By: Hans Themistode
The fast track looked appealing to Josue Vargas. It was also the most dangerous.
The 23-year-old New York native was moving along like your typical highly touted boxing prospect. He easily outboxed everyone placed in front of him and at times, when the moment presented itself, Vargas went in for the kill, stopping nine of his 21 opponents.
Although Vargas enjoyed the spotlight, he craved a bigger share of it. So, in order to send his career into warp speed, Vargas called for a massive step up in competition. While he could’ve moved back and allowed his matchmakers to take control and find a suitable opponent to satisfy his need to face better competition, the 140-pound prospect took matters into his own hands.
In an interview with BoxingInsider.com, Vargas revealed that he reached out to highly ranked Jose Zepeda and urged him to accept a showdown against him. Without a moment’s hesitation, Zepeda accepted but he did so while offering a warning.
“There’s levels to this boxing game,” said Zepeda during an interview with ESPN.
Zepeda’s words rang painfully true for Vargas, as he was thoroughly blasted out in the very first round in front of his hometown crowd at Hulu Theater in Madison Square Garden late last night.
As Vargas sat slumped in his corner, he appeared both dejected and disgusted with his performance. Moments later, he stood up firmly on his two feet and made his way to the back with his head held down. After taking the next few hours to sulk in the first official defeat of his career, Vargas refuses to act too hard on himself.
“I will be back!” Said Vargas on his social media account. “This is not the end of it. It ain’t the end of the world.”
During the lead-up to his 140-pound showdown against Zepeda, Vargas was extremely confident that he was idoneous for the task at hand. However, with the promising prospect hitting the deck from the first clean left hand landed by Zepeda, his insistence on fast-tracking his career was a regrettable one.
Still, even with a despondent look etched upon his face, Vargas acknowledges that the profession he’s chosen to engage in is a brutal one. With that said, he’s more than willing to spend his dying breath in the squared circle.
“I’m disappointed how things happen but we in a sport that this shit is a do or die! And I’m willing to do just that.”