Former two-division world champion Jessie Vargas 29-2-2 (11) says he is coming into the prime of his career ahead of his welterweight clash with Mikey Garcia 39-1 (30) at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas this Saturday night.
The 30-year-old from Las Vegas has shared the square circle with some of the best in the business, including Manny Pacquiao, Steve Forbes, Timothy Bradley and Adrien Broner.
It’s that experience that will make the difference against former four-division champion Garcia, according to Vargas.
“I definitely feel that I am in my prime now,” he said in the latest episode of Born Fighter. “I feel good, solid, very experienced. I’ve gained plenty of knowledge throughout the years and I think that I am in the best time in my career because of all that experience.
“Experience is what really makes a fighter. Sometimes in a big fight, a lack of experience can affect you, but I am not in that position, I’m good and everything is good on my side.”
Vargas was one of the first fighters to sign with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing USA and was the first headliner on a DAZN show in America.
After an entertaining draw with Thomas Dulorme in Chicago in October 2018, he followed that with a commanding sixth-round KO win over Humberto Soto in Los Angeles in April.
“Every fighter wants to become a world champion and I’ve done that twice already, and now I want to become world champion for a third time. I became world champion in 2016 and God willing, I will become champion again in 2020,” Vargas continued.
“We are giving the fans what they want to see. Mikey is a terrific fighter and we are going to give the fans a great fight, it has all the ingredients to be like a Barrera-Morales style trilogy, you never know because we are two fighters that are will to do anything to come out with the victory. This is one of the fights that I am interested in because it’s going to generate a lot of interest and it’s my time to shine.
“There’s so many things that I’ve learnt in my career, but I think trusting in your team is very important and preparation is everything. If you make mistakes in your preparation for a fight, the fight might not go as planned so you need to make sure that all hands are on deck for your preparation, that way you never have to go back and say ‘I wish I had done this differently’.”