Carson, California — The StubHub Center once again lived up to its reputation as boxing’s theatre of brutality, where warriors go to trade legacy for glory. On June 4, 2016, WBC super featherweight champion Francisco “El Bandido” Vargas and rugged veteran Orlando “Siri” Salido waged 12 rounds of relentless warfare, culminating in a majority draw that honoured both fighters—and boxing itself.  A worthy winner of Ring Magazine’s Fight of the Year.

From the opening bell, this was never going to be a chess match. It was a battle of attrition between two Mexican gladiators whose styles were practically engineered for carnage. Vargas (23-0-2, 17 KOs), the younger champion fresh off a brutal win against Takashi Miura, met his match in Salido (42-13-4, 29 KOs), a gritty ex-champ known for turning underdog status into highlight reels.

Salido, the 130-pound division’s eternal spoiler, took the fight to Vargas with zero hesitation. He crowded the champ, worked his ribcage, and forced an ungodly pace that never relented. Vargas, blood streaming from twin cuts around both eyes, responded in kind, landing flush combinations and punishing right hands that staggered Salido more than once—but never broke him.

Judges scored it 115-113 Vargas and 114-114 twice. While the draw left neither man satisfied, it was the kind of result that respected the effort and fury poured into every round.

What made this clash an instant classic wasn’t just the volume—though their 714 combined landed punches, including 615 power shots, shattered junior lightweight records—it was the sustained drama. Just when it seemed one man seized momentum, the other would storm back. Round 6 was savage, Round 10 electric, Round 12 unforgettable.

This was no sloppy slugfest. Both men made adjustments, slipped shots, and answered when the tide turned. It was bloody. It was bruising. But it was also beautiful.

Salido may feel he edged it. Vargas may feel he survived. But the crowd of 7,378 knew they witnessed greatness. HBO’s broadcast peaked near a million viewers, and rightly so. This wasn’t just a fight. It was a war. And the fans were the true winners.

A rematch? Absolutely. The boxing world demands it. After a bout that echoed legends like Gatti-Ward and Barrera-Morales, Vargas-Salido II might be the only sequel worth cancelling plans for.

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Las Vegas delivered a Ring Magazine Fight of the Year on 21 November 2015, as Francisco “El Bandido” Vargas wrenched the WBC super featherweight title from Japan’s Takashi “Bomber Left” Miura in a savage, see-saw contest that left fans breathless and bloodied in sympathy. What began as a routine defence for the champion turned into a fight for survival — and ultimately, one of the greatest comebacks in modern boxing memory.

For Miura, this was meant to be a showcase. The Akita-born southpaw entered the ring as defending champion, ranked among the world’s elite at 130 pounds, and fighting in the United States for the first time. Vargas, the unbeaten Mexican challenger, carried his own credentials — a rugged technician with 16 knockouts in 23 bouts, hungry to make his mark on the world stage. Few could have foreseen the drama that was about to unfold.

The opening round saw Vargas explode out of the corner, finding Miura’s chin with a crisp counter right that rocked the champion. But Miura, known for his granite resistance, steadied himself and returned fire. The Japanese warrior began targeting Vargas’s body with punishing lefts, his precision opening a deep cut beneath the challenger’s right eye. Blood streamed down Vargas’s cheek, yet he refused to yield ground.

By the fourth, Miura’s heavy hands began to tell. A thudding right-left combination sent Vargas crashing to the canvas. Rising on instinct, the Mexican endured round after round of sustained punishment. His eye ballooned grotesquely, half-shut from the barrage of southpaw hooks, and by the eighth, he looked on the brink of defeat. Miura, relentless and composed, appeared to be closing in on another successful defence.

Then came the ninth — and with it, chaos. Vargas, spurred by desperation and pride, unleashed a furious assault. A thunderous right hand shook Miura to his core, followed by a perfectly placed uppercut that snapped the champion’s head back. Miura hit the deck for the first time, struggling to his feet, only to be met by a merciless flurry of punches. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in at one minute and thirty-one seconds of the round, ending the carnage as the Mexican corner erupted in jubilation.

At the time of the stoppage, Miura was ahead on two scorecards, proof of how narrow the margins had been in this violent masterpiece. Both men left the ring battered, but immortalised in the hearts of boxing fans worldwide.

That night in Las Vegas will forever be remembered not for glamour or spectacle, but for sheer courage and heart. Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura gave the world a war that defined what boxing, at its purest and most punishing, truly is.

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