Vargas vs Quintana Predictions: ‘El General’ rules with an iron fist

The knockout king with boxing in his blood returns this Saturday, February 28 as Emiliano Vargas meets Agustin Ezequiel Quintana. The bout takes place at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. DAZN will screen the fight live as part of the Emanuel Navarrete vs Eduardo Nunez undercard.

Read on for my Vargas vs Quintana predictions as the son of ‘El Feroz’ returns.

Vargas vs Quintana Odds

Vargas is 1/8 to get the job done here while Quintana is a 6/1 underdog. The draw is on the market at 14/1.

Vargas vs Quintana Fight Preview

In this multimedia boxing landscape, your brand is critical if you want to make it any further than the YouTube prelims for events like this. Vargas has a very clear brand. His Dad is a boxing legend and he hits like a f**king freight train. How’s that for an elevator pitch?

The father in question is the never-knowingly-understated Fernando Vargas. The supremely gifted maniac who feuded with Oscar De La Hoya, warred with Ricardo Mayorga and conquered Winky Wright. The former 154lbs champion of the world was controversial and charismatic. Unhinged and unmissable. A one-off in a boxing decade full of them. The heady days of the 1990s.

A famous name only gets you so far. Just ask Marvis Frazier or Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. So it’s a good job Vargas punches like he has a deep and abiding hatred for his hapless opponents. From 16 wins, Vargas has 13 knockouts. From that unlucky number, 10 were finished before the second round ended.

Vargas got exactly what he needed in his last fight. New Orleans schemer Jonathan Montrel took him the 10 round distance. Not great for the highlight reel, but invaluable for the development of a 21-year-old fighter for whom expectations had already begun to out-run reality. He may have 16 fights on his resume, but in experience terms Vargas still has much to learn. Lessons that you only receive by fighting veteran ring campaigners with tales to tell.

The power hasn’t gone anywhere. Vargas nearly ended the fight in the first round, as per usual. But 35-year-old Montrel endured and his young foe was unfazed. There was a mature conservation of the gas tank allied with some lovely moments. A lead feint into a right uppercut was a masterpiece of footwork and timing. A check-hook followed by another thudding right was textbook. This kid can box, he just needed someone to last long enough for him to run through the repertoire.

So what of Quintana? Well, on paper he is a sensible test for a fighter like Vargas. At 22-2-1, this is no walkover, even if the majority of those wins have come in rather middling domestic company in Argentina.

But a victory in Puerto Rico over 13-0 prospect Marc Castro opened some eyes to Quintana’s appeal. That career-best split win over the standout amateur turned hot-tip pro makes the Argentine an intriguing choice of opponent for Vargas. 

Often, such a star-making upset can have an adverse effect, as the perpetrator is steered into the ‘who needs him?’ column for safety-first matchmakers. But Vargas’ meteoric rise at a tender age needs stress-testing. In 10 surprising rounds against Castro, Quintana proved he is the exact right man for that job. 

Vargas vs Quintana Full Card

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Vargas vs Quintana Prediction

Styles make fights and Quintana’s hands barely came up above his waist while defending against Castro. The favourite could not take full advantage, but some wild rights got home. Can the South American underdog afford such casual blocking against Vargas? Not a chance.

If those hands are mid-to-low against ‘El General’, then Quintana can expect a rude awakening far more fierce than the warning shots of the doomed Castro. Vargas needs no invitation to trade. If Quintana’s chin is stood up like Nelson’s Column, then I expect the 21-year-old to bring it tumbling down. I’m backing El Hijo del Feroz at 1/8.

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