Fernando Vargas’ trainer, Danny Smith, meets the press

In anticipation of the super rematch between Shane Mosley and Fernando Vargas at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas on July 15, Danny Smith, El Feroz’s trainer, spoke with the boxing press via telephone conference call on June 28. This is what he said…

Danny Smith: Fernando is in really, really good shape. Everything is great and we are just waiting for the next couple of weeks to go by.

How do you train for this second fight?

Danny Smith: There are some minor adjustments that have been made. It is hard to say how the outcome – it started in the very first round. It is hard to say how it would have ended if that wasn’t the case. So we don’t make a lot of changes.

Some think Fernando is old because he fought Trinidad and De La Hoya at such a young age.

Danny Smith: It could be true. The problem was he was losing so much weight and it was hard to perform at an ‘A’ level when you have to lose so much weight. Right now his weight is great, maybe 5½, 6 lbs. max over his weight. It will not be a problem. The only thing I worry about it is the way he performs like he has been in sparring.

Would you like to do anything different?

Danny Smith: Not really. I would like to pick up his punch count and throw certain punches that we worked on. But as far as the strategy? When you box Shane, if you try and stay away from him – he is very fast and very quick and very comfortable with the distance. We have to eliminate the distance and make him fight.

Do you want to comment on the eye in the first fight?

Danny Smith: In the first round of the fight, there was a clinch and there was a headbutt. Every time Fernando would get close to engage in a fight, Shane would clinch and he was constantly rubbing his head up against his left eye and kept aggravating the swell.

How do you combat that?

Danny Smith: A lot of it is going to be a lot of measuring. It is something that the referee is going to have to pay attention to – not allowing him to clinch and hold. You have to take points to keep him from doing it.

Why Simi Valley?

Danny Smith: Every time we go to a camp we are isolated. Everything is great. The weight is good. We have very good sparring partners. Fernando never has a problem when it comes to training. Tiger Allen and Nelson Romine are the sparring partners that stand out and they have a lot of speed and similarity to Mosley.

Do you go for the knockout?

Danny Smith: I don’t train a guy for a knockout. I train a guy to win round-by-round. If it ends in knockout great, but we just try to get the victory.

What was Fernando’s weight when he began camp?

Danny Smith: His weight was 175 when I arrived eight weeks ago.

What did he weigh for the first fight when camp began?

Danny Smith: It was probably about 187 when I arrived. This will be my fourth fight with Fernando. This is the best weight situation.

I thought Fernando looked as good in the first Mosley fight as he’s looked in several fights.

Danny Smith: Yes, I do believe that. I don’t think he’ll ever be (the Fernando of old), because when you are in those types of fights that he was in and take punishment like he’s taken, it’s great that he can come back from a big fight like Trinidad and not be shot. He’s not shot, but he’s not the same guy of old. He will perform well because Mosley is not a real big guy and Fernando can really put a lot of pressure on a guy like that and be comfortable and we really just can’t wait.

Are you worried that he will be too mindful of the eye?

Danny Smith: No, I don’t think he will be too mindful, as long as he uses the proper defense to keep from being headbutted or being punched.

Is there anything you can do to stop that kind of swelling?

Danny Smith: There is nothing you can do when you have a fighter like that – nothing a trainer or a cutman can do. If you look at the Jermaine Taylor fight – his eye was closed and there was nothing he could do.

What round, you said it was a headbutt and we couldn’t tell at ringside, did that happen?

Danny Smith: The very first round.