By Keith Idec
NEW YORK – Jessie Vargas was among those that criticized Miguel Cotto’s choice of opponent for his farewell fight.
The fight was offered to Vargas, but the former WBO welterweight champion turned down the opportunity because he didn’t want to sign a long-term contract with Golden Boy Promotions, Cotto’s promoter. Sadam Ali, who’s also promoted by Golden Boy, jumped at the chance to challenge Cotto for the WBO super welterweight title at Madison Square Garden.
That didn’t sit well with Vargas because he beat Ali by ninth-round technical knockout in their WBO welterweight title fight in March 2016. Proving Vargas wrong was among the reasons Ali (26-1, 14 KOs) felt so good after upsetting Cotto (41-6, 33 KOs) by unanimous decision.
When asked afterward if he hopes the biggest win of his career leads to a rematch against Vargas, Ali was noncommittal.
“Who knows?,” said Ali, who was a 3-1 favorite to beat Vargas. “Honestly, I’m not really thinking about him. If HBO asks for it, that would be different. But if Jessie Vargas fought me tonight, trust me, everything would be completely different. I made big mistakes in that camp for him, and I learned from it. I really learned from it.
“But I’m not gonna take nothing away from him. He was the better man that night. But I know he’s not messing with me. So, you know, things happen in life and I moved forward from it.”
Regarding an Ali-Vargas rematch, Golden Boy founder Oscar De La Hoya joked that Premier Boxing Champions boxers “only fight once every two years.” Vargas parted ways with longtime promoter Top Rank Inc. recently to sign with Al Haymon’s PBC.
The 28-year-old Las Vegas native, who remains a welterweight, is scheduled to make his PBC debut December 15. Vargas (27-2, 10 KOs) is set to square off against Aaron Herrera (33-7-1, 20 KOs) that night in the main event of a fight FS1 will televise from Lancaster, California.
Vargas will fight for the first time since losing the WBO welterweight title to Manny Pacquiao 13 months ago in Las Vegas.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.