Emiliano Vargas burnished the shine around the former world champion’s son Saturday night, stopping Bryce Mills in the fourth round of the Xander Zayas-Jaron “Boots” Ennis co-main event.
At Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, Vargas followed his second knockdown of Mills by unloading a flurry that brought a stoppage 1 minute, 17 seconds into the frame.
“I just want to be great,” Vargas, 18-0 (15 KOs), said. “The sky’s the limit.”
Vargas, 22, the 2025 prospect of the year, is the WBO’s No. 2-ranked 140-pound fighter, behind four-division champion Shakur Stevenson and IBF title contender Lindolfo Delgado.
Led to the ring by New York Giants running back Cam Skattebo, Vargas hammered Mills with rapid lefts in the first round to overcome a few of Mills’ clean offerings.
Fighting in a southpaw stance that he and his trainer, father and former 154-pound champion Fernando Vargas worked on in the gym, Vargas said he knew it was effective when “I saw [Mills’] face.”
Syracuse, New York’s Mills 22-2 vowed to bring Vargas his most difficult test yet, and the pair’s exchange in the second showed he was intent to fulfill the promise.
But Vargas followed with a hard left to the head, and then knocked down Mills in the third with a quick, short right to the head as Mills rushed forward.
Swelling under the right eye was seen on Mills in the corner, and Vargas dropped Mills again with a straight left square in the face before punctuating the finish with a flurry.
Vargas said being ranked by all four sanctioning bodies gives him the confidence to move toward a title eliminator next before setting out for a world championship.
