After more than a year outside the ring following his one sided loss to Manny Pacquiao, former two division titleholder Jessie Vargas makes his return under the Premiere Boxing Champions banner Friday night on FS1. Diego Chaves and John Molina Jr are also in action.
Jessie Vargas’s (27-2, 10 KOs) dominant stoppage win over Sadam Ali last March to pick up his title sure looks a lot better now that Ali has sent Miguel Cotto into retirement, doesn’t it? Maybe Vargas has struggled at the absolute peak of the welterweight division with the likes of Pacquiao and Tim Bradley, but he also has a good win over Antonio DeMarco to go with that Sadam Ali win. Plus, Vargas may have knocked Bradley out had the fight been handled appropriately. Bradley was all sorts of hurt when the ten second clap was made, but the referee that night thought it was the final bell and robbed Vargas of the final ten seconds he could have finished in.
Regardless, he is not in tough Friday night. Aaron Herrera (33-7-1, 22 KOs) is a Mexican gatekeeper who has fallen short every single time he has attempted to step up in the sport. He was even stopped by a most likely shot Brandon Rios earlier this year. Given the Ali and Bradley fight results, there has always been a minor argument of whether or not Jessie Vargas has more power than his record suggests, but it won’t matter here. Jessie Vargas will stop Aaron Herrera Friday night. Finally, it should also be noted that the Vegas based fighter is now fighting under the PBC banner and not Top Rank. This should open a lot of doors for him at welterweight.
The show also has two pretty decent undercard bouts to pair with the main event. Argentinian welterweight Diego Chaves (26-2-1, 22 KOs) is a man who has had good showings against Keith Thurman, Brandon Rios, and Tim Bradley. He hasn’t won those fights, but he has shown some real ability. Chaves will be in against once beaten PBC prospect Jamal James (21-1, 9 KOs). James was considered a prospect before losing to the absolutely surging Cuban Yordenis Ugas last summer. He rebounded with a nice win over Jo Jo Dan and now has a real opportunity here to put himself back in the discussion at 147 lbs. This fight represents a real chance for both these guys and is well matched for it.
Opening the show will be the return of action friendly fighter John Molina Jr (29-7, 23 KOs). Molina has had a real up and down career, but he is largely good for an action fight. Last time out he was destroyed by Terence Crawford, but before that he did beat Ruslan Provodnikov last summer. Seemingly busted former top prospect Ivan Redkach (20-3-1, 16 KOs) of Ukraine will be his opponent. Molina will be the favorite here as he has won on higher levels than Redkach, but he is also a real vulnerable fighter probably towards the end of a rough career. I think this will end up being pretty competitive and a good fight all around.
All in all this is an excellent card for a PBC on FS1 show. The broadcast will begin at 10 PM Eastern.
