An undefeated pro boxer and three-time Golden Gloves champ from the South Bronx was shot dead yesterday after an early-morning argument at a bodega.
Ronny Vargas, 20, and five friends had an altercation with two men and two women at the Clinton Avenue store in The Bronx at about 3:30 a.m., police said.
Vargas and pals rode off in his Honda Accord. The other group followed in two sedans. One of the sedans – a white Nissan – cut Vargas off at Hughes Avenue between 178th and 179th streets.
While the Honda was trapped, one of the men chasing got out, pistol-whipped Vargas and shot him once in the chest.
Vargas then slammed the car in reverse in an attempt to escape, sideswiping several vehicles before hitting the brakes, getting out and collapsing.
A neighborhood claimed to have seen a gunman fire at the Honda three times after it hit the parked cars, and said the white car purposely hit the Accord before speeding away.
The witness heard Vargas scream, “He shot me! He shot me!” and a friend frantically yelled into the phone to 911, “I’m losing him! He’s getting cold!”
Vargas died at St. Barnabas Hospital. Investigators are questioning his friends and searching for the shooter. There was no arrest as of last night.
“Everything for him was boxing,” said older brother Rogers Vargas, 31.”He wasn’t a bad guy into bad things. He was our champion.”