Jonathan Rodríguez aims to build on the momentum of an impressive victory in his last fight.
Rodriguez will face Antonio Vargas in a compelling crossover fight on February 24, Matchroom Boxing announced Friday afternoon. The 12-round fight will take place at Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida and will be part of a card headlined by the clash between undefeated super middleweights Edgar Berlanga and Padraig McCrory.
Both fights will air live on DAZN (8 pm ET/ 5 pm PT).
The Rodríguez-Vargas fight is a bantamweight world title eliminator fight. The winner becomes the mandatory challenger to WBA world champion Takuma Inoue.
Rodriguez (17-1-1, 7 KOs), 24, originally from Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, last fought on Nov. 18, scoring a first-round knockout victory over former world bantamweight champion WBA junior Kal Yafai. . Rodríguez took an important step in opposing Yafai after facing mostly modest opposition.
In his previous fight on August 4, which took place in his current hometown of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Rodriguez defeated goaltender Marvin Solano by unanimous decision. Rodríguez is undefeated in his last 10 fights since he lost by knockout to Manuel Flores in September 2020.
Rodríguez is promoted by Marshall Kauffman and managed by Trifon Petrov.
Vargas (17-1 1 No Contest, 9 KOs), who resides in nearby Kissimmee, defeated former world champion Hernán ‘Tyson’ Márquez by unanimous decision in his last fight on October 27. Before fighting Francisco Pedroza Portillo in a no contest on May 23, Vargas stopped Michell Banquez in the fifth round of an entertaining and action-packed fight on February 25.
Aside from the no-contest, Vargas has won his last seven fights since an upset loss to José María Cárdenas in May 2019.
The 27-year-old once fought under the Top Rank banner after representing the United States at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Matchroom Boxing formally announced the co-main event between undefeated lightweight prospect and amateur standout Andy Cruz against Brayan Zamarripa in a 10-round bout.
Cruz (2-0, 1 KO), originally from Matanzas, Cuba and now living and training in Miami, Florida, knocked out Jovanni Straffon in the third round.
Zamarripa (14-2, 5 KOs) lost a split decision to fringe lightweight contender Angel Fierro on September 15. In his last fight on December 16, which took place in his hometown of Ensenada, Mexico, Zamarripa stopped officer Geovanni de Jesús Godínez. in the eighth round.
Also on the DAZN broadcast, welterweight contender Shakhram Giyasov will face Mexico City’s Pablo Cesar Cano in a 12-round WBA world title eliminator fight.
Giyasov (14-0, 9 KOs), originally from Bukhara, Uzbekistan and now residing in Brooklyn, New York, defeated Harold Calderon by unanimous decision in his last fight on June 17. The 30-year-old is currently ranked No. 8 by The Ring at 147 pounds.
Cano (35-8-1, 25 KOs) last fought on October 4, stopping Zachary Ochoa in the fifth round of an action fight. The 34-year-old has won five of his last six fights, including victories over Jorge Linares, Ruslan Madiyev and Roberto Ortiz.
Also on the Matchroom Boxing card, flyweight prospect Yankiel Rivera (4-0, 2 KOs) of Puerto Rico will face Mexico’s Andy Dominguez (10-0, 6 KOs) in a 10-round fight.
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 contacted at [email protected]
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