Rey Vargas tries to conquer a new division with Nacho Beristain

Rey Vargas is a former super bantamweight champion that looks to regain a title at featherweight under the guidance of famed trainer Nacho Beristain. 

Rey Vargas is a former WBC super bantamweight boxing champion and has the opportunity to become a two-division champion on Saturday, July 9, against WBC featherweight champion Mark Magsayo.

This marks Magsayo’s first title defense since winning the belt from Gary Russell Jr. in January via unanimous decision. Like Magsayo, Vargas (35-0, 22 KOs) boasts an undefeated record and has a legendary trainer in his corner.

Magsayo (24-0, 16 KOs) is trained by Manny Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach, while Vargas is cornered by Nacho Beristain, who trained Juan Manuel Marquez, Oscar De La Hoya and many others.

Roach and Beristain worked against each other many times, including the four bouts between Pacquiao and Marquez, and they come together as adversaries again.

Vargas brought Beristain aboard as head trainer in 2017 in preparation for his title fight with Gavin McDonnell. Vargas won the bout by majority decision and defended his title five times.

Beristain knew Vargas and his family for many years. Vargas was trained by his father, but his father felt like they needed Beristain’s expertise to take Vargas to the next level.

Watch Mark Magsayo vs. Rey Vargas on Saturday, July 9, on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET

“The part that was in the gym work where my dad would be all about, you know, teaching me the proper technique having the right amount of training, but you know, with Nacho, it was about how to be a professional boxer,” Vargas said to FanSided through an interpreter.

Things were going smoothly for Vargas until 2020. He was hit with a foot injury, then the pandemic.

“It took me eight months to recover, all the while being complicated by, of course, you know, I understand that during the pandemic, there were other priorities as far as what the world was going on,” Vargas said. “But that did make the process go slower.”

Even though the pandemic impacted Vargas’s healing process, he feels like he has fully healed.

Vargas said, “The process that I went through and the sacrifices and the recovery I had to make, everything was worth it to come back to where I am now. Where I am happy.”

Vargas defeated Leonardo Baez via unanimous decision in his last contest in 2021. Now, he’s stepping up in weight to challenge Magsayo. Even though he’s from Mexico, Vargas is likely to have the Alamodome crowd, located in San Antonio, TX, on his side.

San Antonio is only 158 miles from the Mexico border and is far from Magsayo’s home in the Philippines. Magsayo vs. Vargas pits champion vs. champion and two mythical trainers at odds. One pairing will add a glorious night to their résumé.