Jesse Vargas
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Jessie Vargas (born May 10, 1989) is a Mexican-American
professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...
. He held the
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 Boxin ...
welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...
title in 2016. He also held the
WBA (Regular) The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is an international professional boxing organization based in Panama. The WBA awards its world championship title at the professional level. Founded i ...
and IBO
super lightweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...
titles in 2014.


Amateur career

Vargas had an
amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...
record of 120 wins and 20 losses. He was a two-time Mexican national champion, a two-time United States junior national champion, and was a member of the 2008 Mexican Olympic team.


Professional career


Early years

In September 2008, Vargas won his pro debut against the undefeated Joel Gonzalez by first-round knockout. Vargas got attention when, during a fight against Trenton Titsworth, Vargas was kissed on the neck and he responded by hitting Titsworth during the break. Titsworth was docked two points, Vargas one. In his twelfth fight he knocked out a former IBO light welterweight Champion
Daniel Sarmiento Pablo Daniel Sarmiento (born 10 June 1971) is an Argentine former professional boxer in the Light Welterweight division and the former IBO Light Welterweight Champion. He is the brother of boxing trainer Gabriel Sarmiento. He replaced his brothe ...
of
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
. The bout was the main event of FSN's Fight Night Club. In his next fight Vargas won an eight-round unanimous decision against Mexican
Ramón Montaño Ramón Carlos Montaño Córdova (born November 8, 1982) is a Mexican professional boxer. Professional career After dropping Dmitriy Salita in the first round, their bout would end in a very disputed draw. He would then lose a very close decision ...
on the undercard of Amir Khan vs. Marcos Maidana. On February 24, 2011, Vargas fought at
Club Nokia Club Nokia was a mobile internet digital distribution portal, operated by Nokia to provide special offers, paid-for ringtones, picture messages and game content directly to members. Following resistance from its mobile operator customers, Nokia pa ...
in
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, against journeyman Cristian Favela (19–31–7, 10 KOs). The fight went the 8 round distance. Favela pressed the action more than expected but ultimately lost on the cards with the three scorecards reading 79–73, 78–74 and 77–75 in favour of Vargas. On March 31, Golden Boy announced that Vargas would fight former WBA light welterweight Champion
Vivian Harris Ivan Vivian Harris (born June 17, 1978) is a Guyanese former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2018. He held the WBA super lightweight title from 2002 to 2005. Amateur career After Harris arrived in the U.S., he began his amateur b ...
(29–5–1, 19 KO's) at the Desert Arena in
Primm, Nevada Primm (formerly known as State Line) is an unincorporated town in Clark County, Nevada, United States, primarily notable for its position straddling Interstate 15 at the Nevada–California border. It sits on Ivanpah Dry Lake, which extends to ...
, on April 8. This bout was televised on TeleFutura. Vargas picked up the biggest win of his career to date after Harris quit on his stool after just one round. Vargas didn't allow Harris to put any work in and badly shook Harris on a few occasions, in what some believed would be a competitive bout. With the win, Vargas improved to 15–0 (8 KOs). On June 14, British boxer Ashley Theophane declined the opportunity to fight Vargas on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather Jr vs. Victor Ortiz, which was scheduled to take place on September 17. Theophane stated when he was told he could fight on the card, he expected a potential rematch with Danny Garcia or another big name, however Vargas' name was brought up for an 8-round fight. Colombian boxer Walter Estrada (39–14–1, 25 KO's) was later confirmed to be Vargas' next opponent in a scheduled 10 round bout on July 8. After a slow first round, Vargas landed a clean left uppercut in the second round knocking out Estrada. The stoppage came 38 seconds into the round. Vargas was next scheduled to fight on the Mayweather vs. Ortiz undercard against Josesito Lopez (29–3, 17 KOs). In August 2011, British boxer Amir Khan began chasing a big money fight with
Floyd Mayweather Jr. Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. (né Sinclair; born February 24, 1977) is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer who competed between 1996 and 2017. He list of undefeated boxing world champions, retired with an undefeated record a ...
