Vargas-Demarco Opens #PacAlgieri PPV; Vargas Gets UD12

Vargas-Demarco Opens #PacAlgieri PPV – Jesse Vargas took on Antonio Demarco, defending his 140 pound title, in the PPV TV opener from Macau on Saturday night (US time) and the scrap was all Vargas, before Demarco reminded us of his resilience. And resilent he is, but win he did not.

The final bell tolled, the scores were tallied and Vargas, who was hoping to score a KO with some new training and technique tips under his belt, won a UD12. The scores were: 116-112, times 3.

Vargas has been mentioned as a maybe foe for Manny Pacquiao, and my reaction is: meh. He’s a darned decent fighter, but I’m not moved by that concept. More people would be moved by that theoretical if he’d scored a stoppage, it can be argued.

Vargas went 263-654 to 179-491 for the loser, in punches thrown and landed.

Vargas, now trained by Roy Jones, looked to land a harder left hook, which Jones has been teaching him. The lefty AD had to deflect punches to the body in round one. “Don’t let him touch you,” Jones told Vargas after. “Straight left hand to the body,” Freddie Roach requested of AD.

We saw blood under Vargas’ left at the 1:20 left mark in the second. His jab is sharp and used frequently, while AD looked to land heavier metal. Jones asked for more aggression, and said, “You looking damn good!” Replay showed the cut came from a clash of cheeks.

In the third, Vargas landed the rights to the body. AD cracked some lefts, including an uppercut, late in the third. Vargas had a 38-29 edge in punches landed to this point. In the fourth, the Vargas jab got there first and fast. He was in control, feeling confident, acting the same.

In the fifth, AD was again less busy, waiting a bit too much, maybe for that home run ball. A right stunned Demarco, at 1:45. Bang, two more sharp rights. Roach told AD to tighten up, or he might consider stopping it.

In the sixth, a hard right by Vargas landed and the crowd ooooooo’d. Demarco needed a new plan.

In the seventh, Vargas worked well in tight. He places punches with cool and cruel precision. Then Demarco landed up and down, and almost buzzed Vargas. Roach told AD he needed a KO to win.

In the eighth, Demarco, who was hoping Vargas would fade, looked pretty energized. Vargas was up 148-94 in punches landed. Freddie told AD to let combos go, just let em go. In the ninth, Demarco was coming forward. A nasty left worked for him. He was bulling forward more so now. Then Vargas sought to change the tone back in his favor. Demarco was proving to be a most resilient customer.

In the tenth, Jones called for Vargas to stay on Demarco. He demanded constant volume from the boxer, who has a tendency to lose focus, stop being busy. In the 11^th, we saw Demarco being the forward mover. Then Vargas remembered to be bold, and then again he’d fire and slide backwards and away, as if protecting a lead. Hie left eye was little nicked and the slice under that eye was not leaking. Jones told him to be smart, win the round the same way. Both men were a bit tired in the 12th. Vargas was still aggressive late, maybe to Jones’ chagrin. We went to the cards.

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