By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

What makes Kissimmee’s Antonio Vargas one of the most promising young boxers in Florida?

It’s simple: He can pound from the left; he can pound from the right.

“I can hit pretty hard with my right, but I’d say my left hook is my best punch. You can say that I’m ambidextrous. I can box either way,” the 15-year-old Osceola High sophomore said during a recent workout at St. Cloud’s J&J Boxing gym, managed by Miriam Roman.

Vargas, who started boxing about five years ago, has won several Silver Gloves national championships. He will try for another next week at the Silver Gloves national tournament at Kansas City, Mo.

After he turns 16 later his year, Vargas begins Golden Gloves competition, where he can earn points in the Junior Olympics program toward a potential berth on the U.S. National team. He would have the opportunity to work out at the national training center in Colorado Springs, Colo, his manager, Dan Soto, said.

“Antonio is the best fighter I’ve coached,” Soto, who began training boxers in 1995, said. “When I closed my gym in Kissimmee, I was thinking I was going to get out of it for awhile. But, I had to train Antonio. Right now, he’s the one I’m working with because his future is unlimited, he’s that good. I’m telling you, at the regional tournaments you go to, everyone knows the name Antonio Vargas. He’s on track to be on the 2016 Olympic team. He’s that good.”

A rangy 115-pounder, Soto said Vargas is technically excellent in the ring, with good poise and footwork. And, great anticipation.

“It’s kind of hard to describe, but it’s almost like he knows where the next punch is coming from and, instinctively, he moves the other way,” Soto said. “It’s a gift. It’s not something that you can teach.”

Soto said he started boxing to work off energy.

“I had ADHD (attention deficit disorder), I had a hard time with my classes, I couldn’t concentrate,” Vargas said. “So, my dad got me in boxing.”

His father, Jose Esteves, said it wasn’t long before Antonio showed an aptitude for the sport.

“The coach told me right away that he had talent. Four months after he started, he won his first Ringside tournament,” Esteves said. “The best part was that once he started doing this, he started to settle down. You could see the change in school.”

The only problem Vargas has with school now is attendance. He has to miss many school days while traveling to Silver Gloves regional tournaments along the eastern seaboard.

Fighters must win at each regional stop to advance to the national tournament. After winning in 2006, 2009 and 2010, Vargas missed last year’s national tournament when the money ran out, his dad said.

“It’s expensive. Each trip, at least $1,000,” Esteves said. “We’re fortunate that we have an arrangement with the gym and the coach, or we wouldn’t be able to do it.”

Soto finances Vargas as much as he can, but he said there will soon be a point where it will be necessary to attract sponsors or the young boxer’s career will stall.

Vargas, 58-4, hasn’t lost a fight in three years. Most three-round fights last either four and a half or six minutes, depending on the weight class and sanctioning body, Soto said. All Silver Gloves and Golden Gloves boxers wear head protection.

Vargas said that because he can lead from either side that he has an advantage against his opponents.

“Whatever they want to do, I just do the opposite, steer them the other way,” he said. “It doesn’t make any difference to me what side I fight from.”

Soto said the left hook is Vargas’s best punch. “He’s a natural southpaw, and that’s always an advantage, but he’s got good power from either side,” Soto said.

Vargas trains four or five days a week after school, usually averaging about 15 hours per week.

“After I’m done here I go home and do my homework,” he said.

Vargas maintains a good GPA despite his rigorous schedule.

“He got one C last semester, but that was mostly because he had to miss so much class,” his dad said. “He’s smart, he makes good grades. That’s not a problem for him.”

Soto said Vargas will be a success because he has the inner drive to be a champion.

“The kid works and works at it. He wants to be good,” he said.

Vargas said he loves the action.

“From the first time I tried it, it’s something I wanted to do,” he said. “It’s a dominating sport, and I can be as good at it as I want to be. You don’t have to depend on teammates to be good. You do it yourself. I think I come out on top because I don’t like to lose.”