possibly for 2012. Vargas began calling out Khan for a potential fight. Speaking to Fighthype.com, Mayweather said, "Jessie Vargas wants to know why Amir Khan is ducking and dodging. He's asking for him. Everybody is ducking and dodging him. He's my fighter and he wants han" Speaking on a radio show, Vargas said, "He keeps saying he wants to fight Floyd. If he really wants to fight Floyd then he has to fight me first." Vargas earned a tough victory via split decision. One judge scored the bout 95–94 for Lopez, whilst the other two scored had it 96–93 and 95–94 for Vargas, giving him the win. In the 10 rounds, Vargas landed 167 of 851 punches thrown (20%) and Lopez landed 122 of his 509 thrown (24%). Vargas fought on May 5, 2012, on the Mayweather vs. Cotto undercard defeating
Steve Forbes Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Jr. (; born July 18, 1947) is an American publishing executive and politician who is the editor-in-chief of ''Forbes'', a business magazine. He is the son of longtime ''Forbes'' publisher Malcolm Forbes and the grandso ...
(35–10, 11 KOs) after 10 rounds. The scorecards read 100–90, 97–93 and 98–92. Forbes was a late replacement for
Alfonso Gómez Alfonso Salvador Gómez Becerra (born October 28, 1980), better known as Alfonso Gómez, is a Mexican former professional boxer. Gomez is best known for being a competitor on the debut season of reality TV show '' The Contender'', where he fin ...
, who withdrew with back spasms. On June 6, 2012, Vargas signed a deal with boxing manager Cameron Dunkin. There was rumors that Vargas would be joining Top Rank. The rumors turned out true. On June 20, Vargas left
Mayweather Promotions Mayweather Promotions, LLC is a boxing promotional firm founded in 2007 by Floyd Mayweather Jr., after exercising a provision in his contract with Bob Arum and Top Rank that allowed him to become a free agent for the price of $750,000. Al Haymon ha ...
to sign with
Top Rank Top Rank, Inc. is a boxing promotional company founded by Jabir Herbert Muhammad and Bob Arum, which was incorporated in 1973, and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since its founding, Top Rank has promoted many world class fighters, including M ...
. On February 2, 2013, Top Rank announced that Vargas would be opening the
Timothy Bradley Timothy Ray Bradley Jr. (born August 29, 1983) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2004 to 2016. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the World Boxing Council (WBC) light welterweight titl ...
vs. Ruslan Provodnikov card against Wale 'Lucky Boy' Omotoso (23–0, 19 KOs) on March 16 at the
Home Depot Center 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 Dignit ...
in
Carson, California Carson is a city in the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay and the Los Angeles Harbor Region, Harbor regions of Los Angeles County, California, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International ...
. The fight was shown live on HBO. Vargas was dropped to one knee in round two, but went on to win a hard-fought battle against Omotoso. One judge scored the fight 97–92 and the remaining two scored it 96–93 in favour of Vargas. ESPN scored the fight 95–94 in favor of Omotoso. HBO's Harold Lederman had it a 94–94 draw. Omotoso started off the fight much stronger than Vargas, but the latter took control midway. In round two, during an exchange, Omotoso landed a body shot forcing Vargas' knee to touch the mat, thus ruling a knockdown. With the win, Vargas claimed the vacant WBC Continental Americas welterweight title. Vargas landed 165 punches of 486 total thrown (34%). Omotoso, outlanded in nine rounds, landed 103 of his 429 thrown (24%). In May 2013, Vargas stated he was likely to return on the undercard of Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Tim Bradley HBO pay-per-view, scheduled to take place in the fall at the
Thomas & Mack Center The Thomas & Mack Center is a multi-purpose arena located on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in Paradise, Nevada. It is home of the UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball team of the Mountain West Conference. History The facility first ...
in Las Vegas. HBO set October 12 as the date of the event. Veteran Ghanaian boxer
Ray Narh Raymond Akwete "Ray" Narh (born 21 July 1978) is a Ghanaian former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2014. He is a former World Boxing Council, WBC–USNBC light welterweight champion. As an amateur boxing, amateur, Narh Ghana at the 2 ...
(26–3, 21KOs) was announced as his opponent. It was also revealed the fight would take place on the HBO PPV, but instead
UniMás UniMás (, stylized as ''UNIMÁS'', and originally known as TeleFutura from its launch on January 14, 2002, to January 6, 2013) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. ...
would televise a card from the same venue on the Friday night. In the final seconds of the fight, Vargas dropped Narh. Although Narh beat the count, he lost on the scorecards, which read 97–92 and 98–91 twice. Both boxers fought on the inside majority of the fight, landing power shots, with many clean shots landed.


