If any fight had the chance of topping Barrera-Morales for Fight of the Year honors, it was Felix Trinidad's showdown with fellow 154 lb. titlist Fernando Vargas. The two young, undefeated champions promised a war, and nothing in their styles or records indicated that they wouldn't deliver. Fight fans stung by the disappointing pay-per-view offerings in Jones-Harding, Tyson-Golota, and Lewis-Tua were finally given sweet relief. For almost 12 full rounds, Trinidad and Vargas put all their chips on the pass line. When the smoke cleared, both men had tasted canvas, both sported swollen eyes, and both proved themselves to be true champions. But there could be only one winner, and that man was Felix Trinidad.

Trinidad declared his superiority almost immediately. At the opening bell, Vargas ran towards Trinidad and landed a lead left hook. After missing with another hook and a right, Trinidad threw his first punch of the night. It was a left hook, and it smashed into Vargas' face at full force. Vargas' entire body shook, and he looked like the Leaning Tower of Pisa as he tilted to one side. Fernando's eyes were vacant and his knees were literally wobbling. Trinidad attacked as a stunned Vargas tried in vain to clinch. Trinidad glanced a second left hook off of Vargas' head, and then another. The IBF champion reeled backwards with both arms circling like windmills before he crashed onto his ass and into the ropes. The fight was only 15 seconds old.

Vargas leapt to his feet by the count of two, and tried to bounce some life back into his legs before Jay Nady finished the mandatory eight. As soon as the fight continued, Trinidad attacked. He charged Vargas at center ring. Vargas attempted a right cross, which missed, before turning into another solid Trinidad hook. As soon as the punch landed, Vargas' back leg folded and he was on his back again. 35 seconds into the fight, and Trinidad was already standing on the ropes, looking out to the ecstatic crowd. But Vargas raised himself and beat a second count. Trinidad was more cautious as he approached Vargas this time, although he still wasted no time in cracking his opponent with a few more hooks to the face.

Vargas eventually pushed a lead right into Tito's face, a notice that he was not completely out of the game. After a few clinches, and a couple more lead rights, Vargas looked to have regained his composure. When the bell sounded to end the first round, the already standing crowd began jumping in place.

Trinidad began working behind the jab in round two, and even that punch seemed to hurt Vargas. Tito was snapping Vargas' head straight back with every stick, and following up more than a few of them with a beautiful right cross. A few times, Trinidad extended his combinations beyond two punches, but Vargas showed amazing resiliency by ducking and weaving through several onslaughts and coming out unscathed. Vargas threw some stiff right hands into the mix, but not nearly enough to dissuade Tito from continuing to dish out punishment.

Vargas was determined to stop Trinidad's surging momentum, and he walked through more vicious Trinidad jabs in the third round to begin peppering Felix's body. He also began firing his lead right with more authority, and a few of them found their target. Then, without about a minute left in the round, Vargas stuck out a weak jab. Trinidad was close, and the punch grazed his face. Vargas' thumb caught the outside of Trinidad's eye, and he immediately stood erect and pawed at it. Vargas seized on the opportunity, and let his hands go. Trinidad managed to grab Vargas' right arm, but could not clinch the left. Vargas used his free arm to fire nine successive short left hooks, only a few of which were blocked. Trinidad unhooked his clinch and the two exchanged freely. Trinidad swiveled Vargas' head with two brutal right hands, and Vargas answered with a double left hook of his own. Before the bell rang to end the round, the two found themselves in tight quarters, and Trinidad landed a looping left hook to Vargas' cup. Ferocious Fernando cried out in pain, and was given several minutes to recover before the fight resumed. But Vargas banked his first round.

