By Jake Donovan

Like most boxing diehards, Jessie Vargas tuned in to the December 19 edition of Boxing After Dark on HBO. The show took place at Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York, featuring Luis Ortiz’ emphatic 7th round knockout of Bryant Jennings in the evening’s headliner.

Vargas had a chance to serve in the co-feature slot, as he was previously offered the chance to face unbeaten welterweight contender Sadam Ali. His team – which includes one of the very best managers in the game in Cameron Dunkin – declined the offer, expressing concern over facing Brooklyn’s Ali anywhere in his home state, even though the bout was to be overseen by the Oneida Indian Nation Athletic Commission and not the New York State Athletic Commission.

After watching the evening’s chief support – Nicholas Walters settling for a 10-round draw with Jason Sosa in a fight the unbeaten former featherweight champ appeared to have won with room to spare – it brought back to light the original concern of getting a fair shake so far away from home.

“My team sat down at the time and felt it wasn’t in our best interest to face an East Coast fighter on the East Coast,” Vargas (26-1, 9KOs) reminded krikya360.com of the decision at the time. “We were concerned about getting a fair shake. Look what just happened on that very show – Walters beats an East Coast fighter and didn’t even get the win on one scorecard.

“Looking at that fight, my manager Cameron Dunkin was right on the money in being concerned about the judging. That could have been me on the wrong end of a decision. Stuff like that, is why I always put my full trust in that Cameron knows what he’s doing.”

The decision to pass on the fight meant Vargas – and Ali – both sitting out for the remainder of 2015. The matchup was offered to Ali as a consolation prize for Top Rank’s deciding to proceed with an in-house battle between Timothy Bradley Jr. and Brandon Rios.

Ali is the mandatory challenger for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) title currently in Bradley’s possession. He ultimately turned down a step-aside offer, but also failed to successfully negotiate a neutral site for where he and Vargas could fight, leaving both with an additional paycheck before year’s close.

Missing out on a payday wasn’t of great concern to Vargas, who remains confident that his team has his best interests at heart. His previous fight also resulted in an officiating controversy, when referee Pat Russell mistook a 10-second warning clapper for the final bell in his vacant title fight versus Bradley this past June at StubHub Center in Carson, California.

Vargas had Bradley stunned towards the end, but was ultimately denied the final 7-10 seconds of the fight to potentially capitalize on the moment. As a result, he was forced to settle for the first defeat of his career, though acknowledges that the previous 11 rounds contributed mightily to the unanimous decision in Bradley’s favor. 

An attempt to appeal the final verdict on grounds of the officiating error was ultimately dismissed by the California State Athletic Commission. Along with unsuccessfully negotiating terms for a showdown with Ali, Vargas was left with just one fight in 2015 but remains optimistic of a brighter year ahead.

“Cameron always has everything under control,” Vargas confidently states. “He's the best manager in the sport and is always working on something. I'm patiently waiting for my next shot, which I know will happen soon.”

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox