Yes, but not a good one. He may have his moments, but eventually he will run into one left hook too many, and get stopped.
Why do people call him Nando? Every Mexican in this world with that name becomes Fernie, never Nando. On the surface, Vargas is too easy to hit and Jackson should win. But... Vargas will be fighting back, he had a lot of heart, and he can punch, and Jackson isn't that hard to hit, and I don't know that a case can be made for Jackson being the more durable fighter. There is no question that they would be exchanging punches, and that both would be eating some shots. And Vargas can certainly hurt Jackson, too. To me this fight is probably 60-40 Jackson, and there isn't a result that would suprise me much.
I'd take Jackson to ice Vargas tbh. He hit far harder and has the clear edge in terms of timing and skill, and Vargas was just too easy to hit and basic in his approach. Hurtable by merely good punchers imo at the world level despite being extremely brave and determined. I don't know that I'd have him as being that more durable than Jackson tbh, if at all. I've never rated Vargas in terms of talent or ability though, at the elite level at least. He was very heavily overhyped when he was unbeaten imo and the regressed version of Tito at 154, not a great fighter himself at that weight, beating him as he did showed Fernando's level.
The first left hook that hits Vargas will definitely end the fight IMO. I think Jackson takes out Vargas much earlier than Tito.
Sorry man, but Tito was great at 154 lbs. That was his best weight, honestly. And while I do favor Jackson in this match up, you’re selling Vargas short. His chin wasn’t great but it wasn’t as bad as Norris. And he was a strong guy himself so he’d definitely have his moments and get in plenty of shots. I just think Jackson hits too hard in the end but before KOing Vargas mid to late rounds, he would have been in a fight.
Trinidad looked at his best to me in his earlier days at welter. More variety, balance, a bit lighter on his feet, better at ditching punches, countering etc. He had that run from about 95-98ish where he fought mostly mediocre fighters and became more of a rigid, straight up power puncher during and after that imo. He has Thiam, Reid and Vargas at 154. Thiam was very mediocre, just a big puncher really and nothing else. Reid was talented but open and naive and had been moved really quickly because of the ptosis in his eye. Too quickly really. Iirc his team didn't really want the Trinidad fight, they just wanted him to make easy money asap because they knew his eye was knackered. I thought that fight was hard for Tito too up until he knocked Reid down and Reid's eyes were swollen shut and his retina detached or whatever it was. I'm comfortable with how I rate Vargas to be honest. I always enjoyed watching him. He was strong, brave and a good puncher with some serviceable tools and form, but watching him closely I never saw anything close to the level of fighter being touted by his staunchest supporters and the US boxing media at the time, moreso the West Coast. He'd beaten no-one of true note until scrapping by the extremely flat, rusty version of Quartey and then controversially getting the nod against Wright. They're good wins on paper, but his rep at the time was built on them and I never thought he looked 100% convincing in either fight. The Trinidad fight was a big step up for him and tbf he gave an ok account of himself. But the likes of Hearns, Robinson, McCallum, Rodriguez, Gavilan, Benitez, Leonard etc who were genuinely great fighters when weighing in around 154 would have crushed Vargas horribly or made him look silly in the case of Benitez. Despite being fairly well beaten by Tito, I never thought Trinidad looked like he was streets ahead. Vargas lasted too long, kept getting back into the fight and managed to hit Tito too much and shake him up. Don't get me wrong, I rate Trinidad highly overall and am a fan. A very formidable fighter at his best and probably deserving of being called great overall, just not above welter for me. The early basic shots he had Vargas in trouble with were of the type that Jackson could have easily landed and if it HAD been Jackson landing them instead of Tito, Vargas wouldn't be getting back into the fight nearly managing to drag it the distance, he'd have been knocked the fuck out in the early rounds. Re Vargas's chin, yeah it was better than Norris's, though the latter's rep for being chinny rests mostly on the Jackson and Brown losses. His low ring IQ and tendency to lose focus were bigger problems for him. I don't have a problem with people thinking Vargas was tougher than Jackson. That's ok. I just never thought that Julian looked really vulnerable other than against McCallum, a great fighter with excellent power at light middle, when Jackson was very green and inexperienced, and against the monstrous power of McClellan who was naturally much bigger and Jackson was past his best. I don't think that the underpowered, faded version of De La Hoya would have stopped Jackson for what it's worth, not that it proves a huge amount. This probably comes across as harsh on Tito and Vargas but I don't think I'm being biased on unfair. Agree to disagree I suppose. I like your posts btw and think you're a good poster.
Bad matchup for Vargas, Jackson smashes him. Vargas is just too hittable to beat The Hawk. Vargas would be too brave and that gets him hurt and stopped.
Jackson by ko in the 6-8 rounds.... But if Jackson catches Vargas with anything early & cold(like Trinidad did) he won't survive the round.
