Rey Geovani Vargas Roldán (born November 25, 1990) is a Mexican professional boxer. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the

WBC WBC may stand for: Business *Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, a former large India broadcaster now folded into CBS *Westpac (New Delhi Exchange code: WBC), a multinational Financial services company *Wholesale Broadband Connect, BT Wholesale's ...

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...

title since July 2022 and the WBC

super bantamweight Super bantamweight, also known as junior featherweight, is a weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . There were attempts by boxing promoters in the 1920s to establish this weight class, but few sanctioning organizations o ...

title from February 2017 to August 2020.

Amateur career

Vargas won 7 national championships in Mexico as an amateur, as well as a gold medal in the 2009 Panamerican Championships. He competed in the 2009 World Championships but was defeated by Luke Campbell in the first round.

Professional career

Early career

Vargas debuted as a professional in May 2010. He won the IBF Youth title in his 11th fight. Vargas won 15 of his first 16 fights by way of knockout. The first fighter to go the distance with him since his second fight was Yuki Murai. In March 2014, Vargas was knocked down for the first time against Sylvester Lopez. Vargas went down in round 2 but won the bout after Lopez suffered an injury and was unable to continue. The two rematched on November of that same year, Vargas won the second fight with a round 8 TKO. Vargas went down once again in round 2 of an eight-round fight against Lucian González, after an overhand right. Vargas was able to survive and get the unanimous decision (78-73, 78–74, 77-75). In June 2016, Vargas won a shut-out unanimous decision (120-108, 120–108, 120-108) over Alexis Kabore. With the win, Vargas became the

mandatory challenger In professional boxing and some other combat sports, a mandatory challenger is an opponent whom a champion must either fight or be forced to vacate their title as champion. A mandatory defence is the opposite of a voluntary defence, where the champi ...

to the

's super bantamweight titlist,

Hugo Ruiz Hugo Ruiz Dominguez (born September 21, 1988) is a Mexican professional boxer. He is the former WBC Super bantamweight and WBA interim Bantamweight champion. Professional career In September 2010, Ruiz beat the veteran Jesús Vázquez to win ...

. In September 2016, Vargas defeated former WBA

super flyweight Super flyweight, also referred to as junior bantamweight, is a boxing weight classes, weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . History The first title match in this division was in 1980, when the World Boxing Council respond ...

champion

Alexander Muñoz Alexander Muñoz (born February 8, 1979) is a Venezuelan professional boxer who has held the WBA super flyweight title twice; from 2002 to 2004, and from 2007 to 2008. He also challenged for the WBA bantamweight title in 2010. Muñoz's strong ...

with a 5th-round TKO. Muñoz went down four times until the referee finally stopped the contest.

WBC super bantamweight champion

Vargas vs. McDonnell

On 25 February 2017, he faced Gavin McDonnell for the vacant

title. The title fight took place in Hull, England. Vargas established control of the fight early on, using his length and head movement to keep the hometown fighter at bay, while landing short combinations. McDonnell attempted to rally back during the later rounds, but he was ultimately unable to turn the scorecards around. Vargas won a majority decision (117-111, 116–112, 114-114) to become a world champion.

Vargas vs. Rios

Vargas' first defense would come on the Cotto- Kamegai undercard at the StubHub Center, against

Ronny Rios Ronny Rios (born January 22, 1990) is an American professional boxer. He has held the WBC- NABF super bantamweight title since 2019 and challenged for the WBC super bantamweight title in 2017. and the unified WBA (super) and IBF super bantamweigh ...

. Vargas was also able to out-box Rios, controlling the bout by fighting at range. Vargas won via unanimous decision (118-110, 118–110, 115-113). Vargas made a second defense against Oscar Negrete in another Miguel Cotto undercard, in this case his farewell bout against

Sadam Ali Sadam Ali (born September 26, 1988) is an American professional boxer who held the WBO junior middleweight title from 2017 to 2018. He also challenged once for the WBO welterweight title in 2016. Early life Ali was born in 1988 in Brooklyn, N ...

. The match was in December 2017 at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsyl ...

, and was televised on HBO. Vargas was cut twice by headbutts but used his length effectively to cruise to a wide unanimous decision (119-109, 119–109, 120-108).

Vargas vs. Negrete

Vargas made his second title defense against the

– NABF bantamweight champion Oscar Negrete, who moved up a weight class in order to challenge Vargas. The bout was scheduled as to co-main event to the Miguel Cotto and

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

super welterweight title fight. It took place at the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

on 2 December 2017 and was broadcast by

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global ...

. On 24 November, Vargas' head trainer Ignacio Beristáin revealed it would be their last fight together, as they agreed to part ways afterwards. Vargas won the fight by a wide unanimous decision. Two of the judges scored the fight 119–109 for him, while the third judge scored it 120–108 in his favor. Vargas was cut above each eye, with one cut happening due to an accidental headbutt in the seventh round, while the second cut came about for the same reason in the eight round.

