Foster tops Vargas in unanimous decision
SAN ANTONIO — As O’Shaquie Foster answered questions with his brand new World Boxing Council super featherweight championship belt sitting nearby on a press conference table, he said everything that had just transpired hadn’t hit him yet.
Fitting, since he just finished a fight in which Rey Vargas barely hit him either.
Foster, who grew up in Orange and has been training at Houston’s Main Street Boxing Gym for the past six years, dealt Vargas (36-1, 22 KOs) the first loss of his career with a convincing 119-109, 117-111, 116-112 decision to claim the previously vacant title at 130 pounds Saturday night.
“It’s just an unbelievable feeling to be champion of the world,” Foster said without any sign of swelling on his face. “I’ve dreamed about this my whole life. Going through what I’ve been through, to turn it all around is just crazy.”
After a promising amateur career, Foster’s time in the sport appeared to be in peril after he suffered a couple early defeats and lost focus while still living in his hometown. Since moving to Houston and teaming up with Main Street Boxing’s trainer Bobby Benton, Foster has won 10 fights in a row and is the first boxing world champion from Orange.
“It’s not a surprise to us at all,” Benton said. “Everything (Vargas) tried to do, Shock shut it right down, just like we thought he would.”
Foster (20-2, 11 KOs), wearing trunks that read “Shock the World” on the back, used his quickness and defense to frustrate Vargas, who already had claimed world titles at 120 and 126 pounds. According to CompuBox numbers, Vargas connected on just 11.7 percent of his jabs and was outlanded in total punches 144-101. The more definitive story was told on the faces of the two fighters as Vargas entered the late rounds with swelling under both eyes and a busted nose, while Foster still appeared fresh.
“I think this decision was not fair,” Vargas said. “I don’t agree with it, but I have to respect it. I thought it was much closer than they saw.”
Obviously, Foster’s corner was pleased with the decision, but took issue with one judge giving Vargas even four rounds. Although he said he’d have to watch the tape, Benton didn’t think Vargas won more than one round.
Even still, Foster didn’t try to coast on points in the later rounds. He dominated the fight early with all three judges giving him four of the first five rounds. Just when Vargas seemed to find a little bit of a rhythm in the middle rounds, Foster took away all the momentum by putting his foot on the gas in the final three rounds, outlanding Vargas 49-20 over those last nine minutes.
“We knew it was a wipeout, but we really didn’t really want to leave it in the judge’s hands,” Foster said. “We didn’t want to make it close, so (my corner) stayed on me, stayed pressing me, telling me to pick it up and close the show.”
Vargas’ corner instructed him to pull out all the stops and look for a knockout in the final round, but instead it was Foster who was the aggressor, outlanding Vargas 20-5 in the final frame.
“We thought we were way ahead, but I didn’t want him to coast,” Benton said. “I told him to go after him and try to take him out.”
Now that he has his first world title, Foster wants to get greedy and attempt to unify the belts at 130 pounds. That means potential matchups against WBO champion Emanuel Navarrete, WBA titleholder Hector Luis Garcia or a battle against the winner of the IBF title fight between Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov and Joe Cordina.
“(I’d want to fight) any one of those guys. I feel like my style is unique to any of theirs,” Foster said. “I’d love to unify and become undisputed at 130.”
As everyone congratulated and complimented Foster in the bowels of the Alamodome late Saturday night, Benton, who also trains 140-pound champion Regis Prograis, had strong words about his fighter that could serve as a warning to the rest of the weight class.
“I’ll tell you, honestly, he didn’t show everything he’s capable of,” Benton said. “I’d say he showed about 75 percent, and he just had a beautiful night, but he still hasn’t shown everything he can do yet. There’s more in there.”