Doubtful. Young Vargas was a strong skillful guy with good athleticism. But I think he's not slick enough to avoid the incoming and I don't see him being powerful enough with his punches to do the damage he would need to do to keep Jackson off. Jackson KO 4
Vargas was on a different skill level and he hit hard enough to stop Jackson. I wouldn't be surprised if Vargas beat him down in under 6 rounds in a dominate performance. He'll have no trouble out boxing and countering Jackson consistently. Of course he could get caught and knocked out. Jacksons punchers chance could be big enough to make him the favorite, but it's not a fight Jackson just needs to show up and win.
What evidence is there that Vargas couldn't keep Jackson off of him or simply knock Jackson out? Vargas was a good puncher and there was nothing special about Jacksons chin. He wasn't hard to hit either. Jackson didn't "keep off" anyone anyway. Ridiculous statement.
Jackson was a lot quicker and more athletic than you're giving him credit for, and he wasn't without skills. I don't see any scenario in which Vargas doesn't get hit. And when he gets hit, there's extremely little chance of him being able to handle it.
Lots of guys survived the odd whack from Jackson without being out immediately and they weren't kicking the shit out Jackson like Vargas would be. This isn't some cat and mouse affair where Vargas needs to survive and score points, he's better in every way except power. Both guys are up against the clock and need to get the other out of there.
I strongly disagree with Vargas being better in every way except for power. Jackson had better speed than Vargas. I don't even see that up for debate IMO. Jackson definitely had faster hands than Vargas. The guy was an underrated technician and actually had a solid jab and threw very nice combos in his junior middle prime. For Christ Sake you're making him out to be Yory Boy Campas. Jackson wastes Vargas.
Jackson almost went five rounds in a war with McClellan at 160lbs and Gman was huge and ridiculously powerful. Vargas is not knocking out Jackson early and therefore is getting knocked out himself. Xplosive is right, Jackson had faster hands than Vargas and it's not even up for debate
Almost 5 rounds? Wow! Vargas went 12 with a prime Trinidad who was also better than Jackson in every way except power, and he was still a big hitter. Vargas was badly hurt early yet survived to deal out punishment and even took control of the fight for a while. Jackson got blasted in 2 by McCallum when he was in a similar situation... Hand speed is about the same with Vargas being a shorter puncher with better footwork. Jackson didn't have faster hands or hands as fast as Trinidad which is the kind of speed he'd need to have to have faster hands than Vargas.
All true. When I first saw him I was surprised how sound he was. But that's relative to him being such a huge puncher.
No, that's relative to Vargas being a good boxer, but not exactly Ricardo Lopez himself. Vargas would get hit by Jackson. And there's no evidence in his career to support him being able to handle Jackson's power.
I'd make Jackson a slight favorite over Tito at 154. Unless you have a McCallum-like chin, or the range and speed to strike from the outside like Hearns, I think it's a suicide mission to be in front of Jackson at 154. Trinidad was a better fighter than Jackson. I just think the styles favor Julian.
Trinidad would land first, he would hurt Jackson, and he'd knock him out. If Jackson landed first Trinidad has a much better chance to survive and come back than vice versa. There's no logical reason to pick Jackson over Tito. Any argument made for Jackson makes more sense with Tito.
Tito-Jackson (see what I did there..) damn sure isn't a given either way. I'd be quite shocked if Vargas beat Jackson though. Unless he were to borrow the reflexes of Benitez, and the chin of Monzon.
