Josue Vargas continues to rack up rounds and grow as a rising prospect.
The 22-year-old Puerto Rican southpaw overcame an early scare to soundly outbox Oakland’s Willie Shaw over ten rounds. Judges Daniel Torres (98-92), Fred Fluty (99-91) and Thomas Nardone (99-91) all ruled in favor of Vargas in their junior welterweight bout Saturday evening in front of a sellout crowd at Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, Florida.
Things weren’t always easy for Vargas, as the Bronx-bred talent was caught by a right hand in the first minute of the fight. It was enough to buzz him as Shaw attempted to follow up on the attack, doing enough to win the round but not much more than that.
Vargas was calmed down by his father and head trainer, Elario Vargas in between rounds. The corner advice worked to a tee, as Vargas outworked the taller and longer Shaw both on the outside and when action was fought at close quarters. Shaw seemed to gain a false sense of confidence from the early power surge, allowing Vargas to dictate the pace and the distance in the ensuing rounds.
The trend continued in round four, only for time to be called after Vargas was warned for a left uppercut which landed below the beltline. Shaw briefly winced in pain before quickly returning to action.
Shaw enjoyed a brief momentum shift in round five, connecting with a shot upstairs as Vargas’ defense was wide open. It provided a wakeup call for Vargas, who shut down Shaw’s offense while banking the remaining rounds of the fight. The one-sided action did little to energize the pro-Boricua crowd that was loud and proud for the rest of the undercard, though a continued win streak for Vargas is ultimately what matters most.
Vargas improves to 19-1 (9KOs) with the win, his 13th in a row after suffering a disqualification loss in his seventh pro bout.
Shaw falls to 13-3 (9KOs), having now lost twice in his past three starts. The rangy 28-year-old dropped a six-round decision to unbeaten Omar Juarez last August in Los Angeles.
The bout aired live the headliner of the ESPN+ preliminary undercard preceding an ESPN doubleheader. Headlining the ESPN telecast, Emanuel Navarrete (33-1, 28KOs) marches into enemy territory, as the streaking Mexican defends his WBO featherweight belt versus Puerto Rico’s Christopher ‘Pitufo’ Diaz (26-2, 16KOs).
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox