Fernando Javier Vargas was born on 7 December 1977, in Oxnard, California USA, of Mexican descent. He is a retired professional boxer, best known as a two-time world light middleweight champion.
A famous boxer, how rich is Fernando Vargas? Sources state that Vargas has earned a net worth of over $8 million as of mid-2016. His wealth has been established mostly through his boxing career.
Fernando Vargas Net Worth $8 Million
Vargas was raised by his mother with his two siblings, as his father abandoned the family soon after Vargas was born. Due to a troubled nature caused by his fierce fighting spirit, he often faced suspensions from school, but at the age of ten he became interested in boxing and started to train and learn about the sport from Eduardo Garcia at the La Colonia Youth Boxing Club and soon found himself as an established amateur boxer, achieving numerous accolades. At the age of 14, he won the 132-lb championship at the Junior Olympic Box-offs, and won silver at the Junior Olympics in 1992. The following year he was the 132-lb champion at the Junior Olympic Box-Offs, the Junior Olympics and the Junior Olympic International tournament. In 1994 he won the 132-lb Gold Medal at the U.S. Olympic Festival, becoming the youngest fighter to win the US Amateur Championship. The same year he participated in the World Junior Championships, but lost in the quarter-finals. In 1995 he added a Pan American Games Bronze Medal to his trophy case, and was selected for the United States Olympic Team the following year. He won the fight against Tengiz Meskhadze, but lost to Marian Simion in the medal round. However, Vargas’ career was just starting its path.
After an extraordinary amateur winning career of 100-5, Vargas made his professional debut in 1997, beating Jorge Morales. He went on to score 14 knockout victories until 1998, when he won his first world title, the IBF Jr. Middleweight championship, beating Yori Boy Campas and becoming the youngest Jr. Middleweight champion. He defended the title through 1999, beating Howard Clarke, Raúl Márquez, Winky Wright and Ike Quartey. His net worth was considerably boosted.
In 2000 Vargas lost his title, being knocked out by Félix Trinidad, but he later recovered the title, beating Jose Flores for the WBA’s world title. However, in a title unification bout he was beaten by Oscar De La Hoya in 2002. After the fight, he returned a positive drug test, and was suspended for nine months as well as fined $100,000.
He came back to the ring in 2003, scoring wins over Fitz Vanderpool and Tony Marshall, but in the latter fight, Vargas injured a disc in his back, which resulted in him spending nearly two years inactive. He came back in 2005, winning over Raymond Joval and Javier Castillejo, and then faced Sugar Shane Mosley who landed a sharp right hand in the first round, causing Vargas‘ left eye to swell. As a result, the bout was stopped in the 10th round, granting the victory to Mosley. Five months later, the two met again in a rematch, with Mosley scoring a sixth round TKO leaving Vargas to wobble back to his corner. Vargas entered the ring once more in 2007, losing to Ricardo Mayorga, and announced his retirement soon afterwards.
Vargas later opened a gym in in North Las Vegas called El Feroz Factory where he currently trains fighters, maintaining his net worth.
Aside from boxing, Vargas became involved in both the film and television industry. In 2006 he was cast as gang member Tiko ‘TKO’ Martinez in the crime drama film “Alpha Dog”. He also made a guest appearance in the television series “Moesha”, and participated in the reality competition “Top Chef Celebrity”. In 2014 he starred in the reality television show called “Welcome to Los Vargas”, portraying him as a father and husband, which ran for 13 episodes and greatly added to Vargas’ wealth.
In his private life, in 2006 Vargas married his long-time fiance Martha Lopez Vargas; the couple has four children and the family resides in Los Angeles.
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