I know when conflicts like this escalate and attorneys become involved, discovering the truth can be trickier than those at Florida State convincing Bobby Bowden it might be smart to join that bridge club full time.

The Vargas story has produced some scandalous headlines about a wealthy son wanting to kick Mom and other family members to the curb, about Romo claiming Vargas convinced her to sign over her portion of the property 10 years ago and now wants her and the others evicted. She also claims her son has committed fraud.

Vargas has a much different take, and his charges begin with the addict comments and continue with accusations of misconduct by his mother when she oversaw his finances.

A judge last month ordered a stay of the eviction. For now, Mom and everyone else stay put.

"My mom is going to say what she's going to say," Vargas said. "There is no relationship there."

It hasn't diminished his desire to promote and now fight. Vargas will never again see 154 pounds, where he competed most of his career. He walks around just under 200 and says he could shrink to between 170 and 175 for his return to the ring.

But consecutive losses to Shane Mosley in 2006 were nasty. Oscar De La Hoya beat on Vargas in 2002 until things were stopped in the 11th round. A few years earlier, there was a vicious defeat to Felix Trinidad. Mayorga beat him at 162 pounds after the fight was postponed because Vargas was suffering from severe iron deficiency.

In the end, the man called El Feroz wasn't all that ferocious. But he wants back now. At some point, they all do.

"I wouldn't start out with big, difficult fights," Vargas said. "I'll ease myself back into it. No fight is easy, but I would be careful as to who I first fought. You go for a jog. You lift some weights. You hit the pads with a trainer. You promote fights and see the fans and remember the roar of the crowd as you entered arenas ... .

"Fighters fight. I'll be on my deathbed, and if someone calls me out, I'll jump up to fight them. The fire still burns. I don't think it will ever stop until they put me -- what is it, 8 or 9 feet under?"

Six, actually.

"Well," Vargas said, "there are some people who would like to see me buried a few more inches than that."

I can't say for certain his mother is one.

But it will be wonderful to hear about my mom's next cup of coffee.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He also can be heard weeknights from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. on "The Sports Scribes" on KDWN (720 AM) and www.kdwn.com.