Jessie Vargas was 8 years old when he watched a documentary about Mexican legend Julio Cesar Chavez, one of his era’s greatest boxers.
If boxing helped Chavez support his family amid his three-division championship glory, Vargas thought it could for Vargas, too.
That it would and that it did.
“That’s when I decided this is it and I never swayed from it,” Vargas, 37, said this week. “I never deterred. I stayed with the plan. There were a lot of ups and downs. A lot of trials and tribulations, but knowing that my family would benefit from everything made me stick with it. Made want to keep pushing. Made me want to give more.”
Billed in the ring as “The Pride of Las Vegas,” Vargas mimicked his childhood muse, boxing his way to wealth, a world title — and also the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame. The former WBO welterweight champion awaits enshrinement Saturday night at the Hall of Fame’s annual induction dinner, held this year at The Orleans & Hotel and Casino to commemorates its classes of 2025 and 2026.
Forged in Summerlin and North Las Vegas, Vargas boxed 14 years professionally — fighting 17 times in his beloved home state.
“It’s a true honor in one of the biggest ways possible,” Vargas relayed Thursday afternoon. “ … It all connects. My career, my life. Everything is in Las Vegas. The Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame is in Las Vegas. So, it all correlates with what my career has been.”
With Chavez as his muse and his father’s support, Vargas (29-4-2, 11 knockouts) favored boxing over other team sports for its one-on-one format, inherent with lessons. He watched the documentary about Chavez during his first week training at a boxing gym. Nevada Partners — then managed by former referee Richard Steele — is where he started his education.
Gyms around Las Vegas fostered his growth as he developed under late famed trainer Roger Mayweather, turning pro in 2008 with a first-round stoppage win in Primm. A year later, Vargas debut at MGM Grand Garden on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather’s clinical win over Juan Manuel Marquez.
He was off and fighting.
A fixture on prominent undercards, Vargas won a secondary junior welterweight title — beating Khabib Allakhverdiev in 2014 at MGM Grand Garden unanimously. A loss at welterweight to Timothy Bradley for the interim WBO welterweight title set up his career-defining achievement: a stoppage win over Sadam Ali for the vacant WBO welterweight crown that led to a bout at Thomas & Mack Center with Manny Pacquiao.
“Finally, I showed everyone that I was honest when I said I was going to become a world champion,” Vargas said, recalling his welterweight title win (as an underdog) as the proudest achievement in his career. “I had the talent. I had the attributes. I had everything to become a champion.”
And also a Nevada Boxing Hall of Famer.
“I think I represented (Las Vegas) properly and that’s what I’m really proud of as well,” Vargas said. “I represent Las Vegas, letting people know there’s great things that come out of Las Vegas as well.”
Contact Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on X.
Other SNHOF inductees
Class of 2025: Laura Serrano, Antonio Tarver, Jorge Paez, Mikey Garcia, Paulie Ayala, Ricky Hatton, Brad Goodman
Class of 2026: Vargas, Gennady Golovkin, Raul Marquez, Marcos Maidana, Gerry Cooney, Richard Slone