The fight evened up in the fourth round when it was Vargas' turn to charge and do damage. 20 seconds in, he countered a Trinidad right with an almost overhand left hook that dropped Trinidad onto the seat of his pants. Tito took his time getting up, although he looked to be on steady legs when the action resumed. Now Vargas' blood was pumping, and he ravaged Trinidad with a wild flurry. Trinidad crouched with his gloves up, but Vargas found continued success throwing the left hook. But in the middle of Vargas' fury, Trinidad again launched a blatant low blow that buckled Vargas' knees. Time was called and Trinidad lost a point. Combined with the point lost from the knockdown, Vargas was on his way to evening up the scorecards. After Vargas caught his breath, the two exchanged flush left hooks and compared alternating right hands. Vargas was back in the fight.

In fact he was more than back in the fight. In the fifth round, Vargas was clearly winning the fight. In what would be his best round of the night, Vargas had his way with Trinidad in the fifth. Vargas would fire a heavy one-two, or crunch Tito with a hook to the body, and then circle right when it came time for Trinidad to answer. Felix's once-awesome jab was now coming up about a foot short of it's target. After taking a few steps, Vargas would stop, plant his feet, and score. Vargas is an excellent counter-puncher, and he timed out Felix' attack in this round with great skill. Shifting his shoulders and moving at the waist, Vargas was in the zone as he repeatedly made Trinidad miss, and then paid him back with a punch or two before picking up his feet and moving. Clearly this was Vargas' fight plan, and the pace he wanted to operate at. By the end of the round, Trinidad looked to have lost his focus. His right eye had begun to swell under Vargas' hooks, and his sudden inability to land punches left him looking disconcerted in his corner between rounds.

Vargas continued using footwork and timing in the sixth. Trinidad was missing badly now, as he abandoned the jab completely and fired one giant punch after another. Rather than putting his shots together, Trinidad was uncharacteristically looking for one big bomb to turn the tide. All the while, Vargas was picking him off. But Trinidad never stopped applying the pressure. Even when he would miss and catch a shot, Trinidad kept pressing Vargas. Then, in the last thirty seconds, he landed a solid right hand to the top of Vargas' head. The punch got Fernando's attention, because he wasn't sure whether to return fire or try and grab on for a clinch. After Trinidad followed with another big hook, he opted to slug. The two stood toe-to-toe until the bell, with Trinidad clearly getting the better of the exchange. Boxing Chronicle gave the round to Vargas, but all three Vegas judges allowed Tito to steal the round with his late rally.

Trinidad began the seventh round with a lead left uppercut that snapped Vargas' head. He then countered a Vargas jab with a big right that pushed Fernando's head straight back. Vargas punched back, and as the two men came together, Trinidad threw a left hook to the body that landed right in the middle of the belt. Vargas reacted, and Nady called time. Trinidad shook his head, denying that he had done anything wrong. Some will argue that the shot was on the belt... but it's wasn't just partially on the belt... it was in the middle of Vargas' wide waistband. And it was definitely below the navel, which is the real indicator of a low blow. Nady instructed both men to a neutral corner. First he went and checked on Vargas. Then he walked across the ring to warn Trinidad, but a frustrated Trinidad was indignant, and shook his head to indicate that he hadn't gone low. Nady grabbed Tito by the wrist, pulled him to center ring, and only then deducted a point. Boxing's first technical foul. Trinidad might not have lost a point had he not insisted that he didn't go low to begin with. Trinidad won the round, but with the deduction, had to settle for a 9-9 tally.

The fight was really heating up now. Neither man wanted to give an inch, and every time one man would score, the other would answer shortly thereafter. Trinidad again rocked Vargas with his lead right hand in the eighth, and the two men traded at a fast, but not wild, pace. Vargas refocused his attack on the body, and he dipped down Marco Antonio Barrera style to nail Trinidad in the side several times. Trinidad would answer each body shot with a jab, hook, or cross... but after one particularly heavy body shot, Trinidad seemed to freeze. When Vargas kept coming, Trinidad retreated. Vargas felt he had Trinidad hurt, and he ripped into him with a flush three punch combination. The first punch was a left hook to the body that was borderline low. It was immediately followed by a squared-up right and left that bounced of Trinidad's temples and had him reeling. But Nady reacted to that low left hook, which was not low enough to warrant anything other than a loud "Keep 'em up!", by stepping in and breaking the action to warn Vargas about going low. Trinidad got off the hook. The break gave Trinidad a chance to catch his breath, and he finished the round very strong, outlanding Vargas by throwing short flurries against Vargas' more single-punch oriented attack.