Light welterweight

In October 2013, Vargas considered moving back down to light welterweight, the weight he began his career. For his last six fight, Vargas began fighting at the welterweight limit. Speaking to Boxing Scene, he said, "I know I can still make the weight. I was on weight early for my last fight. I even ate before the weigh in and I didn't have any problems."


Vargas vs. Allakhverdiev

On January 30, 2014, it was announced that Vargas would get his first opportunity to fight for a world title on the Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley II PPV card on
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
on April 12 at the
MGM Grand Garden Arena The MGM Grand Garden Arena is a 17,000-seat multi-purpose arena within the MGM Grand Las Vegas, MGM Grand resort, located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The venue opened on December 31, 1993, with a concert by Barbra Streisand, and s ...
in Nevada. He would challenge fellow Top Rank stablemate, 31 year old
Khabib Allakhverdiev Khabib Mevlidinovich Allakhverdiev (; born 8 December 1982) is a Russian former professional boxer of Lezgin descent
(19–0, 9 KO) for the WBA 'Regular' and IBO light welterweight titles. Allakhverdiev won the title in 2012, when it was vacant against
Joan Guzmán Joan Guzmán (born May 1, 1976) is a Dominican former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2014. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the WBO super bantamweight title from 2002 to 2005, and the WBO junior lightwe ...
. Vargas worked with well known trainer Ismael Salas for the first time. On fight night, Vargas claimed his first world title defeating Allakhverdiev via unanimous decision. Vargas used head movement, quick jabs and well-placed uppercuts to help get the win on the scorecards. The three judges' scored the fight 117–111, 115–113 and 115–113 in favour of Vargas. ESPN's Dan Rafael scored the fight 115–113 for Allakhverdiev, as did HBO's unofficial scorer
Harold Lederman Harold Lederman (January 26, 1940 – May 11, 2019) was an American boxing judge and analyst. He began his career as a boxing judge in 1967 and joined the cast of '' HBO World Championship Boxing'' in 1986, and was there until HBO dropped boxin ...
. In the post-fight, Vargas said, "I thought I should have been busier earlier in the fight and I got stronger and I thought I took control midway through the fight. This was my first 12-round fight. I worked hard for three months in the Top Rank gym. This fight, this win will make me an even better fighter." Allakhverdiev claimed he wanted a rematch straight away. For the fight, Allakhverdiev took home $250,000 whilst Vargas had a $90,000 purse.


Vargas vs. Novikov

Vargas vacated the IBO title. In May, Boxing Scene stated Vargas would make his first defence against Russian boxer Anton Novikov (29–0, 10 KOs), although a deal was not finalized. The same source stated the bout would feature on the undercard of Brandon Rios vs. Diego Chaves on August 2, 2014, in either
Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
or
Fresno Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...
. On June 6, the fight was confirmed to take place at The Cosmopolitan Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Vargas was excited the bout would be taking place in his home town. As Part of the negotiations, Vargas agreed to random drug testing by VADA. At the same time, Novikov hadn't yet agreed to the drug testing, although he was offered a sponsorship to cover the costs. Novikov failed a post fight drug test in 2012 after he won the vacant WBC silver welterweight title against Karlo Tabaghua in Russia. Novikov's promoter Steve Bash did not mention the drug testing until a month later. Novikov said in regards to the drug testing, “I don’t mind any type of testing. The people who are winning fights should win them fairly.” In what was said to be another controversial decision, Vargas retained his WBA title after 12 rounds. The three judges' scorecards read 118–111, 118–111 and 117–111. ESPN and BadLeftHook scored the fight closer in favour of Novikov. Vargas started the fight well pressing the action and making Novikov miss. Novikov began to take control after round five, but tired a few rounds later. In the championship rounds, Novikov landed several hard shots to the body and head of Vargas, however it was Vargas that ended the fight the strongest. CompuBox stats showed that Vargas landed 191 of 783 punches thrown (24%), which including 153 power shots landed. Novikov landed 223 of his 812 shots (27%), which included 151 power shots landed. Vargas said of the win, "I can be even better. It was a rough fight. I landed the cleaner punches." ESPN reported that Vargas earned $125,000 and Novikov earned a $105,000 purse. The fight averaged of 728,000 viewers on HBO, peaking at 839,000 viewers.


