Rey Vargas signs multi-fight deal with PBC

By Boxing News - 01/13/2020 - Comments

By Aragon Garcia: WBC super bantamweight champion Rey Vargas (34-0, 22 KOs) has signed a multi-fight deal with Premier Boxing Champions, according to @MikeCoppinger. The highly talented unbeaten Vargas had previously been promoted by Golden Boy Promotions.

Vargas is one of the best fighters at 122, and he just needs to test himself against some of the other champions for him to prove it.

Fans want Vargas vs. Emanuel Navarrete unification

There’s hope that with the 29-year-old Vargas coming on board with PBC, a unification match against WBO super bantamweight champion Emanuel Navarrete (30-1, 26 KOs) could get made. If that fight can be made, Vargas will be under the PBC banner rather than Golden Boy.

Although Navarrete is with Top Rank Boxing, it’s likely that Bob Arum would be favorable to making a unification match with Vargas. It would be a fight that fans would be interested in seeing.

Vargas is coming off of a thrilling 12 round unanimous decision win over former WBO bantamweight champion Tomoki Kameda (36-3, 20 KOs) on July 13 in Carson, California. The fight was a contrast in styles. You had the boxer/puncher Vargas using his height and reach against the pure slugger Kameda, who was on the attack mode in every second of the fight.

It was a great effort from Vargas to out-box the hard hitting Kameda. In the 12th round, Kameda lost his composure, and fouled Vargas in hitting him on the break. Subsequently, the referee Jerry Cantu deducted a point from Kameda. Vargas was hurt by the shot, and he barely survived the remainder of the round.

Vargas has options for big fights

Besides a fight against WBO champion Navarrete, Vargas has a lot of other great fight possibilities out there for him at 122. Former WBC bantamweight champion Luis Nery is expected to move up to 122 after failing to make weight in his last fight against Emmanuel Rodriguez. Vargas vs. Nery would be an excellent fight. There’s also the possibility of unification matches between Vargas and WBA champion Daniel Roman and/or Brandon Figueroa.

These are some of the contenders Vargas can defend against in 2020:

  • TJ Doheny
  • Azat Hovhannisyan
  • Carlos Castro
  • Tomoki Kameda – rematch
  • Ronny Rios
  • Isaac Dogboe

Former WBO 122-lb champion Dogboe is coming off consecutive defeats to Navarrete, but he’s still a big name in the division, and an ideal opponent for Vargas. Recently, Dogboe was overwhelmed by Navarrete.

In their two action-packed fights, Dogboe was outworked by the nonstop puncher Navarrete. Dogboe has a similar fighting style as Kameda, and this would be the perfect time for Vargas to fight him.

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