The HOF case for/against "Ferocious" Fernando Vargas

Some years, it's simple to fill out the ballot for the International Boxing Hall of Fame. In the modern category, three fighters are elected each year, and with Oscar De La Hoya, Felix Trinidad and Joe Calzaghe all on the ballot for the first time in 2013, their election was a foregone conclusion.

There is no one this year, however, who is a lock for induction. I will vote for "Prince" Naseem Hamed, as I have done previously, but for some reason, Hamed lacks widespread support and is no better than 50-50 to make it.

There are a lot of good fighters who need to be considered, but there are no slam dunks.

One of the new names on the ballot is former super welterweight champion Fernando Vargas, a 1996 U.S. Olympian. His case is one of the most interesting.

Vargas turned pro in 1997 and had a world title belt around his waist late the following year. He became one of the sport's biggest attractions for the next five or six years and was in a series of notable fights.

There are a number of fighters in the Hall of Fame whose resume in the ring wasn't terrific, but they were deserving inductees because of what they brought outside of the ring. Arturo Gatti is one of those fighters. Gatti didn't have a slew of high-level wins, but he was the most exciting fighter of his era, fought a memorable trilogy against Micky Ward and was beloved by thousands of fans.

Vargas kind of fits into the Gatti-type category because his resume is thin in terms of Hall of Fame accomplishments in the ring.

He was 26-5 with 22 knockouts and had two stints as a 154-pound champion. He was the IBF junior middleweight champion from Dec. 12, 1998, when he defeated Yori Boy Campas in his 15th pro fight, until he lost to Trinidad in an exciting unification bout on Dec. 2, 2000.

Vargas captured the vacant WBA 154-pound belt on Sept. 22, 2001, by knocking out Jose "Shibata" Flores in the seventh round.

His best wins were victories over Winky Wright in 1999 and Ike Quartey in 2000. Wright vehemently disputed the decision and insisted Vargas was given it because he was the bigger name. There were many in the industry who agreed with Wright.

But he scored a clear-cut victory over Quartey his next time out, perhaps the most impressive performance of his career.

His bout with Trinidad in 2000 was one of the most memorable bouts of the decade. Trinidad knocked Vargas down twice in the first and seemed on the verge of a quick stoppage. But Vargas gamely got up and knocked Trinidad down in the fourth.

The bout was explosive right up until the end, when Trinidad knocked Vargas down three times in the 12th to get the win by TKO.

Vargas' intense dislike for De La Hoya made the build-up to their 2002 bout in Las Vegas extremely memorable. The fight was good, as well, although not nearly as entertaining as the Trinidad fight had been. But Vargas, who would test positive for steroids after the bout, was stopped in the 11th round by De La Hoya.

After losing to De La Hoya, Vargas won four "meh" fights in succession, defeating Fitz Vanderpool, Tony Marshall, Raymond Joval and Javier Castillejo. That earned him a bout against Shane Mosley, and in another good contest, Mosley stopped him in the 10th. In the rematch, Mosley was blowing out Vargas and stopped him in the sixth.

Vargas took more than a year off, then returned for one fight. He was dropped twice and cut by Ricardo Mayorga and lost a unanimous decision, meaning he ended his career with three losses in a row.

His positives for induction would be winning his first world title in just 15 fights, at 20 years old, and his wins over Wright and Quartey. His exciting style earns him points as did the attention he brought to the sport and the excellent fights he had in losses to Trinidad and De La Hoya, in particular.

Vargas, though, won't make it onto my ballot. He was good, but not great, and he wasn't enough of a draw and didn't have a long enough career to get my vote.

He may get in, because he was one of the most notable fighters of the late 1990s and the early 2000s, and many voters may go with someone they know well.

But Vargas didn't have enough quality wins to get in on my card.

I haven't made out the rest of the ballot. All I know for certain now is that Hamed will be on it and Vargas will not.