It was a little under two years ago when I first caught then junior welterweight prospect Jesse Vargas inside of the ring in person.
But I wasn’t ringside for one of the Los Angeles native’s live fights, more so I found myself inside of the IMMA Gym in the Southwest area of Las Vegas, as Vargas engaged in a heated sparring session with Rashad Holloway at the time. Following the brisk work I had a few words with Vargas and would end up meeting him at his regular gym, the Mayweather Boxing Club, weeks later.
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As I interviewed Jesse for the first time I was able to learn about his history with trainer Roger Mayweather, who he had been working as far back at 1998, and what it was like learning from and training alongside Floyd Mayweather Jr., who also serves as his promoter.
At the time Vargas sported a 10-0 record with five knockouts and has since ran a very busy schedule, fighting seven times in the past twenty months while remaining unbeaten and adding four more stoppage victories to his resume.
It wasn’t until this past September that Vargas was truly tested, staging a late rally as he pulled out a ten-round split-decision over Josesito Lopez on the pay-per-view undercard portion of Mayweather’s knockout over Victor Ortiz at the MGM Grand.
Following the gut check victory, Vargas would reveal to me that he didn’t feel himself during the Lopez fight because of squeezing his body down to the contracted catch weight limit of 142 pounds and that an immediate move up to the welterweight class was in order.
Vargas is set to return to the ring this Friday night at the Hard Rock Hotel out here in Vegas and it wasn’t until last Thursday that he found out who his opponent was to be. The man standing across from him will be 36-year old Lanardo Tyner, a native of Detroit, Michigan with a 25-6-2 record that has seen him stop fifteen of his opponents.
Tyner has gone just 1-3-2 in his last six fights but showed himself to a be a live dog in July of 2010 when he overcame an early deficit in pounding out Antwone Smith in nine heats, as busted up the Miami, Florida fighter’s right eye and broke him down to the body.
It’s interesting to note that Tyner used to train with the father of Vargas’ current promoter, Floyd Mayweather Sr., and even spent some weeks at the nearby Johnny Tocco’s late last year. So too has Tyner served as a sparring partner for once-beaten Vegas prospect Cortez Bey, who just happened to be brought in by Vargas’ people for chief sparring yet again for this camp.
Boxing is a tight-knit community, however, and the act of characters from the sport crossing over into each other’s lives is quite common. For Vargas, Tyner’s acquainting of such familiar faces is of no real concern.
“I didn’t even know,” Vargas told me when informed of Tyner’s history. “It doesn’t matter. Once you’re in the fight, it doesn’t matter who you are with, it doesn’t matter who you know. It doesn’t matter what you think I’m going to do. Once you see the punches coming, it’s different.”
While initially revealing that he wasn’t too familiar with his latest foe, Vargas has since had a chance to check out the fringe contender and recently revealed to my colleague Jake Donovan that he is a expecting a real test from the stubborn Tyner.
Another new wrinkle with Vargas has been a change of faces in his corner, as trainer Robert Alcazar has been guiding his ship for the second straight fight. Alcazar is known best for his work with a young Oscar De La Hoya and the late Edwin Valero, and Vargas feels like he the perfect fit.
“You know what? It’s very good,” Vargas stated. “It’s very different from my trainer in the past, Roger Mayweather, who was also a great trainer. But they’re two different styles. I’m very happy with the style that Robert is teaching me and showing me. We bonded pretty good. We make a pretty good match and we’re looking for big things in the future. We’re trying to learn as much as we can now until we get that title shot.”
And while Vargas realizes the importance of a fight with Tyner, he can’t deny that he is intrigued by a slot on the undercard of Mayweather’s blockbuster with Miguel Cotto, and has interest in a duel with Gilroy, California’s Robert Guerrero that evening.
“I’m 100% concentrated on this fight,” Vargas pointed out. “There are some ideas that I have for May 5th, because after this fight, if everything goes as planned, we will be coming back May 5th. To tell you the truth, I know that Robert Guerrero has been challenging the best guys at 147 pounds and I think he needs to, first and foremost, fight in that weight division. And hey, I’m here.”
Guerrero has been very vocal in recent months, calling for fights with Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Amir Khan, Victor Ortiz, and several others, yet Vargas feels that the former featherweight and junior lightweight champion must first prove himself in the welterweight class before expressing such desires.
“I feel he was building himself to a payday,” Vargas added. “There’s nothing wrong with that, I mean, that’s boxing. But first you have to fight in that weight division and show that you are a top guy, and he hasn’t even fought at 147. We have that in common. He was saying fighters weren’t giving him a chance, but if you’re interested, I’ll give you a chance.”
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