By Ryan Burton

Former two-division champions Tim Bradley and Jessie Vargas have both been out of the ring since losing their most recent fight which for both was against Manny Pacquiao.

Bradley dropped a decision to the Filipino icon in April while Vargas (27-2, 10 KOs) lost to him in November.

Bradley defeated Vargas via unanimous decision in June, 2015 in a bout marred by a controversial ending.  The Southern California native appeared in control of the fight until he was caught by a big shot late in the 12th round and referee Pat Russell stopped the fight in error with just under 10 seconds left.  The world will never know if Vargas would have been able to stop Bradley in those last few seconds.

Vargas has stated many times that he wants a rematch.  With two fights under his belt with new trainer Dewey Cooper, Vargas feels that not only would he beat Bradley but that he could springboard from that fight into a rematch with Pacquiao and defeat him too.

"Hopefully we can make it happen. Sh*t, I know once I beat him I can go back and prove that I learned from my experience and jump back into a rematch with Pacquiao and beat him.  I have big plans ahead of me, Vargas explained.

Before securing the pay-per-view fight against Pacquiao, Vargas was close to facing IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook in the UK last summer.  Brook instead chose to jump up to the middleweight division where he was stopped by WBC/WBA/IBF/IBO middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin.

Brook will now face unbeaten 2012 US Olympian Errol Spence in May in a fight many feel will be Spence's coming out party.  Vargas feels it is the perfect fight for Spence to prove that he belongs on the big stage.

"It is a good fight. It is a fight that this kid Spence can prove to his fans who he is and if he is championship caliber," Vargas told BoxingScene.com.

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