Fernando Vargas Jnr has the more famous name – he’s the namesake son of the former junior middleweight titleholder – but he still won’t be the name fighter on September 13.
That’s because Vargas’ opponent on the undercard of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford is Callum Walsh.
It is Walsh, 14-0 (11 KOs), who is ranked by three of the sanctioning bodies, positioned fourth by the IBF, fifth by the WBC and 14th by the WBO. Vargas, 17-0 (15 KOs), is not ranked.
It is Walsh whose fights have been featured regularly on UFC Fight Pass and is backed by UFC head honcho Dana White, who is promoting Canelo-Crawford.
And it is Walsh who is the betting favorite.
None of that bothers Vargas, even if the house in Las Vegas is betting against someone who calls Sin City home.
“I don’t care,” Vargas told Shawn Porter and Sean Zittel on The PorterWay Podcast. “Vegas loses all the time. Vegas is going to lose.”
Walsh also has more of an amateur pedigree. His introduction to boxing came at the age of 6, he had his first bout in the unpaid ranks at 11 years old and is now 24.
Although Vargas turned pro a year before Walsh did, Vargas took up the sport later in life, starting at the age of 17. He is now 28.
“He keeps saying, ‘I fought everyone all over the world’ and ‘Vargas is a stepping stone.’ Alright, we’re just going to have to see. Some of the best amateurs have not converted to the best of pros. So you may have fought people from Russia and all these; in the amateurs, that’s three rounds. We’re fighting a 10-round fight. My dad is cooking up a great game plan and I’m coming in confident.
“I just feel they’re overlooking me so much. This is what boxing’s about. When people don’t believe in you, you make people believe in you,” Vargas added. “Overlook me, put the money behind Callum, I’m believing in myself.”
But that doesn’t mean Vargas isn’t aware of the situation and its implications. He may not care that the odds are against him, but he doesn’t want to take a chance on the judges potentially being against him as well.
“I have to stop him or knock him out,” Vargas said. “If it goes to the scorecards, there’s a business side of it, and I feel they could give it to him.”
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
