The planned rematch between Miguel Berchelt and Francisco Vargas for the WBC super featherweight title has been postponed.
It had been rumored for some time that the fight, originally scheduled for March 23 as the main event for a Top Rank on ESPN card, would be put on hold. The WBC then confirmed on its website that the fight is being delayed. The reason for the delay is that Berchelt is still recovering from a hand injury.
No official date for the fight has been announced, but the WBC did say there is a possibility that it could land on May 11, a week after the middleweight unification fight between Canelo Alvarez and Daniel Jacobs.
Both Berchelt and Vargas had previously fought in January 2017 in a bout that resulted in nearly 2,000 total punches being thrown between both boxers. Berchelt, ahead on two of the three scorecards by just one point, won the fight by stopping Vargas in the 11th round to win the WBC title. Berchelt has made four title defenses since that 2017 win against Vargas, having defeated Miguel Roman, Maxwell Awuku, Jonathan Victor Barros and Takashi Miura. Berchelt is currently on a 14-fight win streak.
Since losing to Berchelt, Vargas had only fought twice, both stoppage victories over Stephen Smith and Rod Salka in December 2017 and April 2018, respectively. If the fight does get rescheduled for May, at 13 months, it would be the longest break between fights Vargas has had in his entire pro career.
