By Miguel Rivera

Rey Vargas will not be able to defend the super bantamweight championship of the World Boxing Council until November because of a left hand injury, but he said he was happy to return to the ring in a major fight - either a unification fight against WBA champion Daniel Roman or an opportunity to move up in weight to challenge WBA featherweight king Leo Santa Cruz.

Roman, who dominated Moises Fuentes over twelve rounds back in June, returns on October 6th, when he faces Gavin McDonnel in a voluntary defense as part of the first Matchoom USA event to be streamed on DAZN.

Santa Cruz won an solid decision over Abner Mares earlier this year. There is talk of a showdown with Gary Russell Jr. in the fall, but nothing has been cemented on that fight.

Vargas' last fight came on May 12, when he fought off a very tough challenge from Azat Hovhannisyan to win a twelve round unanimous decision. It was during that contest that he suffered the hand injury.

"It was an injury that arose in the fight (against Hovhannisyan), in the third round I suffered an injury around the middle knuckle of the left hand, I broke part of the tendon, it was rebuilt, we had some evaluations, and it ended in surgery and we hope to return in November," said Vargas (32-0, 22 KOs) to ESPN Deportes.

"When I return, I would like to unify with Daniel Roman. He is a fighter who has gone abroad and won, he is not just another fighter, he knows what he brings to the table. He has just defeated a strong rival (Moisés Flores), who hits hard, and he won that fight without any problems. He is not just another opponent, although I also plan to secure a fight with Leo Santa Cruz at featherweight."