Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Photos: O’Shaquie Foster’s breakthrough victory over Rey Vargas
O’Shaquie Foster defeated Rey Vargas by a unanimous decision to win the vacant WBC 130-pound title Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
Here are images from the fight. All photos by Amanda Westcott of Showtime.
O’Shaquie Foster easily outpointed Rey Vargas to become a 130-pound titleholder Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
O’Shaquie Foster has arrived in style.
The one-time U.S. amateur star, who battled back from two losses in the mid-2010s, defeated two-division champion Rey Vargas by a unanimous decision to win the vacant WBC 130-pound title Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
The official scores were 119-109, 117-111 and 116-112. Boxing Junkie also had it 117-111, nine rounds to three.
It seemed as if Foster (20-2, 11 KOs) wasn’t going to realize his potential when he lost decisions to Samuel Teah and Rolando China in a span of four fights in 2015 and 2016.
However, after the second setback, he regrouped. He made changes on his team, moved away from his hometown of Orange, Texas, and took some time off.
The result? He won nine consecutive fights to earn the opportunity he received against one of the more notable active champions Saturday in his home state.
Foster, quick and skillful, frustrated Vargas from the beginning by making it next to impossible for Vargas to hit him cleanly and picking his spots to attack and win rounds.
Vargas landed only 19% of his punches overall (compared to 23% for Foster), 12% of his jabs, according to CompuBox. Foster outlanded him 144-101 overall, 87-66 in power shots.
Vargas evidently sensed that he needed to get more done going into the second half of the bout, as he fought with more urgency and picked up his punch output in Rounds 6-9.
However, he was never able to penetrate Foster’s superb defense with any constancy. And, in the final three rounds, it was Foster who took the fight to a fading Vargas and got more work done.
He outlanded Vargas 20-5 in the 12th and final round.
“My coach just kept telling me, ‘Pick it up, be ready to go,'” Foster said. “We couldn’t get him out [but] I felt good in the later rounds so I just wanted to press him to make it wasn’t close.”
Some of the rounds were difficult to score, which raised the possibility of a close fight on the cards. However, no one complained when the official scores were announced.
Vargas said afterward that he thought the fight was closer than the judges saw it but never said he thought he should’ve been awarded the victory.
Thus, Foster, 29, can call himself a world champion more than a decade after he turned professional in 2012. It was clear afterward that it was worth the wait.
“Man, it feels great. This journey has been crazy,” Foster said with a smile he couldn’t wipe off his face.
How was he able to turn things around when things looked so bleak six, seven years ago.
“Dedication, hard work,” he said. “I got a great team around me. Getting away from the distractions, getting myself mentally and physical right. And now I’m on top. It’s crazy.”
Foster joins Shavkat Rakhimov (IBF) and Hector Luis Garcia (WBA) as junior lightweight beltholders. The WBO title is vacant.
The new champion said he’d like to unify titles but is open to fighting any of the top 130-pounders.
“I’m up for anybody,” he said. “I feel like my style .. I can adjust to anybody. I can beat anybody out there.”
Meanwhile, Vargas remains the WBC 126-pound titleholder. He’ll have to decide whether to move back down in weight or stay at 130, at which he was making his debut.
“This is another step in my life,” he said through a translator. “We might just go back to 126.”
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O’Shaquie Foster easily outpointed Rey Vargas to become a 130-pound titleholder Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
O’Shaquie Foster has arrived in style.
The one-time U.S. amateur star, who battled back from two losses in the mid-2010s, defeated two-division champion Rey Vargas by a unanimous decision to win the vacant WBC 130-pound title Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
The official scores were 119-109, 117-111 and 116-112. Boxing Junkie also had it 117-111, nine rounds to three.
It seemed as if Foster (20-2, 11 KOs) wasn’t going to realize his potential when he lost decisions to Samuel Teah and Rolando China in a span of four fights in 2015 and 2016.
However, after the second setback, he regrouped. He made changes on his team, moved away from his hometown of Orange, Texas, and took some time off.
The result? He won nine consecutive fights to earn the opportunity he received against one of the more notable active champions Saturday in his home state.
Foster, quick and skillful, frustrated Vargas from the beginning by making it next to impossible for Vargas to hit him cleanly and picking his spots to attack and win rounds.
Vargas landed only 19% of his punches overall (compared to 23% for Foster), 12% of his jabs, according to CompuBox. Foster outlanded him 144-101 overall, 87-66 in power shots.
Vargas evidently sensed that he needed to get more done going into the second half of the bout, as he fought with more urgency and picked up his punch output in Rounds 6-9.
