LAS VEGAS -- Fernando Vargas fought far beyond his years in the biggest fight of his young career.

Vargas, looking like a ring veteran at the age of 22, defended his IBF junior middleweight title Saturday night by pounding out a hard-fought but unanimous 12-round decision over Ike Quartey.

	Vargas, right, has fought in Oscar De La Hoya's shadow, but beating Ike Quartey might change that.

Vargas was the stronger and bigger punching fighter in the late rounds as he followed Oscar De La Hoya's lead to hand Quartey only his second defeat in a 12-year pro career.

There were no knockdowns in the fight, which was fought at a furious pace as Vargas tried to get inside Quartey's jab and turn the bout into a brawl. He succeeded at times, particularly late in each round when the fighters often went toe-to-toe as the bell sounded.

Judges Dave Moretti and Jerry Roth had Vargas winning 116-111, and Glen Hamada had him ahead 114-113. The Associated Press had Vargas winning 115-112.

It was the second straight decision loss for Quartey, the former welterweight champion who dropped a split decision to De La Hoya when the two met 14 months ago.

Vargas, who has fought in De La Hoya's shadow, said the win in only his 19th pro fight proved that he was better than De La Hoya.

"My fight wasn't close with Quartey and De La Hoya's was," Vargas said. "I think I proved something."

Vargas (19-0, 17 knockouts) landed more punches than Quartey -- 389 to 272 according to CompuBox ring statistics -- but Quartey scored well with his left jab through much of the fight.

"His jab got to me a bit but I came right back at him," Vargas said.

The loss was another bitter pill for Quartey, who bitterly disputed his loss to De La Hoya and was just as unhappy with the scoring against Vargas.

"I'm very upset about the decision," said Quartey, of Ghana. "It was not 116-111. What fight were they watching?"

It was the fourth defense of the 154-pound title for Vargas, who won it at the age of 21 in only his 15th pro fight.

And Quartey gave him all he could handle, stalking Vargas throughout the fight and using his left jab to keep the champion off balance.

Vargas won the last three rounds on two ringside scorecards, though, finding his way inside to land short combinations to the head. Quartey, his right eye swelling, seemed to tire in the final rounds.

"Once I landed some solid shots he opened up a bit," Vargas said.

Vargas entered the fight as a 2-1 favorite over Quartey (34-2-1), who was fighting for the first time as a junior middleweight.

Quartey, 30, hadn't fought since losing a controversial split decision to De La Hoya 14 months ago for the welterweight title. Before that, he hadn't fought in 16 months.

Vargas said he wanted to fight Felix Trinidad next, and that fight could happen sometime this summer, promoter Don King said.

First, though, Vargas must appear in a California courtroom later this month to answer charges of assault with a deadly weapon stemming from a July 25 incident in which he and some friends allegedly assaulted a man.

Vargas, of Oxnard, Calif., earned $1.35 million, while Quartey was paid $1.25 million.

In another fight, Antonio Diaz of Coachella, Calif., stopped Ivan Robinson of Philadelphia in the 11th round of their junior welterweight bout.

Diaz was the heavier puncher in the fight, which was for the minor IBA title, but was never able to put Robinson down. He hurt him on several occasions, however, and Robinson was trying to survive the round in a flurry of punches when referee Mitch Halpern moved in to stop the fight at 1:40 of the 11th round.

Diaz, 140, improved to 31-2 with 22 knockouts. Robinson, 139, who moved up from lightweight for the bout, fell to 29-4.