The Stubhub Center in Carson, California has become notorious for hosting some of boxing’s most action packed and exciting fights to the degree that patrons of the boxing establishment have often claimed that the fights themselves have been blessed with the “Stubhub Magic”.
On June 4th, WBC super featherweight champion Francisco Vargas and challenger Orlando Salido plan to put on a “magical” show for the Southern California audience as it became official Thursday night that the two would meet for Vargas’ title.
The fight will be televised as an HBO main event with welterweight Frankie Gomez on the co-feature against an opponent to be named later according to the fight’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya.
Vargas(23-0-1, 17 KO) is coming off a spectacular 9th round Knockout victory over Japan’s Takashi Miura last November, which saw the former Mexican Olympian come back from a 4th round knockdown and badly swollen right eye, to take Miura’s 130-pound title.
The fight was named fight of the year by many media outlets including The BWAA and ESPN.
Salido(43-13-3, 30 KO) is coming off a pair of “Fight of the Year” candidates himself against Puerto Rican veteran Roman “Rocky” Martinez. Salido lost the 1st fight with Martinez by close decision last April in a hard fought matchup but came back to receive a draw in the September rematch, with many believing Salido did enough to deserve the victory.
When talks of a possible fight between the two Mexican sluggers surfaced, fans immediately started envisioning the amount of action this fight is capable of producing, a notion Oscar De La Hoya agrees with.
“This is going to be the fight of the year. I didn’t like it at first because Salido is a dangerous guy for anybody, but Vargas proved that he can take on anybody. We all discussed it and we all gave it the thumbs-up. It’s an amazing fight, especially at the StubHub Center, which is known for all of the great fights that have been there. We’re trying to do the best fights we can from the highest level to the lowest level, and this is one of them.” The Golden Boy CEO said when speaking with ESPN.com
“Salido has the experience and he is also vulnerable, but he keeps coming forward like there’s nothing that can stop him”, De La Hoya added. “The fact that Vargas also gets hit and keeps coming forward just means a terrific fight. They’re both warriors.”
Salido’s manager, Sean Gibbons, shares De La Hoya’s sentiments that this fight can be a fight of the year candidate but also believes it can rank amongst some of the best bouts in modern Mexican boxing history.
“I believe that Salido-Vargas will give the Morales-[Marco Antonio] Barrera and [Rafael] Marquez-[Israel] Vazquez fights a run for their money,” Gibbons told ESPN.com. “It should be a great action fight that might also rival the great [Diego] Corrales-[Jose Luis] Castillo first fight that is considered by many the best fight in the last 15 years.”
On Saturday, June 4th Francisco Vargas and Orlando Salido will seek to add to the great lore of action packed fights the Stubhub center has created.
Both fighter’s histories prove that they have the goods to deliver the “Magic” a StubHub crowd expects come fight night. Lights, camera, action, abracadabra.
