Upset Loss Spells End Of Flattery Vargas Joins Raheem As Bitter Loser As Americans Disappoint In Boxing

In the days leading up to the XXVI Olympiad, boxer Fernando Vargas freely expressed his irritation at continuing comparisons to Oscar De La Hoya. He won’t have to worry about that anymore.

Vargas will be the one without a gold medal.

The charismatic Californian was one of two Americans to fight and lose second-round bouts Thursday in an afternoon session that produced no shortage of rage and controversy.

Vargas, a welterweight, lost on points, 8-7, to Romanian Marian Simion. Four bouts earlier, bantamweight Zahir Raheem was stopped 2:15 into the first round by Cuba’s Arnaldo Mesa. Heavyweight Nate Jones reached the quarterfinals, however, when he stopped injured Fola Okesola of Britain in the third round.

After the Vargas bout, the fighter and his coaches criticized the computerized scoring system and accused one judge of bias and the rest of the boxing world with conspiring against Americans.

“I know and he knows I won the fight,” said Vargas, 18.

U.S. coaches Al Mitchell and Jesse Ravelo said they planned to protest the decision, an appeal destined to go nowhere. Vargas won the first round, 4-2, but was blanked by Simion, 5-0, in the second, a round he and his coaches somehow thought his best. A series of Vargas flurries in the third round produced a 7-7 tie, but the Romanian was credited with the decisive point during an exchange with 22 seconds left.

Vargas, who plans to turn pro immediately, had raised his right hand in triumph before the decision.

At least he handled the loss well, more than could be said for Raheem. Mesa knocked the American down midway in the first round with a straight left, then staggered him 20 seconds later with the same punch. The referee gave Raheem a standing-eight count, then stopped the fight despite Raheem’s gestures that he was all right.

With the crowd booing vociferously, the referee tried to put an arm around the Philadelphian, but Raheem angrily brushed him away and refused to shake hands with Mesa.