The essential Rey Vargas: From Amateur Prospect to WBC Featherweight World Champion

Rey Geovani Vargas Roldán was born on November 25, 1990, in Otumba, State of Mexico, Mexico. As an amateur, Rey stood out and shone from a young age. He won the silver medal at the 2007 Mexican National Championships, losing the final to Óscar Valdez. In 2008, he won the national bantamweight title and also participated in the 2008 World Championships in Guadalajara.

This great amateur achievement that opened doors for him came in 2009: he was crowned champion at the Pan-American Games in Mexico City in the bantamweight division. In that tournament, he defeated Everardo Castillo (Panama) by knockout in the second round, Juan Carlos Payano (Dominican Republic) by RSC 2, and in the final, he defeated Camilo Pérez (Puerto Rico) 11-5.

Rey made his professional debut in April 2010 and rapidly climbed the super bantamweight rankings to reach the top of the WBC. On February 25, 2017, he defeated Gavin McDonnell by majority decision to win the WBC Super Bantamweight World title. He successfully defended that belt against Ronny Rios, Oscar Negrete, Azat Hovhannisyan, among others.

In 2022, he made the jump to the featherweight division (126 pounds), and on July 9, 2022, he defeated the Filipino Mark Magsayo by split decision to be crowned WBC Featherweight champion.

On February 11, 2023, he faced O’Shaquie Foster for the vacant WBC super featherweight title. It was Vargas’s first professional loss, as Foster defeated him by unanimous decision.

Rey is currently the WBC Featherweight World champion in recess, a title he won in July 2022. His most fight ended in a draw against Nick Ball in March 2024, which allowed him to retain the belt.