WBA “regular” junior welterweight champion Jessie Vargas is getting ready to defend his title on November 22nd against Antonio DeMarco at the Cotai Arena in Macao, China on the televised undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Chris Algieri HBO PPV.
This will be the second defense Vargas makes of his title before vacating the title and moving up to 147 lbs.
“I spoke to Bob about the weight and we’re going to fight one more [at 140lbs] to defend the title and then look for another title in the welterweight division,” Vargas told Thaboxingvoice.com
DeMarco offers up an interesting matchup for the 25 year old Vargas. In the past, Vargas has given fans action-packed bouts, but he has also turned in some duds. Vargas is capable of producing fireworks, but his style is completely dependent upon the opposition. And in DeMarco, Vargas faces an opponent capable of giving him the opportunity to showcase in front of a relatively large PPV audience.
This seems like the ideal scenario for a fighter that needs to look as good as possible in his next outing, especially if you believe Vargas and Bob Arum, who insist that an impressive showing on Pacquiao’s undercard will put Vargas on the shortlist to face Pacquiao in his next fight.
“I spoke to Bob and we have to look good in this fight, and God willing we look good then we have a big fight lined up. But first we focus on the task at hand, come out with the victory because Demarco is a tough fighter, he’s going to give it his all. I hope everyone enjoys it.”
If you think that Arum is dangling Pacquiao in front of Vargas as false hope and empty promises, well he wouldn’t be the first, but consider the fact that Algieri was a dark horse to face Pacquiao before being thrust into the spotlight of a major promotion.
Every fighter in the world would jump at this opportunity and you can’t blame the lesser known fighters for seizing the chance to face a superstar like Pacquiao, but Vargas feels like he is ready and believes that this is the most opportune time in his career for a fight with Pacquiao
“I’ve always said it’s a fight that I’d be interested in (with Pacquiao). I’m much more prepared now than I was before and now having Roy in my corner, a very experienced fighter/trainer still going strong and just had a first round knockout recently, so just having him in my corner is a big benefit.”
Vargas is convinced that the timing is right and he also feels like there is a real cosmic accord related to the upcoming event in Macau. He believes that the stars are aligned, he’s even gone as far as saying that the November 22nd card, as it relates to both he and Pacquiao’s respective opponents, is preparation for an inevitable showdown between each other.
“This is the third southpaw that I’m being faced with in a row, so we hope that it’s preparation for another southpaw, which is the big money maker and the one that will take me to bigger and better things to what I’ve always wanted to reach. That’s the plan.
“As you know he’s fighting a fighter that’s 5’10” like myself, and the thing with boxing is you never know what the reasons may be sometimes because everything happens for a reason. [Pacquiao’s] fighting a tall fighter, the guy only has 20 fights and as good as a win that he had, [Algieri] doesn’t have the experience I have. Who knows, maybe it’s in preparation for me, you just never know.”
