Danny Garcia to Fight Samuel Vargas in Philadelphia on Nov. 12

According to multiple reports on Wednesday, undefeated WBC welterweight titlist Danny Garcia will make the first defense of his belt on Nov. 12 against contender Samuel Vargas. An official press conference to announce the fight is scheduled on Thursday in Garcia’s hometown of Philadelphia. The fight is scheduled to headline a Premier Boxing Champions on Spike event, which will be held at Temple University’s Liacouras Center in Philadelphia. Also slated for the card will be several up-and-coming prospects from the Philly area: Thomas Velasquez, Jeffrey Torres, Kyrone Davis, Antonio Dubose and Milton Santiago. Unbeaten young contenders Jarrett Hurd and Omar Douglas are also reportedly on the marquee as well. Garcia (32-0, 18 KOs) rose to prominence in 2011 when he toppled veterans Nate Campbell and Kendall Holt in back-t0-back outings, followed up by a dominant decision win over Mexican legend Erik Morales. “Swift” parlayed those victories into huge fights with Amir Khan, Zab Judah and a rematch with Morales, in which he won all three, but his coming out party was three years ago when he shockingly picked Lucas Matthysse apart to win a wide unanimous decision. However, since his win over Matthysse, Garcia’s career has stalled. He struggled mightily against Mauricio Herrera in March of 2014 and won a controversial majority decision, knocked out unheralded Rod Salka and then looked ordinary in besting Lamont Peterson over 12 rounds via majority nod. Garcia’s ascent to the top of the sport was stuck in neutral but he helped get things back in gear in January when he edged Robert Guerrero via unanimous verdict. Garcia, who has captured WBA and WBC junior welterweight titles as well, has sought a mega fight with the elite of the 140- and 147-pound weight divisions and talk of him taking on WBA welterweight king Keith Thurman surfaced over the summer. However, it looks like that super fight will have to wait until the first quarter of 2017 because he’ll be taking on Vargas instead. Vargas (25-2-1, 13 KOs) is originally from Colombia but his entire pro career has taken place while living in Toronto, Canada. He’s feasted on a slew of regional fighters and though he has won five in a row, the only time he stepped up against an elite-level opponent, he was knocked out. Errol Spence Jr. took Vargas out in the fourth when they collided in April 2015.