By Jake Donovan

Jessie Vargas has shown patience in the past, but did so with the hope of bigger things to come in his promising career. Now comes the hard part—having to sit on a loss while unsure of what the immediate future holds.

Attempting to control his own destiny, Vargas has intiated—on his own—a formal protest with the California State Athletic Commission over the controversial outcome of his June 27 welterweight title fight with Tim Bradley in Carson, California.

The grounds for the appeal stem from Vargas believing he was cheated upwards of 10 seconds for the fight to properly run its course. Bradley was way ahead, but badly rocked in the final 20 seconds of the fight. High drama ensued, but ended in anti-climactic fashion when referee Pat Russell mistook the 10-second warning for the final bell, jumping in to stop the fight.

As most—including Vargas—noted, Russell's actions were the result of an honest mistake. However, it's still a mistake, and one that violates the governing rules of any given prize fight.

"We’ve filed with CSAC to rule the fight a No-Contest," informed Jordan W. Siev, who heads Reed Smith's U.S. Commercial Litigation Group out of New York City and is representing Vargas in this appeal informed BoxingScene.com. "We are asking based on a violation by the referee. Each round has to be three minutes, and while the fight can be stopped by the referee at any time, it's to terminate a fight due to a fighter being unable to continue, not just to simply end the fight when he or she feels.

"There’s a lot about boxing that is subjective. Scoring, for example, is very subjective. The debate over whether Jessie would've had enough time to finish off Tim Bradley, who was badly hurt at the end of the fight. There’s been discussion.. the point is we shouldn’t be having this debate."

Debate and confusion were exactly what came of the moments immediately following the bizarre stoppage. Vargas had believed he was declared a TKO winner, racing to the nearest corner and mounting the ropes in celebration, with a bewildered Bradley looking on, wondering what had just happened.

Equally in the dark was the staff at Top Rank, who promotes both Bradley and Vargas. Top Rank V.P. Carl Moretti raced into the ring no sooner than the fight was called to find out the official ruling. It was only at that point when all parties were informed that a winner hadn't yet been determined, which—in addition to the eventually revealed final verdict—remains a bitter pill for Vargas to swallow.

"It’s been hard on me, to be honest," Vargas (26-1, 9KOs) admitted to BoxingScene.com. "I look back and continue to say, 'What if. I could’ve put him down.' I could’ve went back to Vegas a sports hero.

"We don't forget those moments. You look at fights like Julio Cesar Chavez and Meldrick Taylor. George Foreman when he beat Michael Moorer. Even when Shannon Briggs won his second world title (knocking out Sergei Liakhovich with one second left after trailing on all thee cards). They were down on the scorecards when they came back to knock out their opponents.

"I’ve taken pride in never giving up. I never gave up in this fight, I didn't stop fighting until the referee told me it was over. It looked like he chose to stop the fight, but then afterward they told me otherwise. It's still an outcome I can't accept."

The loss was Vargas' first as a pro, and came just days after having formally vacated his 140 lb. title. After the fight, Bradley promised Vargas a rematch, at least in so many words. While the sculpted Californian has a well-earned reputation for taking on all comers, a greater safety net than another man's word is presently sought by Vargas.

"I hope that at the very least we get to do it again.. I’m very much pursuing a rematch. I hope Tim would fight me. We saw on HBO where he said he'd fight me again. But the primary goal is to get this decision changed to a No-Contest, and then we can settle this in the ring, with a conclusive ending we deserve.

"The fight never reached its end. Any fighter being put in this position would feel its unfair."

Several fights were cited in Vargas' formal public announced earlier this month in Mexico. Included among the footage offered was another fight officiated by Russell, when he initially declared Chad Dawson a TKO winner over Bernard Hopkins in their first fight in Oct. '11. His in-ring call came despite the absence of a fight-ending punch being thrown.

The World light heavyweight championship bout ended with Hopkins falling to the canvas following the last of several clinches, with his fall resulting in a separated acromioclavicular (AC) joint. Because he could not continue, Russell—who somehow missed the foul that led to the injury—declared him a TKO loser. The outcome was reversed two months later upon successful appeal, in part due to Russell's own admission that he made the wrong call at the time.

Vargas and his legal team believe history will repeat itself, as Russell has already indirectly admitted to his mistake at the end of the vacant welterweight title fight. The third man told HBO's Max Kellerman afterward that he made an honest call to the best of his judgment, but later in the evening visited both fighters in their dressing rooms to personally apologize for the manner in which the fight ended.

The one downside for Vargas is waiting out the legal process to play out. The commission doesn't meet again until later this summer, at which point they still have to vote on whether or not to hear the case, never mind make an actual ruling.

"We’ve heard that CSAC may not be meeting until August at the earliest," notes Siev. "We know they received the appeal. What we don’t know is if there will be a hearing. We hope that at a minimum that they will grant us a hearing, that we can press all of the points in getting the outcome changed.

"If not, then we have explored additional options. We’re hopeful that it won't have to come to that, and that the commission will do the right thing here."

In the aforementioned case of Dawson-Hopkins I being changed, the World Boxing Council (WBC)—who recognized Hopkins as its light heavyweight champion at the time (in addition to his serving as lineal champ)—refrained from awarding Dawson the title until the outcome of the appeal. In the end, the case landed in Hopkins' favor and his championship status reinstated—at least until losing outright to Dawson in their April '12 rematch.

As it pertains to this fight, Bradley left the ring named an interim titlist in the eyes of the World Boxing Organization (WBO). That status has since been upgraded to full titlist in the wake of the sanctioning body stripping its recognized champ, pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. for failure to make good on sanctioning fees owed from his financially historic May 2 win over Manny Pacquiao.

The way Vargas and his team sees it, the title should be remain vacant since the bout to fill said vacancy never reached a definitive conclusion.

"We have petitioned the WBO to prevent from awarding until a ruling," informed Siev. "Our position that the title should remain vacant is clear-cut: the end of the fight came at a critical juncture, when one fighter was hurt but the other was denied the opportunity to attempt to finish him.

"The ref can stop the fight, but to end it but not to terminate before the three minutes have expired. That's not how it works, and we have faith that the CSAC and WBO both recognize this fact, with the fair and proper remedy that the loss be changed to a No-Contest."

Because the fight ended, Vargas was reminded of how the preceding 11 rounds unfolded. Bradley was a desicive winner on all three scorecards, an outcome the fallen fighter could perhaps live with had the 12th and final round properly run its course.

"We can accept a loss, it's not about being bitter over losing," reassures Vargas. "But then I look back and I know that it wasn’t done right. It’s not fair.  I’m 26-1 because of the 10 seconds he shorted me. This fight did not reach the full three minutes in the final round, and ending at the worst possible time.

"From the way he waved it off, he saw him hurt. I’m not the only one who saw it. Had he not waved it off, I could have finished him with whatever amount of time was left."

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox