All photos by Ed Mulholland
Boxing fans were treated to an action-packed main event tonight at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas as Francisco “El Bandido” Vargas (22-0-1, 16 KOs) took on Aussie “Wild” Will Tomlinson (23-2-1, 13 KOs).
The only person who didn’t enjoy the evening was “Wild” Will himself, who was battered and bloodied for just about the entirety of the bout until the eighth round when Vargas landed a vicious hook that dropped Tomlinson and ended the fight.
From the start of the fight Tomlinson erroneously fought toe-to-toe with the stronger Vargas and it would later prove excruciating. While this style was pleasing to the crowd, boxing fans at home and ringside sensed that it would only be a matter of time before the fight was stopped or we’d see a knockout.
Early on in the first round the Tomlinson corner pleaded with their fighter to hold, but the heavyhearted Aussie never shied away from the heavy exchanges.
In the third round, an accidental clash of heads stopped the fight momentarily and opened up a cut above Vargas’ left eye. Later on in the round Vargas would land two consecutive hooks to Tomlinson to the dome that seemed to weaken him at the knees, but not enough to drop him. Heading into the next few rounds, fans at ringside could be heard yelling for “Wild Will” to “BOX! BOX!”
Who knows what could have happened if Tomlinson decided to switch up his game plan and use the athleticism he truly possesses and try and stick and move around Vargas.
In the sixth round, Tomlinson had arguably his best round of the night, landing some decent shots, but also eating some as well. At the end of the sixth round, the Tomlinson corner mentioned that the rounds seemed close, but at this point even Will had to know that this was a stretch of the imagination.
It was in Round 8 that Vargas closed the show landing some devastating hooks that dropped Tomlinson and forced referee Laurence Cole to quickly put an end to the bout, something that Tomlinson’s corner probably should have done one or two rounds earlier.
After the fight, Vargas spoke about his performance and what the future could hold.
“I was surprised that Will was able to take so many punches and I think he is a warrior.”
“I want to fight for a world title. I think I did a good job and showed that I’m ready for the best out there,” said the determined Vargas.
Only time will tell what’s next for these two warriors, while Tomlinson will look to go back to the drawing board and find another opponent to bring him another big fight, Vargas will look to capture some hardware in the division.
