WBC Super Featherweight champion Francisco Vargas’s second defense of the belt will take place next January.
Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya announced Vargas will take on Miguel Berchelt on January 28 in California and will headline an HBO-televised card. Vargas first won the belt last year when he knocked out Takashi Miura, who is facing Miguel Roman on that same card. Roman has not lost a fight since 2012, and De La Hoya promised in a news release that there will be fireworks between the four boxers.
"Fans love knockouts, and these four guys have 110 KOs among the four of them," De La Hoya said. "We are excited to open our 2017 HBO year showcasing the kind of action-packed fights that will get people up and out of their seats from start to finish."
According to ESPN, the plan for this card is to eventually match the winners of these two fights against one another, possibly paving the way for a Vargas and Miura rematch.
Vargas nearly lost the belt in his first defense when retained the belt by majority draw against Orlando Salido in June. Vargas suffered multiple severe cuts and needed surgery, which put him on the shelf for pretty much the second of 2016. Vargas is undefeated as a professional boxer in 25 fights. Miura was going to go up against Salido on December 17, but Salido suffered a back injury and could not compete.