However, he was never able to penetrate Foster’s superb defense with any constancy. And, in the final three rounds, it was Foster who took the fight to a fading Vargas and got more work done.
He outlanded Vargas 20-5 in the 12th and final round.
“My coach just kept telling me, ‘Pick it up, be ready to go,'” Foster said. “We couldn’t get him out [but] I felt good in the later rounds so I just wanted to press him to make it wasn’t close.”
Some of the rounds were difficult to score, which raised the possibility of a close fight on the cards. However, no one complained when the official scores were announced.
Vargas said afterward that he thought the fight was closer than the judges saw it but never said he thought he should’ve been awarded the victory.
Thus, Foster, 29, can call himself a world champion more than a decade after he turned professional in 2012. It was clear afterward that it was worth the wait.
“Man, it feels great. This journey has been crazy,” Foster said with a smile he couldn’t wipe off his face.
How was he able to turn things around when things looked so bleak six, seven years ago.
“Dedication, hard work,” he said. “I got a great team around me. Getting away from the distractions, getting myself mentally and physical right. And now I’m on top. It’s crazy.”
Foster joins Shavkat Rakhimov (IBF) and Hector Luis Garcia (WBA) as junior lightweight beltholders. The WBO title is vacant.
The new champion said he’d like to unify titles but is open to fighting any of the top 130-pounders.
“I’m up for anybody,” he said. “I feel like my style .. I can adjust to anybody. I can beat anybody out there.”
Meanwhile, Vargas remains the WBC 126-pound titleholder. He’ll have to decide whether to move back down in weight or stay at 130, at which he was making his debut.
“This is another step in my life,” he said through a translator. “We might just go back to 126.”
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Welterweight contender Mario Barrios battered, dropped and finally stopped Jovanie Santiago in the eighth round Saturday in San Antonio.
Mario Barrios injected life into his career.
The welterweight contender, who was coming off consecutive losses, dropped Jovanie Santiago and then stopped him in the eighth round of a scheduled 10-round bout on the Rey Vargas-O’Shaquie Foster card Saturday in San Antonio.
The official time of the stoppage was 1:42.
The fight was competitive for a few rounds. Then Barrios, fighting in his home town, stepped up his aggression and seemed to land more and more punishing shots at the fighter progressed.
By Round 8, Santiago (14-3-1, 10 KOs) was taking a beating but had yet to hit the canvas. Finally, about a minute into the round, the Puerto Rican went down from left to the body.
Santiago got back to his fight only to absorb more hard, accurate shots from Barrios that prompted his trainer to stop the fight.
“It feels amazing,” Barrios said. “It took me a while to get that groove, to get that rhythm. I felt great.”
Barrios (27-2, 18 KOs) was stopped by Gervonta Davis in 11 rounds in 2021 at 140 pounds. He then moved up to 147 to face former titleholder Keith Thurman and was outpointed a year ago.
Welterweight contender Mario Barrios battered, dropped and finally stopped Jovanie Santiago in the eighth round Saturday in San Antonio.
Mario Barrios injected life into his career.
The welterweight contender, who was coming off consecutive losses, dropped Jovanie Santiago and then stopped him in the eighth round of a scheduled 10-round bout on the Rey Vargas-O’Shaquie Foster card Saturday in San Antonio.
The official time of the stoppage was 1:42.
The fight was competitive for a few rounds. Then Barrios, fighting in his home town, stepped up his aggression and seemed to land more and more punishing shots at the fighter progressed.
By Round 8, Santiago (14-3-1, 10 KOs) was taking a beating but had yet to hit the canvas. Finally, about a minute into the round, the Puerto Rican went down from left to the body.
Santiago got back to his fight only to absorb more hard, accurate shots from Barrios that prompted his trainer to stop the fight.
“It feels amazing,” Barrios said. “It took me a while to get that groove, to get that rhythm. I felt great.”
Barrios (27-2, 18 KOs) was stopped by Gervonta Davis in 11 rounds in 2021 at 140 pounds. He then moved up to 147 to face former titleholder Keith Thurman and was outpointed a year ago.
Rey Vargas vs. O’Shaquie Foster: LIVE updates, results, full coverage.
O’Shaquie Foster defeated Rey Vargas by a unanimous decision to win the vacant WBC 130-pound title.
The official scores were 119-109, 117-111 and 116-112. Boxing Junkie also had it 117-111, nine rounds to three.
Foster (20-2, 11 KOs) frustrated Vargas (36-1, 22 KOs) for most of the fight, picking his spots to attack and proving to be difficult to hit with any consistency.
Vargas, who remains the WBC 126-pound champion, had some good rounds in the second half of the fight but it was Foster who got more done in the final few rounds to pull away on the cards.
You can read a full report here.
***
Lenier Pero stopped Viktor Faust in the eighth round of a scheduled 10-round bout between heavyweight prospects. The official time of the stoppage was 2:28.
Faust (11-1, 7 KOs) was the busier fighter and appeared to be winning the fight when Pero (9-0, 5 KOs) hurt him with a right to the body and followed with a left to the head.
The Ukrainian remained on his feet but turned away in pain, at which point Pero unloaded a series of unanswered shots that prompted the referee to stop the fight.
***
Rey Vargas and O’Shaquie Foster are scheduled to fight for the vacant WBC 130-pound title Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio (Showtime).
Also featured on the card, Mario Barrios will face Jovanie Santiago in a welterweight bout, and Lenier Pero will take on Viktor Faust in a heavyweight matchup.
The main portion of the show is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT. The main event will take place later in the broadcast.
Boxing Junkie will post the result of the main event and the co-features immediately after they end. Simply return to this post and refresh when the time comes.
Full coverage – a fight story, photo gallery and analysis – will follow on separate posts the night of the fight and the following day.
Enjoy the fights!
[lawrence-related id=35558,35555,35551,35525,35513]
Rey Vargas vs. O’Shaquie Foster: LIVE updates, results, full coverage.
O’Shaquie Foster defeated Rey Vargas by a unanimous decision to win the vacant WBC 130-pound title.
The official scores were 119-109, 117-111 and 116-112. Boxing Junkie also had it 117-111, nine rounds to three.
Foster (20-2, 11 KOs) frustrated Vargas (36-1, 22 KOs) for most of the fight, picking his spots to attack and proving to be difficult to hit with any consistency.
Vargas, who remains the WBC 126-pound champion, had some good rounds in the second half of the fight but it was Foster who got more done in the final few rounds to pull away on the cards.
You can read a full report here.
***
Lenier Pero stopped Viktor Faust in the eighth round of a scheduled 10-round bout between heavyweight prospects. The official time of the stoppage was 2:28.
Faust (11-1, 7 KOs) was the busier fighter and appeared to be winning the fight when Pero (9-0, 5 KOs) hurt him with a right to the body and followed with a left to the head.
The Ukrainian remained on his feet but turned away in pain, at which point Pero unloaded a series of unanswered shots that prompted the referee to stop the fight.
***
Rey Vargas and O’Shaquie Foster are scheduled to fight for the vacant WBC 130-pound title Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio (Showtime).
Also featured on the card, Mario Barrios will face Jovanie Santiago in a welterweight bout, and Lenier Pero will take on Viktor Faust in a heavyweight matchup.
The main portion of the show is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT. The main event will take place later in the broadcast.
Boxing Junkie will post the result of the main event and the co-features immediately after they end. Simply return to this post and refresh when the time comes.
Full coverage – a fight story, photo gallery and analysis – will follow on separate posts the night of the fight and the following day.
Enjoy the fights!
[lawrence-related id=35558,35555,35551,35525,35513]
Rey Vargas and O’Shaquie Foster on Friday made weight for their fight for a vacant 130-pound title Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
Rey Vargas and O’Shaquie Foster on Friday made weight for their fight for the vacant WBC 130-pound title Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio (Showtime).
Both fighters weighed in at 129.4 pounds, .6 below the division limit.
Also, Mario Barrios and Jovanie Santiago weighed 146.8 and 145.8, respectively, for their welterweight fight. And heavyweights Lenier Pero and Viktor Faust came in at 242.8 and 234.0 for their bout.
[lawrence-related id=35555,35551,35525,35513]
Rey Vargas and O’Shaquie Foster on Friday made weight for their fight for a vacant 130-pound title Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
Rey Vargas and O’Shaquie Foster on Friday made weight for their fight for the vacant WBC 130-pound title Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio (Showtime).
Both fighters weighed in at 129.4 pounds, .6 below the division limit.
Also, Mario Barrios and Jovanie Santiago weighed 146.8 and 145.8, respectively, for their welterweight fight. And heavyweights Lenier Pero and Viktor Faust came in at 242.8 and 234.0 for their bout.
[lawrence-related id=35555,35551,35525,35513]
Rey Vargas vs. O’Shaquie Foster: date, time, how to watch, background.
Two-time titleholder Rey Vargas and O’Shaquie Foster will fight for a vacant 130-pound title Saturday night on Showtime from the Alamodome in San Antonio.
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