By Steve Kim

Currently Francisco Vargas is the top rated 130-pound contender in the WBC. Their champion is Japanese standout, Takashi Miura.

Joel De La Hoya, who manages 'El Bandido' - was hoping to get a crack at that title in their upcoming fight.

But according to De La Hoya - ''We put an offer to fight Miura but I guess he must have taken a better paying fight against possibly, Jose Pedraza or (Yuriorkis) Gamboa."

Vargas, who is currently 22-0-1 (16 KO's), is also the number one ranked challenger in the WBO. That title is held by Rocky Martinez who will facing the man he won the title against back in April, Orlando Salido in a September rematch.

"The WBC is probably going to order the eliminator against Stephen Smith from the UK," explained De La Hoya. "Which I don't mind. I think Miura beats Pedraza and it gives him better exposure if they fight here in the States."

But there is no real rush to bring Vargas back. He last fought back in March against Will Tomlinson and stopped him in eight rounds.

"Vargas' cut is still fresh from Tomlinson, it got infected," said De La Hoya. "So realistically - and he's been in the gym, he hasn't been sparring, obviously - we're looking at what Matchroom and Eddie Hearn is going to come up with. Whether we'll go to a purse bid or taking the offer on the table and take the fight against Smith, which I'm thinking will be around September or October."

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.