Jose Pedraza Aims For Francisco Vargas Showdown

By Miguel Rivera

IBO super featherweight champion Jose "Sniper" Pedraza is aiming to have two or three more fights in 2014, including a showdown against unbeaten Mexican contender Francisco Vargas (24-0-1, 14KOs).

Vargas is climbing quickly in the ranks and defeated two Puerto Rican boxers in his most recent outings. He won a decision over Abner Cotto and then last month knocked off two-division champion Juan Manuel Lopez in three rounds.

"I hope to return soon and then have a big fight in December," confessed Pedraza (18-0, 12 KO) to Carlos Gonzalez. "Fighting against Vargas would be a great finish to this year."

"After the fight against Martinez, I told my promoter [Gary Shaw] about the idea [of facing Vargas] and he liked it. He is very interested, so we are in agreement on that. At the moment I'm looking at October for the next fight."