THE World Boxing Council (WBC) have been good to Rey Vargas over time and on Saturday night time inside San Antonio’s Alamodome in Texas, the Mexican makes an attempt to win his third divisional belt with the sanctioning physique. Additionally contesting the vacant WBC super-featherweight strap (relinquished by Shakur Stevenson) will probably be Houston’s O’Shaquie Foster, a boxer in good kind who’s ranked No.5 within the 130lbs weight class.
Vargas makes the step up from featherweight, the place he’s the WBC’s belt-holder and world No.3. The 32-year-old has additionally held the super-bantamweight trophy, a title received when beating Gavin McDonnell in Hull, six years in the past.
Although Vargas’ 36-0 (22) document is spectacular, he’s all the time carried the air of a beatable fighter, albeit one who all the time does simply sufficient to keep away from dropping. Most just lately, in July 2022, he was a bit too seasoned and intelligent for Mark Magsayo when successful his 126lbs silverware with a deserved cut up verdict over 12 rounds. Vargas – who in 2019 examined optimistic for clenbuterol just for the WBC to rule it by way of unintended ingestion – could be outboxed and seem barely crude when confronted with slippery opposition however, crucially, all the time appears to get the job carried out. To this point, regardless of the belts he’s been accumulating, he’s but to combat anybody considered the perfect in his weight class.
Foster, 19-2 (11), doesn’t break that behavior however he’s nonetheless a worthwhile opponent. He began boxing as an eight-year-old however his hopes of boxing within the 2012 Olympics had been foiled by Joseph Diaz, who twice beat him within the US trials. As a professional, his two losses got here in eight rounders (in 2015 to Samuel Teah and 2016 to Ronald Chinea) that would have gone both approach. Immediately, Foster insists he was not devoted to boxing again then. Extra worthwhile bouts to review could be his 2020 knockout of the gnarled Miguel Roman and, most impressively, his large factors win over Tajikistan’s stable Muhammadkhuja Yaqubov final March.
Foster, 29, is the archetypal dangerous boy turned good. He struggled for focus after dropping his mom as a 12-year-old and in 2017 – a yr after the demise of his cousin – he was arrested for assault. A spell in Orange County jail would offer him with the all-time low from which to construct. He moved away from Orange and now lives in Houston. Nowadays, he solely returns to his roots for infrequent visits to see his household.
“For me to be a greater particular person, I needed to separate myself from the group,” Foster defined. “I moved away from my hometown 5 years in the past and I solely return to see my household. I’m simply targeted on what I’ve to do sooner or later.”
The American is a flexible boxer, one who can field at vary and field aggressively. However he can have his work minimize out in opposition to the regular however unrelenting strain that Vargas brings. However to name the Mexican a ‘puncher’ is maybe not fairly true; he’s not received inside schedule since 2016 and far of his effectiveness comes from his ever dependable engine. The hope for Vargas, who insists he’s been working laborious to hit with higher energy, is that victory results in a bout with countryman Leo Santa Cruz.
“My energy is unquestionably going to translate to 130 kilos,” Vargas stated. “I’ve all the pieces to achieve and nothing to lose. The work that I’ve put into my energy throughout coaching will certainly work in my favour.
“The Leo Santa Cruz combat is unquestionably one thing we’ve had our eyes on for years. There have been some obstacles developing, and that’s when this chance got here up. I’m all the time up for brand new and thrilling challenges and this was positively considered one of them. I believe this will probably be simply nearly as good of a combat because the Santa Cruz combat will probably be.”
This will probably be Vargas’ second successive look within the Alamodome, a venue the place he outpointed Magsayo final yr.
“We’re coming again to a spot the place I’ve actually good recollections and I’m able to do it once more,” he stated. “I do know that it’s a brand new weight class, however I don’t’ really feel uncomfortable in any respect. I need to make historical past and do one thing that I’ll bear in mind for the remainder of my profession.
“I’ve fought every kind of types, so nothing actually shocked me. I’ve a hunch that Foster goes to return ahead and be aggressive. If he fights me tactically, then I’ll be prepared for that too.”
Foster, armed with lengthy 72-inch levers, may be all flawed for Vargas however whether or not that’s sufficient to beat a boxer who, at this degree, all the time finds a approach to win makes this one worthy of your consideration. Purely as a result of he’s operated at the next degree for longer, Vargas is the decide to grind out a factors win over 12 rounds however Foster is each inch a reside underdog on this one.
