Erislandy Lara
On December 13, 2013, Vargas won all 10 rounds in a decision victory over formerworld title challenger Jerry Belmontes. On March 8, he made his first appearance of 2014, as he defeated Puerto Rico's Abner Cotto via unanimous decision. From there, Vargas fought on the Canelo Álvarez vs. Erislandy Lara undercard and delivered a thrilling KO victory over Puerto Rican legend and former world champion Juan Manuel Lopez. He followed that up with another knockout in Mexico against Genaro Camargo. In 2015, Vargas headlined his first HBO event against prospect Will Tomlinson in San Antonio on HBO Latino. Vargas made scored his third knockout victory in a row with an eighth-round TKO.