Vargas vs. DeMarco

On September 16, 2014
Top Rank Top Rank, Inc. is a boxing promotional company founded by Jabir Herbert Muhammad and Bob Arum, which was incorporated in 1973, and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since its founding, Top Rank has promoted many world class fighters, including M ...
promoter
Bob Arum Robert Arum (born December 8, 1931) is an American lawyer and boxing promoter. He is the founder and CEO of Top Rank, a professional boxing promotion company based in Las Vegas. Prior to becoming a boxing promoter, Arum was employed as an attorn ...
announced that Vargas would be making his second title defence on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao vs. Chris Algieri at
The Venetian Macao The Venetian Macao () is a hotel and casino resort in Macau, China owned by the American Las Vegas Sands company. The 39-story structure on Macau's Cotai Strip has of floor space, and is modeled on its sister casino resort The Venetian Las Ve ...
in
Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...
, SAR on November 22 against 28 year old Mexican boxer and former lightweight world champion
Antonio DeMarco Antonio de Marco Soto (born January 7, 1986), best known as Antonio "Tony" DeMarco, is a Mexican professional boxer. He held the WBC lightweight title from 2011 to 2012. DeMarco is a cousin of former world champion Humberto Soto. Professional ...
(31–3–1, 23 KOs). On announcement, Vargas said, "My opponent is a tough, rugged fighter who comes to fight. I know this will be a fight that fans throughout the world will enjoy. This is very exciting for our team to be part of an event of this magnitude. I plan on bringing my world title belt back to Las Vegas." Vargas began training with former pound for pound king of the 90's,
Roy Jones Jr. Roy Levesta Jones Jr. (born January 16, 1969) is an American professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in four weight classes, including middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight. As an amateur he r ...
There was talks between Vargas and Arum before the fight. Arum stated there would be some big opportunities for Vargas in 2015. The fight went the distance with Vargas earning a unanimous decision win to retain his world title. All three judges' scored the fight 116–112 in favour of Vargas. Vargas, who is usually a defensive style fighter, showed a more offensive approach. This was most likely due to Jones being his new trainer. Both fighters were accurate with their punching, landing at a connect rate of over 40%. DeMarco announced his retirement after the fight.


Welterweight


Vargas vs. Bradley

On April 30, 2015, it was announced that Vargas would be making his welterweight debut against former two-weight world champion
Timothy Bradley Timothy Ray Bradley Jr. (born August 29, 1983) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2004 to 2016. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the World Boxing Council (WBC) light welterweight titl ...
(31–1–1, 12 KOs) on June 27 at
StubHub Center 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 ...
in Carson, California. It was later announced the bout would be contested for the WBO interim title. On May 29, Vargas replaced Jones as his trainer with former world champion
Erik Morales Erik Isaac Morales Elvira (born September 1, 1976) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2012. He is the first Mexico-born boxer in history to quadruple champion, win world championships in four weight classes, rangin ...
. A small crowd of 4,311 was announced. Bradley pretty much dominated the exchanges throughout, punishing Vargas repeatedly to the body and head. While absorbing major damage, Vargas had shown the ability to hurt Bradley and with 20 seconds left in round 12 landed a massive punch that buckled Bradley's knees and had him stumbling across the ring. Vargas followed him and landed 2 more head shots before being tied up near the ropes. Referee Pat Russell heard the 10 second warning and mistakenly signaled that the fight was over with 7–8 seconds remaining. Vargas believed he had TKO'd Bradley and celebrated atop the turnbuckle. When order was restored it was ruled that the referee's mistake was impossible to fix and the fight would go to the scorecards. Bradley, at that point, deserved the unanimous decision. The judges scored the fight 115–112, 116–112 and 117–111 all in Bradley's favour. Vargas had called for a rematch. CompuBox showed that Bradley landed 232 of his 676 punches (34%), and Vargas landed 203 of 630 thrown (32%). Bradley earned $1.5 million compared to Vargas' $600,000 purse. Russell claimed it was an honest mistake. After viewing the end, he said, " radley'shurt. He's still hurt and still on his feet. He's working a bit, he's in it. Sounded like the bell to me. But you don't always hear the 10-second warning. You'd like to, but what I thought I heard was the bell. I made the call that I made based upon what I heard. That's all I can say. It was an honest call based on an honest reaction." The fight averaged 1.121 million viewers and peaked at 1.228 million on HBO. On July 8, Vargas filed an appeal to the California State Athletic Commission to change the outcome of the fight to
No Contest ''Nolo contendere'' () is a type of legal plea used in some jurisdictions in the United States. It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. It is a plea where the defendant neither admits nor disputes a charge, serving as an ...
.


Vargas vs. Ali

After
Bradley Bradley may refer to: People * Bradley (given name) * Bradley (surname) Places In the United Kingdom In England: * Bradley, Cheshire * Bradley, Derbyshire * Bradley (house), a manor in Kingsteignton, Devon * Bradley, Gloucestershire * ...
decided against the rematch, instead opting to fight
Manny Pacquiao Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao Sr. ( ; ; born December17, 1978) is a Filipino politician, businessman, and professional boxer. Nicknamed "PacMan", he is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time. He previously serv ...
for a third time, the
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 Boxin ...
Welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...
title became vacant. It was announced that Vargas would still have a chance at the world title against
Sadam Ali Sadam Ali (born September 26, 1988) is an American former 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 Brookly ...
. In the fight, Vargas landed the more effective blows in what wasn't really a close fight. Vargas knocked down Ali in rounds eight and nine. Vargas landed a brutal body shot followed by a right to the head to knock him out on his feet and win the vacant WBO world title. Vargas was ahead on all judges scorecards at the time of TKO (79–72, 77–74 twice). Vargas credited new trainer Dewey Cooper, his sixth trainer in eight years as a pro, for the game plan and conditioning. Vargas landed 159 punches from his 428 thrown compared to 118 landed from 408 from Ali. The fight averaged 726,000 viewers on HBO, peaking at 848,000 viewers.


