"Ferocious" Fernando Vargas returned to the ring for the second time since being sidelined for 15 months due to injury and earned a unanimous 10-round decision over Javier Castillejo in a WBC eliminator at Allstate Arena. Vargas (26-2), who had been out with a bulging disc in his back, also posted a 10-round decision against Raymond Joval in his first fight from injury this past March. As was the case in that bout, Vargas was far from sharp in this one. The former two-time junior middleweight champion seemed to be lackadaisical at times, but did enough to earn the win from all three judges. "F, F, F. Bad," Vargas said when asked how he rated his performance. "I didn't feel good from round one. I felt slow, maybe because I was so fighting so late, but there are no excuses." After minimal action in the first two rounds, Vargas took control late in the third as he used an overhand right that staggered Castillejo. Vargas then continued on the offensive with a couple of lefts to the face, with the second one knocking his opponent down in the closing seconds of the round. "I thought I was (going to knock him out), but he's a former world champion," Vargas said. "He's a durable fighter and he came to fight. I knew it wasn't going to be a pushover." Vargas continued to jab away at Castillejo during the middle rounds despite some minor bleeding from his mouth that he sustained on a Castillejo jab. In the final rounds, Vargas proved to be the more veteran fighter as he boxed his way to the win and did not get in any compromising positions, wearing down the 37-year-old Castillejo, who had won seven straight fights. Castillejo (58-6), who also is a former 154-pound champion, fought for the first time since June 2004. Vargas, who could possibly get a rematch with Oscar De La Hoya, won 97-92 on two of the cards while capturing a 98-91 victory on the final judge's scorecard. In the co-main event, Humberto Soto (37-5-2) won a 12-round unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Ricardo "Rocky" Juarez (23-1) to claim the WBC Interim Featherweight Title. Soto took control of the fight from the beginning as he got to Juarez with punishing uppercuts and jabs. The final scores were a little closer than the actual fight as Soto was penalized two points during the match for blows behind the head. Juarez had won his last two fights by KO in round one.