Jessie Vargas vs Humberto Soto Preview April 26th
Former two-division world champion Jessie Vargas of Las Vegas will be taking on former three-division belt holder Humberto Soto of Mexico at the Forum in Inglewood, California on Friday, April 26th. The 10-round jr. middleweight fight can be seen live in North America on DAZN and on Sky Sports in the UK. Vargas last fought in October when he fought to a 12-round majority draw with Thomas Dulorme. It was his second straight draw as he also drew with Adrien Broner over 12 rounds six months earlier. Soto was last in the ring in February when he beat Brandon Rios by a 12-round unanimous decision.
**Watch live on DAZN this Friday. Your first month is free.
Vargas vs Soto Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Humberto Soto +490
- Jessie Vargas -640
My Pick
The 29-year-old Vargas is a former junior welterweight and welterweight world champion and enters the bout with a mark of 28-2-2 along with 10 Kos. He has some excellent boxing skills, but isn’t known as a big puncher even though his power seems to be improving with each outing. However, his current knockout stands at just 31 per cent. Vargas has shown he has a pretty solid chin, but has been down on the canvas a couple of times in the past, most notably to Manny Pacquiao.
Vargas stopped Sadam Ali in the ninth round to win the vacant WBO Welterweight Title in March, 2016, but dropped a unanimous decision to Pacquiao eight months later. His other defeat came at the hands of Timothy Bradley by a controversial 12-round unanimous decision in June, 2015. Vargas struggled early, but staggered Bradley in the 12th round and appeared to have him out on his feet. However, the referee made a crucial mistake by halting the fight with about seven seconds to go as he thought he heard the final bell.
Vargas earlier won the WBA Junior Welterweight Crown in April, 2014 against Khabib Allakhverdiev and defended it against Antonio DeMarco and Anton Novikov before meeting Bradley. He’s a talented boxer/puncher with exceptional skills, but as mentioned earlier, lacks a big punch. Vargas likes to establish his jab to set up short, quick flurries to both the head and body. His other notable wins have been against Steve Forbes, Josesito Lopez, Walter Estrada and Vivian Harris.
As far as size goes, Vargas stands 5-feet-10-inches tall with a wingspan of 71 inches. He turned pro back in 2008 after a fine amateur career which saw him go 120-20 and he has fought 235 rounds since. Vargas previously held the WBC Continental Americas Welterweight title and has gone 4-1 in world championship fights with a knockout. He’s also gone 5-2-1 against former or current world champions with a pair of stoppages under his belt.
The 38-year-old Soto is a former lightweight, super featherweight, and featherweight champion and enters the fight at 69-9-2 with 37Kos. He’s probably one of the most underrated fighters in the game and most of his losses came early in his career. He’s also won several regional and international titles since turning pro along with the World Boxing Federation Welterweight belt and at one time held the WBC Lightweight Crown from 2010 to 2012. He was also the WBC Super Featherweight Champion in 2008 and 2009 and was the interim WBC Featherweight Champ in 2005.
Soto is shorter than Vargas at 5-foot 7 ½, but has a small one-inch reach advantage at 72 inches. He’s been beaten by Lucas Matthysse, Kevin Kelley, Francisco Lorenzo, David Murillo, Hector Marquez, Angel Mata, Luiz Freitas, Joan Guzman, and Antonio Orozco, but has been stopped just twice in his nine losses, to Matthysse in 2012 and Hector Marquez way back in 2000. His biggest wins have been over Rios, John Molina, Urbano Antillon, David Diaz, Jesus Chavez, Gamaliel Diaz and Rocky Juarez.
Prediction…
Vargas needs a win to get back on track after two straight draws in which he seemed to fade in the second half of fights against Broner and Delorme. Soto has struggled in the past against physical fighters who were able to wear him down. He has excellent boxing skills and even at the age of 38 was able to win an easy decision over Rios just a few weeks ago. Soto’s gone the distance in nine of his last 12 bouts though and like Vargas, isn’t known as a big hitter. Both boxers have aggressive styles and we could see a lot of punches thrown and landed. Soto has been involved in some wars over the years and he’s exciting to watch. His experience is hard to match and he hasn’t been stopped in seven years, so Vargas will have his hands full. I’ll go with Vargas here though, but it won’t be easy.
Vargas is almost 10 years younger and needs the win.
Play: Vargas -640 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Humberto Soto betting • Jesse Vargas betting