Rey Vargas is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBC featherweight title from 2022 to 2024 and the WBC super bantamweight title from 2017 to 2020.
28 Facts About Rey Vargas
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Rey Vargas competed in the 2009 World Championships but was defeated by Luke Campbell in the first round.
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Rey Vargas won the IBF Youth title in his 11th fight.
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Rey Vargas won 15 of his first 16 fights by way of knockout.
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In March 2014, Rey Vargas was knocked down for the first time against Sylvester Lopez.
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Rey Vargas went down in round 2 but won the bout after Lopez suffered an injury and was unable to continue.
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Rey Vargas went down in round 2 of an eight-round fight against Lucian Gonzalez, after an overhand right.
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Rey Vargas was able to survive and get the unanimous decision.
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In June 2016, Rey Vargas won a shut-out unanimous decision over Alexis Kabore.
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In September 2016, Rey Vargas defeated former WBA super flyweight champion Alexander Munoz with a 5th-round TKO.
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Rey 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.
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Rey Vargas won a majority decision to become a world champion.
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Rey Vargas was able to out-box Rios, controlling the bout by fighting at range.
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Rey Vargas made a second defense against Oscar Negrete in another Miguel Cotto undercard, in this case his farewell bout against Sadam Ali.
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Rey Vargas was cut twice by headbutts but used his length effectively to cruise to a wide unanimous decision.
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Rey 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.
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Rey Vargas made his third title defense against the twice-defeated Azat Hovhannisyan on 12 May 2018, at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York.
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Rey Vargas was cut by headbutts, once in the eight and once in the twelfth round.
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Rey 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.
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Rey Vargas landed 207 of 719 total punches while Manzanilla landed 93 of 581 total punches.
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Rey Vargas made his fifth title defense against the one-time WBO bantamweight champion Tomoki Kameda on 13 July 2019 at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
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Rey Vargas justified his role as the betting favorite, as he won the fight by unanimous decision.
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Rey Vargas out-landed Kameda 173 to 133 in total punches, but only 122 to 120 in power punches.
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Rey Vargas was knocked down with a counter right in the ninth round, but his opponent failed to capitalize on it.
25.
Rey Vargas landed 196 of 687 total punches and 135 of 339 power punches, compared to Magsayo's 132 total punches and 92 power punches.
26.
On March 8,2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Rey Vargas retained his WBC featherweight title via split draw against Nick Ball.
27.
On 24 August 2022, Rey 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.
28.
Rey Vargas struggled to compete at his usual range and was only able to land 101 total punches through the twelve rounds, 43 less than Foster, and 66 power punches, 21 less than Foster.