Antonio Vargas

Antonio Vargas was born on August 15, 1996, in Houston, Texas, and grew up in Kissimmee, Florida. He is the son of a Puerto Rican father and a Mexican mother and began boxing at a young age. Vargas has an impressive amateur record, having won the flyweight gold medal at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto. He later represented the United States at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where he competed in the 52 kg category but lost in the round of 16 to Uzbekistan’s Shakhobidin Zoirov. Overall, he claims a remarkable amateur record of 123 wins and 7 losses.

Vargas turned professional in early 2017 with Top Rank, fighting as a bantamweight. He started his career with a series of knockout and decision victories, and by late 2018, his record stood at 10-0. On November 16, 2018, he captured the vacant NABF Junior Bantamweight title by defeating veteran Jorge Perez by unanimous decision over eight rounds. However, his unbeaten streak came to an end in May 2019 when Mexico’s Jose Maria Cardenas knocked him out in the first round. Vargas quickly regrouped and returned to the ring that November, scoring a first-round knockout against Szilveszter Kanalas. He continued to add wins to his record, including a six-round unanimous decision against experienced Puerto Rican Juan Centeno in early 2020.

After a long layoff in 2021, Vargas returned in 2022 and made up for lost time with a streak of stoppages. He defeated Daniel Coronel by TKO in the fourth round in July 2022, then stopped Samuel Gutierrez Hernandez in the fifth round in August 2022, followed by a third-round stoppage of Jesus Martinez in October 2022. He added another TKO win against Michell Banquez in early 2023, which set him up for a significant fall 2023 fight against former titlist Hernán Márquez. Vargas won a competitive ten-round unanimous decision over Márquez on October 27, 2023. In his next bout on February 24, 2024, he defeated Jonathan Rodriguez by corner retirement in the seventh round. Finally, on December 13, 2024, Vargas captured the WBA interim bantamweight championship with a tenth-round TKO victory over undefeated Winston Guerrero.

Deeply guided by his Christian faith, Vargas uses his platform to share his beliefs, calling worship a weapon and making honoring God a daily lifestyle. He lives and trains in Kissimmee with his wife, Melody Montes, who is the daughter of his coach, Doel Montes, creating a family-centered training environment.

Vargas fights out of an orthodox stance with a versatile, footwork-driven style. Early in his career he used lateral movement and angles to out-box opponents – for example at the 2015 Pan Am Games he “out-boxed and out-landed before sitting down on his right hands to win the final round. In pro fights he maintains this mobility: he often uses a firm left jab to find range and then attacks with overhand rights or quick combinations. Several fight observers have noted that Vargas is especially effective with lead hooks and body shots: the BoxingScene report on his Guerrero bout describes him landing “effective hooks to the head and body in the sixth” round and landing the better right hands to keep control . This reflects his preference for flurries once he finds an opening. As the Ring Magazine recap notes, Vargas began to “establish a stinging jab in the sixth, setting up several big rights,” and then used corner advice to target the body with power combinations in round seven.

Defensively, Vargas is willing to engage rather than run; he tends to rely on reflexes and durability. In practice he often moves out quickly after landing shots to avoid counters, but he is not a purely counterpunching fighter – he will trade if needed. For example, in the Guerrero fight he survived a flash knockdown in round two and then immediately resumed his forward assault . Vargas himself emphasizes toughness and faith – after the knockdown he said it was “a reminder of how tough this sport is, but I showed the heart of a champion”.

His approach has drawn stylistic comparisons to the classic bantamweight tradition. Analysts described the Vargas–Guerrero fight as evoking the “glory days” of bantams, with its rapid hands and relentless pressure. In tone he fights more like an old-school puncher than a hit-and-move boxer.