East Coast vs. West Coast in Canada has a different meaning than the U.S. In the Canadian boxing scene the east coast has the spotlight on them. They have the bigger names and they are close to the northeastern states where boxing is big and they can move their fighters back and forth.
Samuel Vargas is one of those east coast fighters that has star potential in the U.S. and not just Canada. Since his debut in 2010 he has impressed while remaining undefeated. The only blemish on his record came from his first shot at the Canadian NABA welterweight title which resulted in a draw. When asked if he would like a rematch to clear the doubt of the outcome he made it plain and clear. “There is no need to get a rematch. It wouldn’t make sense in my eyes . I fought a 10 round fight with one leg ( torn acl ). I know in my heart I won.” Since then he has gone on to win that very title and has moved up in weight to win the light middleweight version of that title.
Vargas is an action fighter, like a majority of the Latinos out there. He has traveled to the west coast once in his pro career to fight in Calgary, Alberta which in Canadian boxing is uncommon for the two different sides of the country to travel back and forth for fights. Vargas may have that opportunity once again come this September 13th to take on the west coast’s highly touted prospect Steve “The Dragon” Claggett.
Claggett should be Vargas’ greatest challenge to date in his career. Claggett is also an action fighter but has other skills that are overshadowed by his offense. His time training with Floyd Mayweather Jr. has improved him as a fighter and has had to of sharpened his defense and the way he thinks in training and in the ring.
In his last fight, Claggett punished the body of his opponent and sent him down and out with a punch to the liver. He was supposed to fight just about a month later but the event was canceled leaving him hungry for a fight. So hungry in fact that he might fight twice in September if everything goes well. Should Vargas accept the challenge to face Claggett in Edmonton in September and Claggett does not get injured he could fight in Dubai (pending) at the end of the month. “I’d do both (fights) for sure. Just depends on the fights and the time between because the Dubai show could be the end of September or even earlier, maybe the end of August. But either way like 2 weeks out works for me I’d just go there right after,” said Claggett. Claggett could also land on the Manny Pacquiao-Brandon Rios card this November pushing his name deeper into an international level and a victory over Vargas could put him there even faster.
As in every fight the details are important and for Vargas the main key to the fight is money. “Pay me and I have no problem knocking him (Claggett) out. Why wait till September, I’m ready to go this weekend,” said Vargas when asked about his interest in the bout. “Let’s set this up. Thought you didn’t need to talk ?! I’m not worried about beef. I’ll see you in September,” responded Claggett who is eager for the challenge. “Some guys are just punks. I’m actually going to kill him in the ring. But, no need to talk about it I will just going in the ring and handle business.”
Tensions are raising and the intensity the two action warriors have will only increase until the final bell rings if the fight happens this year. The time and place for planed bout is September 30th in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in an event being put on by KO Promotions.
