By Ryan Burton
Four-division champion Adrien Broner (33-3) was originally scheduled to face Omar Figueroa on April 21st at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. The fight was announced in January when Showtime held a press conference to announce most of their slate of fights for the first half of 2018.
Broner will now face two-division champion Jessie Vargas who wasn't part of the announced slate of fights for the first half of the year.
Vargas had been hoping that he would face WBC/WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman but Thurman has indicated that he prefers a tune up fight to test his surgically repaired elbow before facing any champions or former champions.
The Broner-Vargas bout will be fought at a catchweight of 144 pounds. Vargas, who has held titles at 140 and 147 pounds, is not worried about the weight.
"I make 147 easy so it shouldn't be a problem dropping 3 more pounds," he told BoxingScene.com.
Broner has also bounced back and forth between the super lightweight and welterweight division in recent years. This will be his second fight that he will have contested at 144 pound catchweight. In 2015 he dropped a unanimous decision to Shawn Porter at the weight but gave Porter a scare when he dropped him in the 12th round.
Vargas, who is trained by former champion Mike McCallum, is confident that he is the better fighter and that his skills will make up for the weight disadvantage.
"I am not worried about it at all. I feel positive that I will make the weight with no problems. He's a talented fighter but I feel that I am the better fighter," Vargas explained.
The Showtime televised triple header will also air Jermall Charlo versus Hugo Centeno for the interim WBC middleweight title and former super featherweight champion Gervonta "Tank" Davis against former featherweight champion Jesus Cuellar.
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