Vargas tags Alejandro Guardado en route to a third-round stoppage in September 2023. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
After scoring impressive knockout victories early in his professional career, Emiliano Vargas understands that the opposition will become tougher and more challenging.
Which means he has to continue to be at his very best.
Vargas will face gatekeeper Larry Fryers tonight at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. The eight-round bout will open the three-game Top Rank on ESPN telecast (10:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. PT).
The 20-year-old Vargas (11-0, 9 KOs), who lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, will face his toughest test yet in Fryers, who has faced prospects and undefeated fighters. While Vargas is the favorite going into the fight, he is not overlooking Fryers and expects a tough fight from the Irish-born fighter.
“I know Larry Fryers is coming to fight,” Vargas said at Wednesday’s press conference. “He’s a fighter. He also fights for his dreams, just like me. Come Friday I’m going to put on a show. I had some of my best performances here in Glendale, Arizona. I want to continue doing the same thing and show the world that ‘El General’ is here to stay.
“Each fighter brings out a different side of me. He is a tough fighter. He emerges. He is strong. He is an Irish fighter. They emerge as Mexicans. So, he’s going to give it his all, I’m going to give it my all, and it’s going to be a great fight show for all the beautiful fans.”
In his last fight on June 29, Vargas stopped Jose Zaragoza in the opening round. Six weeks prior to the knockout win over Zaragoza, Vargas knocked out Angel Varela Urena before scoring a sixth round knockout.
Vargas last fought in Glendale on March 29, defeating Nelson Hampton by unanimous decision.
Much has been published about Vargas and his two older brothers, Fernando, Jr. and Amado, both of whom are also undefeated. All three are trained by former two-time world junior middleweight champion Fernando Vargas, who never pushed his sons to pursue prizefighting.
All three boys have recognized the discipline that the sport requires and want to create their own path in the sport. For Vargas, he knows that shortcuts don’t equal success, which motivates him to be the best fighter he can be.
“That’s the beautiful thing about boxing,” Vargas said. “It doesn’t lie. When you step into the ring, it’s going to show at the end of the day if you’ve covered your miles, if you’ve done your sparring. Everything shows at the end of the day. I may look like a pretty face, but at the end of the day I’m a fighter.”
Fryers (13-6-1, 5 KOs), who now resides in Albany, New York, has not fought since June 17 of last year, defeating once-beaten prospect Dimash Niyazov by technical decision.
The 34-year-old has won his last two fights since a unanimous decision loss to Bryce Mills in October 2022.
In the main event of the Top Rank card, Jaime Munguia (43-1, 34 KOs) of Tijuana, Mexico will square off against Canada’s Erik Bazinyan (32-0-1, 23 KOs) in a 12-round bout. Both super middleweight contenders are rated in the top 10 by The Ring. Munguia and Bazinyan are ranked as no. 2 and no. 7 rated.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at (email protected)
