Top Rank Boxing has announced a world title doubleheader coming to ESPN this May.
The two title fights are both rematches with the card taking place in Tucson, Arizona on May 11. The main event is a WBC super featherweight rematch between Miguel Berchelt and Francisco Vargas, a fight that was originally scheduled for March, but the fight had to be postponed as Berchelt was still recovering from injury.
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. Vargas is currently ranked No. 1 by the WBC at 130 pounds.
The co-main event is the rematch for the WBO super bantamweight title between Emanuel Navarrete and Isaac Dogboe. Navarrete upset Dogboe last December at Madison Square Garden when he dominated the now-former champion throughout 12 rounds on a fight that was also televised on ESPN. The loss snapped Dogboe's near eight-month reign as the WBO world champion with only one successful title defense.