Negotiations with Kell Brook

It was announced on May 12, 2016, that negotiations for a unification fight with IBF titleholder
Kell Brook Ezekiel "Kell" Brook (born 3 May 1986) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2004 to 2022. He held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight title from 2014 to 2017, and challenged once for a unified middleweigh ...
(36–0, 25 KOs) were under way. Hearn told ''Sky Sports'' he had "offered a huge amount of money" to make the fight happen and while he conceded Brook might have to travel to America, Vargas insists he was willing to cross the Atlantic. Vargas signed his contract, manager, Cameron Dunkin, told ESPN.com on June 1.
Eddie Hearn Edward John Hearn (born 8 June 1979) is a British sports promoter and the chairman of Matchroom Sport and Professional Darts Corporation. Hearn has promoted many world champion boxers through Matchroom, including Anthony Joshua, Canelo Álvar ...
said the fight will take place August 27 or September 3 at
Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramall ...
in Sheffield. Vargas would be making his biggest purse at $1.7 million, by a lot. Vargas confirmed via his
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
account that the bout was set for September 3. Negotiations fell through on July 9 for the unification title fight, when it was announced that Brook would be moving up two weight divisions to challenge
Gennady Golovkin Gennadiy Gennadyevich Golovkin (; also spelled Gennady; born 8 April 1982), often known by his nickname "GGG" or "Triple G", is a Kazakhstani professional boxer. He has held multiple middleweight world championships, and is a two-time former u ...
instead.


Vargas vs. Pacquiao

Sky Sports announced on 4 August 2016, Vargas would defend his WBO welterweight title against eight-division world champion
Manny Pacquiao Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao Sr. ( ; ; born December17, 1978) is a Filipino politician, businessman, and professional boxer. Nicknamed "PacMan", he is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time. He previously serv ...
(58–6–2, 38 KOs), coming out of retirement, on November 5. It was also reported that promoter Bob Arum was looking to hold the fight in Las Vegas or Dubai. The fight took place at the Thomas & Mack Centre in Las Vegas, in front of a crowd of 16,132, which included retired pound for pound king
Floyd Mayweather Jr. Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. (né Sinclair; born February 24, 1977) is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer who competed between 1996 and 2017. He list of undefeated boxing world champions, retired with an undefeated record a ...
Vargas earned a guaranteed base purse of a career high $2.8 million for the fight. Vargas lost his WBO title after losing via unanimous decision. The judges scored the fight 114–113, 118–109 and 118–109 in favour of Pacquiao. Vargas thought he had done enough to retain his title, after the first score of 114–113 was read, he climbed on to the corner raising his arms in the air, only for Pacquiao to be read out the eventual victor. After a steady first round, Pacquiao woke the crowd up in the second round when he hit Vargas with a straight left hand that put him on the mat. The knockdown set the tone for the rest of the fight which had action back and forth. Vargas seemed to have picked up in the middle rounds, but it was Pacquiao who was the more dominant one throughout the 12-rounds. Vargas managed to land a few hard right hands, but none were enough to turn the scores in his favour. In the post-fight interview, Vargas had no excuses, claiming he 'lost to a legend'. CompuBox stats showed Pacquiao as the more accurate of the two, landing 147 of 409 punches (36%). Vargas landed on 104 of his 562 thrown (19%).


