Notebook: Jessie Vargas ill with Covid-19, fight with Liam Smith postponed

Ryan Garcia interview on his mental health issues; Munguia to face Ballard in Mexico; Quick hits; Show and tell

Jan 13, 2022

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Former two-division world titleholder Jessie Vargas has tested positive for Covid-19, forcing the postponement of his junior middleweight fight with former titleholder Liam Smith on Wednesday.

Vargas and Smith were scheduled to square off in a 12-round junior middleweight bout slated to headline Matchroom Boxing’s first card of the year on Feb. 5 at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona. It was supposed to kick off a run of Matchroom Boxing and Golden Boy Promotions events on eight consecutive weekends on DAZN.

“Unfortunately, I have tested positive for Covid-19. My fight will be postponed to a later date,” Vargas wrote on social media. “I’ll keep you all informed. Stay safe!”

Vargas later told Fight Freaks Unite that he was ill and that he hopes “to be back in the ring soon.”

Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn said on his social media that Vargas has tested positive and that “there will be a small delay to his Feb 5th fight with Liam Smith. There will be a further announcement of the new date in due course.”

Hearn did not say if the entire card was postponed or just the main event. The co-feature is a strong one — former WBC junior bantamweight titleholders Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (50-5-1, 43 KOs), 35, of Thailand, and Carlos Cuadras (39-4-1, 27 KOs), 33, of Mexico, meeting in a rematch for the vacant WBC title. Cuadras ended Sor Rungvisai’s first WBC 115-pound title reign via eighth-round technical decision in May 2014.

Vargas (29-3-2, 11 KOs), 32, of Las Vegas, a former junior welterweight and welterweight world titlist, who is running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Nevada’s 4th Congressional District, has been idle since a decision loss to Mikey Garcia in a February 2020 welterweight fight. Smith (30-3-1, 17 KOs), 33, a former junior middleweight titlist, is coming off an impressive eighth-round knockout of Anthony Fowler on Oct. 9 in their hometown of Liverpool, England.

Naturally, Smith was disappointed the fight was postponed.

“Gutted my fight on Feb 5th is going to be pushed back,” Smith posted to social media. “Should only be a couple of weeks, I’m hoping. Will have news on a new date very soon. Wrap yourself in cotton wool please Jessie. Let’s get this fight ON!!!”

Ryan Garcia opens up

Lightweight star Ryan Garcia (21-0, 18 KOs), 23, of Victorville, California, is due to return to the ring for the first time in 15 months in the main event of a Golden Boy Promotions card on DAZN but no site or opponent is set yet.

Two of the names in the mix, according to sources, are former world title challenger Mercito Gesta (32-3-3, 17 KOs), a Filipino southpaw, who has not fought since November 2019, and Saul Rodriguez (24-1-1, 18 KOs), 28, of Riverside, California.

Garcia has not boxed since knocking out Luke Campbell last January because of mental health issues followed by an injured right hand and wrist that required surgery in October.

I recently spoke at length with Garcia, who detailed his mental health issues. Garcia was open and frank about his thoughts of suicide and he detailed the mental health incident that caused him pull out of a fight against Javier Fortuna this past July and sent him to therapy. He also spoke about how he has found his way back and is ready to fight again. The story is my first for Boxing News, the outstanding and widely respected weekly magazine from the United Kingdom. The piece on Garcia is this week’s cover story and can be read here: https://www.boxingnewsonline.net/the-breakdown-ryan-garcia-opens-up/

Munguia-Ballard heads to Mexico

Middleweight contender Jaime Munguia’s 12-round fight with D’Mitrius Ballard, which headlines Golden Boy’s first card of the year on Feb. 19 (DAZN), will take place at Plaza Monumental de Playas de Tijuana in Tijuana, Mexico, Munguia’s hometown, Golden Boy announced.

“Ballard is a good, hungry fighter who will try to keep his undefeated status,” said Munguia, a former junior middleweight titlist. “He is going to be a dangerous rival, but I won’t let him come take what’s mine. I respect him, just like all my rivals, but I will be prepared.”

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Munguia (38-0, 30 KOs), 25, was slated to face Ballard last April before Ballard, himself a replacement opponent for Maciej Sulecki, suffered an elbow injury and had to withdraw, forcing the card to move to June 19. Sulecki came back in as the opponent on the new date but then pulled out again for no apparent reason and was replaced by Poland’s Kamil Szeremeta, a former title challenger Munguia stopped in the sixth round of a one-sided beating.

Ballard (21-0-1, 13 KOs), 28, of Temple Hills, Maryland, returned from his injury to win a 10-round decision — 98-92 on all three scorecards — against Paul Valenzuela Jr. on Nov. 13 on the undercard of Munguia’s action-packed decision over Gabriel Rosado.

“I am blessed to have this opportunity to prove I have what it takes to be among the elite in the middleweight division,” Ballard said. “I believe our styles will make for a great and entertaining night of boxing. Scared money, don’t make no money!”

Quick hits

The IBF has officially sanctioned an all-Filipino rematch between strawweight titlist Rene Cuarto (19-2-2, 11 KOs), 25, and former titleholder and mandatory challenger Pedro Taduran (14-3-1, 11 KOs), a 25-year-old southpaw. They are scheduled to meet again on Jan. 29 in Digos City, Philippines in an immediate rematch of Cuarto’s slim 115-113 decision on all three scorecards to claim the 105-pound belt from Taduran last February in General Santos City, Philippines.

Although Top Rank has not mentioned a specific main event, the company is on the agenda for the Nevada State Athletic Commission meeting on Jan. 18 asking for a permit to put on an event April 30 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on an ESPN platform.

Eye of the Tiger announced it has been forced to postpone its Jan. 22 card at the Montreal Casino due to an increase in Covid-19 cases in Quebec and the adjustment of public health measures that have closed the casino. The card has been rescheduled at the same venue for Feb. 19 and will still be headlined by heavyweight Arslanbek Makhmudov (13-0, 13 KOs), 32, a Russia native based in Montreal, defending his regional belt against former world title challenger Mariusz Wach (36-7, 19 KOs), 42, of Poland.

Show and tell

Joe Frazier, the late, legendary heavyweight champion, was one of the most exciting fighters of all time, but he was often overshadowed by his more famous rival, Muhammad Ali, against whom he fought the most revered trilogy in boxing history. Frazier, who was born on Jan. 12, 1944 and died in 2011, would have celebrated his 78th birthday on Wednesday. Here are two Frazier items in my collection: his rookie card, which is a 1964 Bobbie Bubble Gum sticker from a European multi-sport set and incredibly scarce in any condition, and a mint program from the biggest win of his career, when he dropped and outpointed Ali in their all-time classic first heavyweight championship fight in 1971.

Vargas photo: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing

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