Rey Vargas dominates Leonardo Baez in a shutout UD win!
After a two-year hiatus from the ring, and now competing at featherweight, former WBC super bantamweight champion Rey Vargas (34-0, 22 KO’s) has successfully returned to action. In his first assignment back, Vargas handily defeated the relatively unknown Leonardo “Cuate” Baez (21-4, 12 KO’s) by way of unanimous decision win.
In fact, Vargas had been out of the ring so long that most boxing enthusiasts thought he had retired. Currently ranked #1 (WBC) in the featherweight division, he had initially vacated his WBC super bantamweight title looking to test the waters in the 126-pound division after defeating Tomoki Kameda back in 2019. For a very brief period, Vargas was supposedly going to match wits with WBC featherweight champion Gary Russell Jr. Unfortunately that bout never materialized and Vargas slipped into obscurity. Thankfully for him, Vargas strung together a dominant performance that will no doubt help revitalize his image in the eyes of the fan base.
As for Leonardo Baez, his biggest career achievement is a victory over former title challenger Moises Flores back in 2020. Outside of that, there is not much to say about the 26 -year-old Mexicali fighter. He was on a three-fight win streak against below F-level competition. There was a slim chance to score the upset because of Vargas’s extreme inactivity but, in the end, even that could not save him.
ONE WAY TRAFFIC
Vargas began the contest in a relaxed but rather aggressive fashion. While moving in a very casual, almost leisurely pace the taller, longer Vargas hammered Baez’s body with a raging river of wide thumping hooks. In fact, Vargas devoted most of his malevolent attack on his foe’s exposed rib cage. Little changed in the second as a spry Rey Vargas bounced nimbly on his toes and lit Cuate’s head up like a Christmas tree.
Baez was trying his best, yet more often than not his shots fell well short of their mark. In the third, an accidental head left Baez with a cut under his right eye. There was no question that Baez was fighting to win. His biggest obstacle was his own limited attack. Cuate was constantly trying to increase his effort and intensity but could not make any significant adjustments.
Even worse, Vargas was battering him with five or six punches for every one of his. The fight was playing out something like that infamous scene in Harlem Nights with Arsenio Hall and Eddie Murphy. Typically Baez would fire his single low caliber shot only to be immediately riddled with high-powered return fire.
PREDICTABLE OUTCOME
With the coming of the seventh, Vargas made a concerted effort to get rid of Cuate. Here he sat down on far more of his punches and even absorbed more damage while sitting in the pocket to do so. Baez dealt with the assault without a great deal of difficulty. The out-gunned fighter suffered another headbutt and cut, yet this time it was deep on the right side of his head.
Not a great deal altered during the final rounds of the showdown. Vargas never truly let off the gas, yet in the last two rounds he in no way was going for the stoppage. By then, he was content to pitch a shutout. When the cards were read, he won an easily foreseen unanimous decision win to the tune of 99-91 and 100-90 twice.
By: Bakari Simpson