Vargas vs. Herrera

Vargas was a name considered for
Miguel Cotto Miguel Ángel Cotto Vázquez (born October 29, 1980) is a Puerto Rican former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2017. He is a multiple-time world champion, and the first Puerto Rican boxer to win quadruple champion, world titles in fo ...
's (41–5, 33 KOs) final fight in December 2017. Cotto picked Vargas' old foe
Sadam Ali Sadam Ali (born September 26, 1988) is an American former 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 Brookly ...
as his final professional fight. On October 18, Vargas stated the reason why he turned down the Cotto fight was simply because
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." Hist ...
did not offer him a good enough deal. Part of the deal would have been that Vargas sign a multi-fight deal with Golden Boy, a similar offer which was also rejected by
Mikey Garcia Miguel Angel Garcia Cortez (born December 15, 1987), best known as Mikey Garcia, is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2006 to 2021. He held multiple world championships in four weight classes from featherweight to light w ...
and
Errol Spence Errol Spence Jr. (born March 3, 1990) is an American professional boxer. He is a former unified champion in the welterweight division, having held the World Boxing Association (WBA) ( Super version), World Boxing Council (WBC), and Internationa ...
. Vargas, at this time was a free agent after coming to an undisclosed agreement with Top Rank. He started working with boxing advisor
Al Haymon Al Haymon (born April 21, 1955) is an American businessman and boxing manager. He was the manager of Floyd Mayweather Jr. and has won the Boxing Writers of America Manager of the Year Award five times. Early life Haymon was raised in Cleveland, ...
. Vargas also slammed Cotto's decision to fight Ali, after he himself knocked him out in 9 rounds in 2016. On November 11, it was announced that Vargas would finally return to the ring in California against fringe Mexican boxer Aaron Herrera (33–7–1, 22 KOs) on December 15, 2017. The Pioneer Event Center in
Lancaster, California Lancaster is a charter city in northern Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, in the Antelope Valley of the western Mojave Desert in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the popul ...
, was announced as the venue for the bout, which would be shown live on PBC on FS1. Prior to the fight, Vargas replaced trainer Dewey Cooper with former three-weight world champion
Mike McCallum Michael McKenzie McCallum (7 December 1956 – 31 May 2025) was a Jamaican professional boxer who competed from 1981 to 1997. He held world championships in three weight classes, including the World Boxing Association (WBA) super welterweight ...
. Vargas made a successful return after 13 months, defeating Herrera by a lopsided 10 round unanimous decision. Vargas did not look as though he wanted to end the fight via stoppage. Vargas did knock Herrera down with a combination to the head in round 6. All three judges' scored the fight 100–89 in favour of Vargas. Vargas admitted there was ring rust but stated he wanted a big name next. In January 2018, according to sources, Vargas was being lined up to challenge unified welterweight champion
Keith Thurman Keith Fitzgerald Thurman (born November 23, 1988) is an American professional boxer. He is a former unified welterweight world champion, having held the World Boxing Association, WBA title from 2016 to 2019 (promoted to WBA (Super), Super champio ...
on his return. On January 24, Showtime announced that Thurman would return to the Barclays Center for the third consecutive time on May 29 and Thurman denied any rumours, stating that he would not be fighting Vargas.


Vargas vs. Broner

On January 24,
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 w ...
announced
Adrien Broner Adrien Jerome Broner (; born July 28, 1989) is an American professional boxer. He won world championships in four weight classes including the World Boxing Organization (WBO) super featherweight title from 2011 to 2012, the World Boxing Counci ...
vs. Omar Figueroa Jr. (27–0–1, 19 KOs) would take place on April 21 at the
Barclays Center Barclays Center ( ) is a multi-purpose list of indoor arenas, indoor arena in the New York City Boroughs of New York City, borough of Brooklyn. The arena is home to the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association and the New York Liber ...
in New York. On March 4, Figueroa pulled out of the fight after injuring his shoulder in training. PBC stated the card would still go ahead and they would find a new opponent for Broner. The next day, Showtime confirmed that Broner (33–3, 24 KOs) would now fight Vargas in a 144-pound
Catchweight A catchweight is a term used in combat sports, such as boxing or mixed martial arts, to describe a weight limit that does not adhere to the traditional limits for weight classes. In boxing, a catchweight is negotiated prior to weigh-ins, which are ...
bout, headlining a card also featuring the re-booked
Jermall Charlo Jermall Charlo (; born May 19, 1990) is an American professional boxer. He has held world championships in two weight classes, including the International Boxing Federation (IBF) light middleweight title from 2015 to 2017 and the World Boxing Co ...
- Hugo Centeno Jr. fight and
Gervonta Davis Gervonta Bryant Davis ( ; born November 7, 1994), also known by his nickname "Tank", is an American professional boxer. He has held the World Boxing Association (WBA) lightweight title since 2023, having previously held the Regular version fr ...
-
Jesús Cuellar Jesús Marcelo Andrés Cuéllar (born December 28, 1986) is an Argentine professional boxer. He held the list of WBA world champions#Featherweight, WBA (Regular) featherweight title from 2015 to 2016. Amateur career Cuellar had an amateur boxing ...
. The attendance for the event was 13,964. With the arena only set up for 10,000, additional sections were opened in the upper tiers. Broner and Vargas fought to a 12-round majority draw. One judge scored the fight 115–113 for Broner and the remaining two judges overruled with identical scores of 114–114.
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
's
Dan Rafael Dan Rafael ( ; born August 25, 1970) is an American sportswriter known for his coverage of boxing and baseball. Early life and education Rafael was born in Albany, New York. He attended Binghamton University, where he wrote for the school paper. ...
and Showtimes unofficial scorer
Steve Farhood Steven Farhood (born 15 February 15, 1957) is an American boxing historian and analyst. Personal life and career Farhood was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Lebanese parents. Farhood served as editor-in-chief of ''The Ring'' and ''KO Magazine''. ...
both scored the bout 114–114. The fight was of two halves. The first half of the fight saw Vargas take up a nice lead, controlling the bout and then looked to fade a little, allowing Broner to take control for the remainder of the bout. Vargas out landed Broner 124–82 in the opening 6 rounds and Broner out landed Vargas 112–79 in the remaining 6 rounds. After the fight, Vargas said, "I saw myself winning, but if the judges said it was a draw, you have to respect that. I think it was a good fight. The fans seemed to like it. I hit the body, I worked inside. In the beginning I worked the distance. In the later rounds I let him come at me and was looking for the counterpunch." According to CompuBox Stats, Broner landed 194 of 507 punches thrown (38%) and Vargas landed 203 of his 839 thrown (24%). Vargas worked on the body more, landing 54 punches to 38 landing by Broner. For the fight Broner earned a $1 million purse and Vargas earned a $500,000 purse. The fight averaged 782,000 viewers and peaked at 869,000 during the bout. Peak viewership increased to 891,000 just before the scorecards were read.


Vargas vs. Dulorme

On July 17, 2018, at an official press conference, it was announced that Vargas had signed a multi fight deal with
Eddie Hearn Edward John Hearn (born 8 June 1979) is a British sports promoter and the chairman of Matchroom Sport and Professional Darts Corporation. Hearn has promoted many world champion boxers through Matchroom, including Anthony Joshua, Canelo Álvar ...
's Matchroom Boxing USA, which would see him fight exclusively on
DAZN DAZN (; pronounced "da zone") is a British Over-the-top media service, over-the-top sports Sports broadcasting, streaming and entertainment platform. Founded in 2007 as Perform Group via the merger of Premium TV Limited and Inform Group, it is o ...
. On August 4, BoxingScene reported a fight between Vargas and former world title challenger
Thomas Dulorme Thomas Dulorme Cordero ( ; born January 29, 1990) is a Puerto Rican professional boxer who challenged for the WBO light welterweight title in 2015. Early life and amateur career Dulorme was born on the island of Saint Martin and lived there ...
(24–3, 16 KOs) was being negotiated and close to being a done deal to take place on October 6 in
Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. Four days later, at the official press conference, the fight was announced to take place at the
Wintrust Arena Wintrust Arena at McCormick Square, previously referred to as DePaul Arena or McCormick Place Events Center, is a 10,387-seat sports venue in the Near South Side, Chicago, Near South Side Community areas of Chicago, community area of Chicago t ...
. It was said that Vargas would headline the card, which would include the likes of
Jarrell Miller Jarrell Miller (born July 15, 1988) is an American professional boxer and former kickboxer who competes in the heavyweight division. He first came to prominence in 2007 when he competed for the New Jersey Tigers in the World Combat League and ...
,
Artur Beterbiev Artur Asilbekovich Beterbiev (; ; born 21 January 1985) is a Russian and Canadian professional boxer. He held the undisputed light-heavyweight championship between 2024 and February 2025. He also held the International Boxing Organization (IB ...
and Danny Roman. The WBC announced their vacant
Silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...
belt would be at stake. Before 6,235 in attendance, both boxers traded knockdowns as the fight went the 12 round distance. One judge had the score 115–111 for Vargas, the second judge had the repeat score, in favour of Dulorme and the third judge scored the fight 113–113 even, declaring the fight a split decision draw, Vargas' second consecutive draw. Dulorme showed the better hand speed and punching power than Vargas.The 12 rounds was mostly back and forth action. Vargas suffered a cut over his right eye due to an accidental clash of heads in round 2. Vargas had a good round 4, even with blood covering his face, where he landed multiple right hands, forcing Dulorme to hold. Vargas' cut re-opened following a left hand from Dulorme in 8th round. In round 10, Vargas dropped Dulorme to one knee after landing a clean right hand. Dulorme managed to get to his feet by the 8 count and did not appear hurt. In the final moments of the fight, Dulorme landed clean on Vargas' chin, forcing a glove to touch the canvas. Had Dulorme not knocked Vargas down in round 12, Vargas would have walked away the winner and new WBC Silver champion. After the fight, Vargas was okay with the draw and knew it was a tough fight. Dulorme refused to be interviewed. According to Compubox, Vargas landed 122 of 521 punches thrown (23%) and Dulorme landed 124 of his 420 thrown (30%).


Light middleweight


Vargas vs. Soto

On October 17, 2018, Vargas stated his intention was to return to the ring by March 2019. In January 2019, Vargas called out
Kell Brook Ezekiel "Kell" Brook (born 3 May 1986) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2004 to 2022. He held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight title from 2014 to 2017, and challenged once for a unified middleweigh ...
for a fight on April 6, 2019, the date Vargas was looking return on. According to Vargas, the bout would take place in the United States and at the welterweight limit. A month later, Vargas advised that he had accepted the terms to fight and was waiting on Brook to agree. Vargas began training with legendary trainer Freddie Roach on January 24, 2019. In February, it was confirmed that Vargas would move up light middleweight and make his return on the rematch of Srisaket Sor Rungvisai vs.
Juan Francisco Estrada Juan Francisco Estrada Romero (born April 14, 1990) is a Mexican professional boxer. He is a two-weight world champion, having held the WBC super flyweight title between 2022 and 2024 and ''The Ring'' super flyweight title between 2019 and 20 ...
at The Forum in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
on April 26, 2019. On March 6, 38 year old
Humberto Soto Armando Humberto Soto Ochoa (born May 11, 1980), best known as Humberto Soto, is a Mexican professional boxer. A veteran of the sport for over 20 years, he is a former world champion in two weight class (boxing), weight classes, having held the ...
(69–9–2, 37 KOs) became a front-runner to fight Vargas in a catchweight bout. On March 13, the fight was confirmed to take place at 150 pounds catchweight. In front of 5,127 at The Forum, Vargas stopped Soto in round 6 via TKO, in their scheduled 10 round bout. Using his height advantage, Vargas dropped Soto with a right hand to the head in round 6. After Soto got back up, Vargas landed a barrage of shots that led to referee Thomas Taylor waiving off the fight with Soto trapped against the ropes The time of the stoppage was at 1 minute 48 seconds of round 6. Prior to the stoppage, Vargas suffered a cut over his left eye in round 2 from a clash of heads. Both fighters came together, and their heads bumped. With Soto being shorter, the top of his head came in contact with Vargas’ left eye, and opened up a bad cut. In round 3, Soto hurt Vargas with a right hand to the head. In round 5, Vargas came alive and hurt Soto with hooks. CompuBox showed that Vargas connected on 131 of 402 shots thrown (33%) and Soto landed 85 of 365 punches for a 23% connect percentage. In the post-fight interviews, Vargas said, I was looking for the big shots, looking for body shots. But he is a crafty veteran and he proved that tonight. I just tried to dictate the pace (...) "I am ready for whatever is next. I am ready for anyone. I want a world championship." Vargas was paid $1.2 million and Soto was given a $150,000 purse for the fight.


Return to welterweight


Vargas vs. Garcia

On February 29, 2020, Vargas returned to the ring in
Frisco, Texas Frisco is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Collin County, Texas, Collin and Denton County, Texas, Denton counties. It is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex (DFW) and about from both Dallas Love Field and Dallas/Fort Worth In ...
. Moving back down to the welterweight division, he faced former four-division world champion
Mikey Garcia Miguel Angel Garcia Cortez (born December 15, 1987), best known as Mikey Garcia, is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2006 to 2021. He held multiple world championships in four weight classes from featherweight to light w ...
. Garcia was ranked #3 by the WBA at welterweight. In a hard-fought battle, Garcia dropped Vargas in the fifth round and won a unanimous decision, with scores of 114-113, 116-111, and 116-111.
CompuBox CompuBox is a computerized punch-tracking system widely used in professional boxing to provide statistical analysis of matches. Established in 1985, it has become an integral tool for broadcasters and analysts, offering viewers quantitative data o ...
punch stats saw Garcia land 151 of 478 (32%) total punches thrown, while Vargas landed 142 punches of 671 (21%) total punches thrown. In his post-fight interview, Vargas praised his opponent, saying, "Mikey fought a great fight. I give him credit."


Professional wrestling

On June 12, 2022, Vargas made an appearance at Dominion 6.12 in Osaka-jo Hall, an event made by
New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional-wrestling promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV Asahi and Amuse Inc. owning minority shar ...
as a member of the
United Empire , originally , is a professional wrestling faction performing in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). The group was formed in October 2020 by Will Ospreay and Great-O-Khan, when Ospreay turned on his Chaos st ...
.


Professional boxing record


Pay-per-view bouts


See also

*
List of Mexican boxing world champions A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...


References


External links

*
Jessie Vargas - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings
a
Box.Live
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vargas, Jessie Olympic boxers for Mexico 1989 births Living people Boxers from Nevada American boxers of Mexican descent World Boxing Association champions World Boxing Organization champions American male boxers International Boxing Organization champions World light-welterweight boxing champions World welterweight boxing champions