Vargas vs. Hovhannisyan

Vargas made his second title defense against the twice-defeated

Azat Hovhannisyan Azat Hovhannisyan (born 15 August 1988) is an Armenian professional boxer who challenged for the WBC super-bantamweight title in 2018. As of August 2020, he is ranked as the world's sixth best active super-bantamweight by BoxRec, ninth by '' Th ...

on 12 May 2018, at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York. Hovhannisyan was ranked #9 by the WBC at super bantamweight. The fight was booked as the co-main event of a

super welterweight title fight, same as his previous defense, between

and

Jaime Munguia Jaime is a common Spanish and Portuguese male given name for Jacob (name), James (name), Jamie, or Jacques. In Occitania Jacobus became ''Jacome'' and later ''Jacme''. In east Spain, ''Jacme'' became ''Jaime'', in Aragon it became ''Chaime'', and i ...

. He won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 116–112, 118–110 and 117–111. Vargas was once again cut by headbutts, once in the eight and once in the twelfth round.

Vargas vs. Manzanilla

Vargas made his fourth title defense against the WBC Silver super bantamweight champion Franklin Manzanilla on 9 February 2019 at the Fantasy Springs Casino in

Indio, California Indio ( Spanish for "Indian") is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. It lies east of Palm Springs, east of Riverside, east of Los Angeles, 148 mil ...

. It took place following a nine-month absence from the sport caused by a shoulder surgery, followed by a respiratory infection. Manzanilla was ranked #3 by the WBC at super bantamweight. The bout served as the co-main event to the DAZN broadcast card headlined by a junior lightweight title fight between Alberto Machado and

Andrew Cancio Andrew Anthony Cancio (born October 21, 1988) is an American professional boxer of Mexican descent who held the WBA (Regular) super featherweight title in 2019. Professional career Cancio vs. Machado Cancio turned pro in 2006 and had a reco ...

. Vargas won the fight by unanimous decision, with all three judges awarding him a 117–110 scorecard. He sustained three different cuts from head clashes. Manzanilla was twice deducted a point for hitting on the break. Vargas landed 207 of 719 total punches (28.8%) while Manzanilla landed 93 of 581 total punches (16%).

Vargas vs. Kameda

Vargas made his third title defense against the one-time

bantamweight champion Tomoki Kameda on 13 July 2019 at the

Dignity Health Sports Park Dignity Health Sports Park is a multi-use sports complex located on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, California. The complex consists of the 27,000-seat Dignity Health Sports Park soccer stadium, the Dign ...

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. Kameda had earned his right to challenge with a decision victory over Abigail Medina to capture the WBC interim

championship. The bout was headlined a DAZN broadcast card. Vargas justified his role as the betting favorite, Vargas justified his role as the betting favorite, as he won the fight by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the fight 117–110 in his favor. Vargas out-landed Kameda 173 to 133 in total punches, but only 122 to 120 in power punches.

WBC featherweight champion

Vargas vs. Baez

On 13 August, the

declared Vargas their

champion-in-recess, as he suffered a broken leg in training which left him unable to defend for the remainder of the year. During this year, Vargas also departed from

Golden Boy Promotions Golden Boy Promotions, Inc. is an American boxing promotional firm based in Los Angeles, California. The company was established in 2002 by eight-time world champion (in six divisions) Oscar De La Hoya, borrowing his nickname "Golden Boy." Histo ...

and signed with Premier Boxing Champions. For his first fight under the PBC banner, Vargas was booked to face Leonardo Baez. The fight took place on 6 November 2021, on the

Canelo Álvarez vs. Caleb Plant Canelo Álvarez vs. Caleb Plant, Billed as Road to Undisputed was a super middleweight unification professional boxing match contested between WBA (Super), WBC, WBO and ''The Ring'' champion Canelo Álvarez and IBF champion Caleb Plant to ...

undercard. He won the fight by unanimous decision, with one scorecard of 99–91 and two scorecards of 100–90.

Vargas vs. Magsayo

On 9 March 2022, it was announced that Vargas would challenge the reigning WBC

champion Mark Magsayo in what was the champion's first title defense. Magsayo was ranked #2 by The Ring at featherweight. The fight was officially announced for 9 July 2022. It headlined a It headlined a

card which took place at the

Alamodome The Alamodome is a 64,000-seat domed indoor multi-purpose stadium in San Antonio, Texas. It is located on the southeastern fringe of downtown San Antonio. The facility opened on May 15, 1993, having been constructed at a cost of $186 milli ...

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

. Despite his role as the challenger, Vargas entered the fight as the favorite, with most odds-makers having him Magsayo a +105 underdog. He won the fight by split decision. Two of the judges scored the fight 115–112 in his favor, while the third judge scored the bout 114–113 for Magsayo. Vargas was knocked down with a counter right in the ninth round, but his opponent failed to capitalize on it. He landed 196 of 687 total punches (29%) and 135 of 339 power punches (40%), compared to Magsayo's 132 total punches and 92 power punches.

Vargas vs. Foster

On 24 August 2022, Vargas received permission from the WBC to enter into negotiations for a title unification bout with the reigning WBA "Super" featherweight champion Leo Santa Cruz. As Vargas and Santa Cruz failed to reach an agreement, Vargas was instead permitted by the WBC to move up a weight class and face O'Shaquie Foster for the vacant WBC super featherweight title.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

*
Rey Vargas - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings
a
Box.Live
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vargas, Rey 1990 births Living people People from Otumba Mexican male boxers Boxers from the State of Mexico World Boxing Council champions World super-bantamweight boxing champions World featherweight boxing champions