The ninth round was even more action packed than the others that proceeded it. Trinidad was now repeatedly hurting Vargas with big lead right hands, and after a few loudly popped on Vargas' face, his left eye began to swell shut. Vargas continued to work the body in this round. It was a good strategy, because it was the only way Vargas could stop Trinidad from applying his constant pressure, but it wasn't winning him points with the judges. As Vargas' eye swelled, he grew a bit desperate, and began freely exchanging with Trinidad. The two stood toe-to-toe in the center for the ring for the entire second half of the round. Trinidad was getting the better of the it, but Vargas wasn't exactly doing nothing. Both men were doing what they promised: going to war. The crowd ate it up.

By the tenth round, Vargas was looking very tired. Although he continued to hold up his end of the deal, his accuracy was greatly diminished as he punched through heavy breathing. Meanwhile, Trinidad was as composed and fresh as ever. While Vargas' clubbing shots were dangerous, Trinidad was scoring big points with sharp, accurate, and damaging punches. Between rounds, Don King could be seen complaining to the NSAC that Vargas was throwing low without penalty. That complaint must have made it to Nady, because as soon as Vargas threw a punch that strayed even slightly low, Nady immediately stopped the action and deducted a point from Vargas. Damn that Don King is good. The bout continued at a brutal pace. Each man was landing huge shots, although Trinidad was now busier, more accurate, and just plain winning the fight on conditioning.

As the eleventh began, both men looked like they had been in a war. Each bore a badly damaged face, and even as the pace slowed, the commitment to each and every punch was inspiring. Trinidad continued punishing Vargas, especially with the right hand, but Fernando rallied. Vargas returned to his hook, and rocked Trinidad by doubling up on the punch downstairs and then up. With the crowd cheering, Vargas surged, swiveling Trinidad head with a beautiful right hand just before the bell sounded.

On the Boxing Chronicle scorecard, Vargas trailed by a single point (102-101) before the 12th round. The official cards had Trinidad up slightly more (103-100, 104-100, and 104-99). It was clear that Vargas needed to make a stand in the final round, and his rally at the end of the eleventh hinted that it could happen. But the scorecards would soon become irrelevant.

Vargas started the final round strong, but then it all fell apart. Vargas fired a hook the body and a left uppercut than landed on Tito. He also scored with a one-two. But then Trinidad offered his first punch of the round, and as in the opening round, it was a devastating left hook. The counterpunch caught Vargas turning into it and it plopped him onto the seat of his pants. Vargas popped to his feet and waited for eight. Trinidad approached slowly and fired another lead left hook. It again rocked Vargas' noggin, and he fell forward onto all fours. Vargas was much slower getting to his feet, and he paced around the neutral corner without paying attention to Jay Nady. Although he was on his feet, Vargas didn't exactly respond to Nady's request to step towards him, despite asking it several times. But Nady allowed the fight to continue. Vargas was out on his feet.

Trinidad attacked, and a floppy-armed Vargas tried in vain to make a clinch. Tito battered him with a hook to the body and another right hand. Vargas stumbled this way and that. After 15 seconds of Trinidad trying to nail a wobbly moving target, he eventually chopped Vargas down for the final time with a devastating right hand. Vargas again fell forward onto his hands, and eventually his head. Nady waved the fight over. Vargas had been knocked out.

Felix Trinidad was overjoyed. As his corner hoisted him in the air, he screamed in victory. Across the ring, Vargas was lifted onto a stool, where he slowly regained his senses. Vargas promised that he would only lose by going out on his shield. It was a promise kept.

Felix Trinidad will be a tough candidate to beat for Fighter of the Year, even if Trinidad-Vargas doesn't earn unanimous recognition as Fight of the Year. This year he moved up in weight, took David Reid's zero, defended his title, and then took Fernando Vargas' zero. Again he used his experience, his exemplary conditioning, and devastating power punching to beat down a world-class opponent. And the future looks even brighter. Next on his hitlist is WBA middleweight champion William Joppy, then perhaps Bernard Hopkins. Trinidad has cleaned out the top ranked 147 and 154 pounders, and is headed to 160. Talk persists of an eventual showdown with Roy Jones at 168, but that fight is still a long way off. Who knows if Jones will even be active by the time Trinidad makes 168. But that shouldn't diminish Trinidad's stature in the least. With yet another spectacular win, and a sterling record of 39-0/32, Trinidad is now making a case that he is not only one of the best pound for pound fighters today, but one of the best fighters of his generation. Trinidad is now the star that Oscar DelaHoya always wanted to be: a boxer who is not just well-paid, but well-respected.

As for Fernando Vargas, his stock really didn't diminish with this loss. He fought valiantly, especially after a disastrous first round. His reputation as a fan-pleasing brawler was cemented with this bout, and he'll have no problems finding people willing to pay to see him fight. A favorite of HBO, he'll no doubt be offered a rematch with Winky Wright, perhaps a bout with David Reid, or maybe he too will move to 160 and chase Trinidad. The only real question about Vargas is if he'll be affected by the beating he took. Not only was he knocked down, but he was seriously stunned each time he was dropped. He took a major beating, one that many fighters would not recover from. But he's young and fit, and will likely take a long vacation before returning to the ring.

This unbelievable main event capped a night of brutal fights. In the co-feature, Ricardo Lopez came back from a long layoff to defend his dormant 108 lb. title against former champion Ratanapol Vorapin. The fight began slowly, with both men standing far away from the other. But Lopez got his combinations warmed up in the first, and perfected his timing in the second round. Then in the third, he ended the bout. Lopez rattled Vorapin with a left uppercut and he never recovered. Retreating on unsteady legs, Vorapin swallowed a sustained flurry from Lopez before finally being saved on the ropes by Richard Steele. Lopez looked as vibrant as ever, throwing punches from all angles with power. After three rounds, Vorapin was credited with only landing seven punches, most of them sneak right hooks in the second round. Lopez landed at a 50% clip in what was a very easy fight.

It wasn't as easy as William Joppy's middleweight tune-up. Although his opponent had a 27-0 record, he hadn't faced anyone even remotely in Joppy's league. Joppy flicked a strong jab at Johnaton Reid in the opening round, and sunk about a dozen crunching body blows before the stanza was over. Reid looked like he didn't know what was happening to him. Joppy continued the punishment in the second by adding a repeated overhand right to the mix. He got a 10-8 round without a knockdown because Reid barely threw back at him. Joppy knocked Reid down in the third, although he would have gotten a 10-8 round without a knockdown in that round too, so one-sided was the contest. Joe Cortez looked close to stopping the bout for most of the third round. In the fourth, Joppy just kept firing overhand rights, and every single one landed flush. When Reid wouldn't go down, he again ripped to the body. After some loud shots to the ribs, Joppy returned upstairs and sent Reid to the canvas just as Cortez was leaping in to call mercy. Joppy is one of the more underrated boxers in the game, and I think he'd give Bernard Hopkins a real close fight. Joppy knows that his next big test will likely come against Trinidad, and it's a fight that will be much closer than many expect.

Opening the card was women's fighter Christy Martin. Fighting at 145 (150 through the ropes), Martin looks much chubbier than when she first broke onto the scene. It took her only 65 seconds to deck her hapless opponent, Sabrina Hall, with a perfectly timed overhand right that sent Hall down like a chainsawed tree. When will Martin agree to the only fight that really matters: a bout with Lucia Rijker? Until she does, who cares how many overweight hobbyists she brutalizes?

.....Chris Bushnell