Junior middleweight prospect Fernando Vargas Jr. is slowly developing into a solid prospect
Vargas, the son of former two-time world junior middleweight titleholder Fernando Vargas, dropped Argentina’s Geronimo Sacco twice en route to a knockout win Saturday night at the Derby Room on the premises of the Fairplex in Pomona, California.
The 26-year-old Vargas, who resides in Las Vegas, Nevada, improves to 8-0, 8 knockouts.
Vargas, a southpaw, dropped Sacco midway through the opening round. Sacco beat the count and was game, but had difficulty dealing with Vargas’ speed and ring generalship.
Early in the second round, Vargas stunned Sacco with a combination to the head. Moments later, another combination to the head dropped Sacco again to the canvas. Referee Jerry Cantu waved the fight off at 54 seconds.
Vargas, along with younger brother Amado, is promoted by Marv Rodriguez. The youngest brother, Emiliano, is promoted by Top Rank.
Sacco, who resides in Buenos Aires, Argentina, drops to 10-7-1, 2 KOs.
Former WBC light heavyweight titleholder Oleksandr Gvozdyk returned from an almost two-and-a-half-year hiatus, defeating late-sub Josue Obando by unanimous decision.
All three judges scored the bout 60-54 in favor of Gvozdyk, who improves to 18-1, 14 KOs.
Gvozdyk, a Ukraine-born fighter who now resides in Oxnard, California, was rusty from the opening bell, having not fought since losing to Artur Beterbiev in October 2019. As the bout progressed, Gvozdyk began letting his hands go with more conviction, throwing and landing three and four-punch combinations.
By the fourth round, Obando had a bruise above his left eye. Gvozdyk continued to outbox Obando, at times, becoming more aggressive in order to end matters, but Obando utilized his ring savviness to get out of danger. With Gvozdyk in control, it was a matter of if he was able to finish off Obando, who was in survival mode, during the final round, but Obando was able to keep Gvozdyk away from him until the final bell sounded.
Gvozdyk, who lost the WBC world light heavyweight title to Beterbiev in a fight he was winning on two judges’ scorecards, was originally scheduled to fight Jorge Miranda of Argentina, but Miranda reportedly was not able to enter the United States on Wednesday.
Obando, who resides in the boxing hotbed of Guadalajara, Mexico, drops to 20-35-2, 15 KOs.
Welterweight Jerry Bradford of Tarzana, California improved to 9-1, 5 KOs, defeating Toledo’s James Wesley (3-2, 1 KO) by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the bout 60-54 in favor of Bradford.
Heavyweight Federico Pacheco won by knockout at 2:36 of the second round, stopping Halston Williams of Henderson, Nevada. Williams was making his pro debut.
Pacheco (2-0, 1 KO), who resides in nearby South Central Los Angeles, is the younger brother of unbeaten super middleweight Diego Pacheco.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for BoxingScene since September 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing