By Jake Donovan
Rey Vargas is enjoying a king’s reception ahead of his upcoming ring return but would’ve gladly settled for a smaller portion of the spotlight if it meant a quicker turnaround.
“I’m 100% recovered and just excited to get back in the ring; I've been ready to get back for months,” Vargas (32-0, 22KOs) told BoxingScene.com as he prepares for the fourth defense of his 122-pound title versus Venezuela’s Franklin Manzanilla.
The bout will take place February 9 live on DAZN from the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California. The 28-year old from Otumba, Mexico will make his debut on the sports streaming platform as well as enjoy his first U.S.-based headliner.
That said, he’d have gladly traded in top billing on this event for a place on the undercard of countryman Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’s own DAZN premiere.
“We were ready to return back in December, and I was excited over the possibility of fighting on December 15 at Madison Square Garden,” revealed Vargas. “It would’ve been incredible, two of the best fighters from Mexico today fighting on that show.
“But out of nowhere, we were told that my return was delayed to January and now to February. It was just out of our hands, but we never worried about. We remained patient, my promoters in Mexico (Promociones del Pueblo) stayed in contact with Golden Boy Promotions and now we are more than ready to fight on February 9.”
By the time the opening bell sounds, Vargas will see his first piece of ring action since a 12-round win over Azat Hovhannisyan last May in upstate New York. The win helped maintain his place atop the super bantamweight division, but also left him with an injured left hand which required surgery.
Vargas had never been away from the ring for more than six months. Interestingly, it happened twice, each occasion surrounding his first career title fight. He was out for nearly six months from the time of his 5th round knockout over former 115-pound titlist Alex Muñoz in early Sept. ’16 through his title winning effort over Gavin McDonnell in late Feb. ’17, on the road in Hull, England.
Another six months would pass by before his first title defense, scoring a 12-round win over Ronny Rios in the Aug. ’17 HBO-televised co-feature attraction to the first leg of Miguel Cotto’s two-fight retirement tour. Two more successful title defenses on HBO would follow, before being forced to cut short his 2018 campaign in favor of rest and rehabilitation.
In that time, the 122-pound division has managed to change shape at the top level and with most of the division’s best all fighting on DAZN.
Fellow titlist Daniel Roman has emerged as a top player, improving with each passing fight since his Sept. ’17 title-winning knockout of Shun Kubo in Japan. The 28-year old Californian is now in talks for a planned April 6 unification bout versus Australia-based Irish southpaw TJ Doheny, who won a belt last summer and is coming off of an 11th round knockout of Ryohei Takahashi in a mid-January title defense.
As for Vargas, waiting in the wings—assuming he gets past Manzanilla (18-4, 17KOs)—is a possible showdown with interim tltlist Tomoki Kameda. Such a bout would come at the demand of the World Boxing Council, whom recognizes Vargas as its champion and whose interim belt Kameda claimed in a points win over Abigail Medina last November.
While he’s eager to make up for lost time, the defending champ doesn’t want to look much further ahead than present-day business—especially now that there’s in-ring business to be had for the first time in nine months.
“There’s a lot going on in the division and of course with many recognizing me as the best, a lot of responsibility comes with that role,” notes Vargas. “Everyone wants to knock you down from the top, but all I can do is take one fight at a time. All those guys with belts, I’d love to face them and all in 2019 if my team will allow it.
“Once I’m back in the ring, I don’t want to have to wait any longer than I already have. Golden Boy Promotions has a great plan in place along with my team to help my international appeal. My goal is to be undisputed champion and to become a worldwide superstar. Now that I’m back, I’m ready to make that happen.”
