GLENDALE, Arizona – Emiliano Vargas continues to roll in the infancy of his career.
The youngest of former two-time junior middleweight champion Fernando Vargas’ three fighting sons picked up his third consecutive second-round knockout. The latest came at the expense of Mexico’s Jorge Luis Marquez Alvarado, who was dropped twice and eventually stopped at 2:17 of round two in their lightweight bout Saturday evening at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.
The early arriving crowd—which was already packed by the time Vargas made his ring walk—soaked in every moment and were sufficiently rewarded for their support. Vargas’ hand speed was far too much for Alvarado to contend with at any portion of their brief affair. The 19-year-old lightweight prospect consistently landed left hooks and lead rights on Mexico’s Alvarado (3-6-1, 2KOs), who managed to remain upright for the opening round but not much longer than that.
Alvarado’s lone appeal was that he had never been dropped prior to Saturday. That changed when Vargas sent him crashing to the canvas early in round two. Alvarado beat the count and attempted to fight back but Vargas wouldn’t allow it. A brief switch to southpaw saw Vargas create enough space to land a pair of straight shots to put Alvarado down for a second time.
A final sequence forced the stoppage as Vargas advanced to 6-0 (5KOs). All five career knockouts have come inside of two rounds. His lone distance fight came in his first bout of 2023, when he pitched a four-round shutout of Francisco Duque this past February in this very venue. A trio of second-round knockouts have followed.
Headlining the show, three-division and reigning WBO junior lightweight titlist Emanuel Navarrete (37-1, 31KOs) attempts his first defense versus former two-division champ Oscar Valdez (31-1, 23KOs).
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox