Vargas packs a punch

Devin Vargas follows through on his knockout punch against Chuckie Brown in the first round.

Nortz / The Blade
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One punch.

That's all it took for Toledo's Devin Vargas, the 2004 U.S. Olympic heavyweight, to earn his second win in as many tries as a professional.

Vargas leveled Akron's Charles "Chuckie'' Brown with a right hand just 10 seconds into their scheduled four-round fight last night at the Sports Arena.

Brown didn't have his hands up and immediately went down into the ropes after Vargas' first punch landed on his temple.

"Fastest fight ever,'' Vargas said. "The previous one was the one we had here in November.''

In his pro debut on Nov. 26 at One Main Street, the 23-year-old knocked out Adam Smith of Youngstown at 2:33 of the opening round.

"He caught me right on the button,'' Brown said. "I don't know about skill, but power-wise, that was a nice shot he hit me with. That's in the top two or three I've ever taken.''

Brown is now 5-11-1.

Vargas' Devastatin' Promotions produced the six-fight card that attracted a crowd of 2,005.

Devin's older brother and co-headliner, Dallas, fared well, also. The 28-year-old light heavyweight improved his record to 19-2 with a unanimous six-round decision (59-54, 58-55, 58-55) over Ted Muller (15-3-1) of Moline, Ill.

Ted Muller tries to protect himself from the punches of Dallas Vargas. 'He's as tough as anybody I've ever fought,' Muller said.

Dallas sent Muller to the canvas in the fifth with an overhand right to the head. The blow came 20 seconds after Dallas had connected with a solid body shot.

"He's as tough as anybody I've ever fought,'' Muller said. "Honestly, I believe he can compete nationally.''

Dallas will have to wait for such a chance. After the bout, he revealed that he was fighting with a loose muscle in his right shoulder, an injury that occurred when he slipped and fell on black ice. Surgery will be required.

"It hurt when I threw an uppercut,'' Dallas said. "I tried to do the best I could.''

Devin didn't have time to find out if he was at his best after a five-month layoff. During that break he underwent surgery to repair a knee injury suffered before the Olympics and created his production company to promote himself, his brother, and other fighters from Toledo's Glass City Boxing Gym.

"They gave me this guy to give me some experience with fighters that can rough me up,'' Devin said. "I didn't mean to knock him out.''

In his pro debut, Toledo's Dennis Draper dropped a unanimous four-round super middleweight decision to Baltimore's Henry Mayes (3-0).

Toledo super lightweight Martin Tucker (2-1) impressively dispatched Chillicothe's Dustin Caplinger (2-2) with a pair of first-round knockdowns.

The last ended the bout at 2:28.

Lima's Corey Budd (7-6) knocked down Jeff Fox (4-8) of Akron four times before their light heavyweight fight was stopped at 1:58 of the second round.

Ex-University of Toledo football player Dan Whetzel (5-3-1) claimed a majority decision over Jason Waller (27-26-4) of Alexandria, Va., in their six-round heavyweight bout.

Contact Dan Saevig at: dsaevig@theblade.com.