Rey Vargas vs Azat Hovhannisyan Preview May 12th
Undefeated WBC Super Bantamweight Champion Rey Vargas of Mexico will take on Azat Hovhannisyan of Armenia at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, New York this Saturday, May 12th. The 12-round bout can be seen live in North America on HBO and on Azteca 7 in Mexico. Vargas last fought in December when he beat Oscar Negrete by a unanimous decision. Hovhannisyan was last in the ring in March when he stopped Ronny Rios in the sixth round. Vargas won the vacant title in February, 2017 via majority decision over Gavin McDonnell.
Vargas vs Hovhannisyan Betting Odds
Here are the winner odds from online sportsbook 5dimes.eu
- Azat Hovhannisyan +540
- Rey Vargas -900
My Pick
The 27-year-old Vargas of Mexico City will climb into the ring with a perfect record of 31-0 along with 22 Kos and will be defending his title for the third time. Vargas has also beaten former two-time world titleholder Alexander Munoz as well as former world title challengers Juanito Rubillar and Cecilio Santos, so he has good big-fight experience. He also owns wins over Ronny Rios, Luis Lugo, Marcos Cardenas, Eduardo Mancito and Alexis Kabore.
Vargas stands just over 5-feet-7-inches tall and has a reach of 70.5 inches. He’s fought 164 rounds since turning pro in 2010 and has quite a bit of power with a current knockout ratio of 71 per cent. However, he’s gone the distance in his last three outings and four of the last five. He’s a solid pro with a good chin and skills, but hasn’t been particularly impressive in the past few bouts. Vargas enjoyed a fine amateur career and has won the IBF Youth, WBC Youth Intercontinental, and WBC Youth Silver Super Bantamweight Titles since turning pro.
Hovhannisyan is 29 years old and owns a record of 14-2 along with 11 Kos. He’s also a pretty hard hitter and possesses a current knockout ratio of 69 per cent. He’s got 70 rounds under his belt since turning pro in 2011 with his two losses coming at the hands of Walter Santibanes by six-round majority decision in 2014 and Juan Reyes by a four-round unanimous decision in his pro debut. However, other than Ronny Rios and Sergio Frias, most fans won’t recognize any of his other opponents.
Hovhannisyan stands 5-feet-6-inches tall and has a reach of 66.5 inches. This means he’s an inch shorter than Vargas and has a four-inch reach disadvantage. The challenger also enjoyed a fine amateur career and competed at the 2009 World Championships. Since turning pro he’s won the vacant WBC Continental Americas Super Bantamweight Title and has defended it once against Rios.
Prediction…
Vargas has the edge in experience and arguably power here, but hat power hasn’t been to evident lately. He needs to use his size advantage against Hovhannisyan and land something significant to keep him from walking in if he hopes to keep his title. He’ll also need his chin to hold out. This should be a tough, close fight, but Vargas’ experience should prove to be the difference as he retains his belt.
I’ll go with Vargas’ experience here.
Play Vargas -900@ 5dimes.eu
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Azat Hovhannisyan betting • Rey Vargas betting