Josue Vargas: record, next fight and profile →
Headlining the show, former title challenger Jose Zepeda faces streaking prospect Josue Vargas in a scheduled ten-round contest. Both boxers were well under the junior welterweight limit for Saturday’s main event, which airs live on ESPN+ from Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in New York City.
Zepeda, Vargas Final Press Conference Photos Gallery - Josue "The Prodigy" Vargas earned his nickname fighting as an amateur growing up in The Bronx. The Puerto Rican-born junior welterweight contender now has the opportunity to notch a career-defining win roughly 10 miles from where he was raised. (photos by Mikey Williams)
Jose “Chon” Zepeda wants a third world title shot. Josue “The Prodigy” Vargas, born in Puerto Rico and raised in the Bronx, hopes his hometown main event is the ticket to title contention.
BoxingScene.com has learned that junior welterweights Jose Zepeda and Josue Vargas will square off in a 10-round bout that’ll headline an ESPN+ stream from New York that night. Zepeda (34-2, 26 KOs, 2 NC) and Vargas (19-1, 9 KOs) have replaced a main event that was supposed to feature WBO light heavyweight champion Joe Smith Jr.
Josue Vargas continues to rack up rounds and grow as a rising prospect. The 22-year-old Puerto Rican southpaw overcame an early scare to soundly outbox Oakland’s Willie Shaw over ten rounds. Judges Daniel Torres (98-92), Fred Fluty (99-91) and Thomas Nardone (99-91) all ruled in favor of Vargas in their junior welterweight bout Saturday evening in front of a sellout crowd at Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, Florida.
Emanuel Navarrete and Christopher ‘Pitufo’ Diaz are set for the next entry of boxing’s rich in-ring rivalry between Mexico and Puerto Rico on the title stage.
Josue "The Prodigy" Vargas was born in Isabel, Puerto Rico, and idolized the great Felix "Tito" Trinidad. For the first time in his professional career, he’ll have a building full of Puerto Rican fans cheering him on. Vargas will fight Willie Shaw in a 10-round junior welterweight bout Saturday, April 24 at a sold-out Silver Spurs Arena in the Puerto Rican enclave of Kissimmee, Florida.
LAS VEGAS – Josue Vargas fended off Kendo Castaneda on Saturday night and convincingly produced perhaps the most noteworthy win of his five-year pro career. The Bronx-based southpaw dropped Castaneda early in the second round and out-worked him for most of their 10-round welterweight bout at MGM Grand Conference Center. Judges Max De Luca (98-91), Lisa Giampa (100-89) and Steve Weisfeld (99-90) rewarded Vargas (18-1, 9 KOs) for his activity and accuracy on the Vasiliy Lomachenko-Teofimo Lopez undercard.
LAS VEGAS – Vasiliy Lomachenko and Teofimo Lopez finally came face-to-face several seconds after they made weight Friday afternoon at MGM Grand Conference Center. Lomachenko smiled and confidently shook his head once they eventually were separated following an intense staredown. Lopez’s facial expression never changed before they went in opposite directions and walked off the stage.
The breakout star of the Bubble, “Cassius” Clay Collard, is back for more. Collard, the MMA pro-turned contender for 2020 “Boxing Prospect of the Year,” will fight Quincy LaVallais in an eight-round middleweight bout on the Vasiliy Lomachenko-Teofimo Lopez undercard on Saturday, Oct. 17 from the MGM Grand Las Vegas Conference Center. It is a rematch of their June 2019 fight, which was ruled a draw.