By Edward Chaykovsky

WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas of Las Vegas has officially opened up training camp last Monday at the Top Rank Gym to prepare for his unification title fight against IBF champion Kell Brook (36-0, 25KOs), likely on September 3rd at Sheffield, England.

Vargas captured the vacant world title earlier this year when he knocked out previously undefeated Sadam Ali.

Brook captured the world title in the fall of 2014 with a close points win over Shawn Porter, and has since made two mandatory defenses of the belt.

Vargas is confident that as long as he follows the plan of his new trainer Dewey Cooper, he will overcome any obstacle to win the fight with Brook. The Sheffield fighter will have a big home soil advantage, with a packed arena of frenzied fans to cheer on every punch.

“The key for this fight is Dewey Cooper,” Vargas told the Las Vegas Review Journal. “He’s coming up with the game plan for September 3, and as long as I follow it, I know we’re going to be victorious.”

Vargas (27-1, 10 KOs) had Cooper in his corner for the first time on March 5 when he stopped Ali in the ninth round in Washington, D.C. Vargas has used numerous trainers in the last few years - including former champion Erik Morales and Roy Jones Jr, but he seems to have finally found his groove with Cooper in the corner.

“I have 100 percent confidence in my entire team, not just Dewey,” Vargas said. “We’re going to train hard and train smart and be totally prepared.”

The winner of Vargas-Brook will have to face the winner of August's IBF final eliminator between Errol Spence and Leonard Bundu.