THE World Boxing Council (WBC) have been good to Rey Vargas over the years and on Saturday evening inside San Antonio’s Alamodome in Texas, the Mexican makes an attempt to win his third divisional belt with the sanctioning physique. Also contesting the vacant WBC super-featherweight strap (relinquished by Shakur Stevenson) will be Houston’s O’Shaquie Foster, a boxer in good kind who’s ranked No.5 in 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.
Though Vargas’ 36-0 (22) report is spectacular, he’s at all times carried the air of a beatable fighter, albeit one who at all times does just sufficient to keep away from shedding. Most just lately, in July 2022, he was a little bit too seasoned and intelligent for Mark Magsayo when successful his 126lbs silverware with a deserved break up verdict over 12 rounds. Vargas – who in 2019 examined constructive for clenbuterol just for the WBC to rule it by way of unintentional ingestion – can be outboxed and seem barely crude when confronted with slippery opposition however, crucially, at all times appears to get the job performed. Thus far, regardless of the belts he’s been gathering, he’s but to combat anybody considered the greatest 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 in the 2012 Olympics have been foiled by Joseph Diaz, who twice beat him in 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 may have gone both method. Today, Foster insists he was not devoted to boxing again then. More worthwhile bouts to research would be his 2020 knockout of the gnarled Miguel Roman and, most impressively, his extensive factors win over Tajikistan’s strong Muhammadkhuja Yaqubov final March.
Foster, 29, is the archetypal unhealthy boy turned good. He struggled for focus after shedding his mom as a 12-year-old and in 2017 – a 12 months after the dying 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. These days, he solely returns to his roots for infrequent visits to see his household.
“For me to be a better person, I had to separate myself from the crowd,” Foster defined. “I moved away from my hometown five years ago and I only go back to see my family. I’m just focused on what I have to do in the future.”
The American is a flexible boxer, one who can field at vary and field aggressively. But he could have his work minimize out towards the regular however unrelenting stress that Vargas brings. But to name the Mexican a ‘puncher’ is probably 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 exhausting to hit with larger energy, is that victory leads to a bout with countryman Leo Santa Cruz.
“My power is definitely going to translate to 130 pounds,” Vargas mentioned. “I’ve every little thing to acquire 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 fight is definitely something we’ve had our eyes on for years. There were some obstacles coming up, and that’s when this opportunity came up. I’m always up for new and exciting challenges and this was definitely one of them. I think this will be just as good of a fight as the Santa Cruz fight will be.”
This will be Vargas’ second successive look in the Alamodome, a venue the place he outpointed Magsayo final 12 months.
“We’re coming back to a place where I have really good memories and I’m ready to do it again,” he mentioned. “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 keep in mind for the remainder of my profession.
“I’ve fought all kinds of styles, so nothing really surprised me. I have a hunch that Foster is going to come forward and be aggressive. If he fights me tactically, then I’ll be ready for that too.”
Foster, armed with lengthy 72-inch levers, might be all improper for Vargas however whether or not that’s sufficient to beat a boxer who, at this degree, at all times finds a method 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.
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