3.20am, Sunday, Sky Sports Main Event and Action
Tuesday 5 December 2017 13:13, UK
Stephen Smith makes his Las Vegas debut on a sizzling super-featherweight card at Mandalay Bay. You can watch it live on Sky Sports in the early hours of Sunday morning, so here is what you can expect...
'Swifty' goes from Liverpool to Las Vegas for the first time. The second oldest of the record-breaking Smith brothers has boxed in Monaco and Germany of late, but this is the biggest stage of all. It will be only his second fight of the year, but knows a big win here will push him back into the super-featherweight world title mix.
The Mexican known as 'El Bandito' is looking to secure a world title shot next, after losing his WBC title at 130lbs, last time out. A bloodied battle with Miguel Berchelt saw him stopped in the penultimate round but with the damage repaired, expect a clash of styles as the Mexican warrior takes on the slick Smith.
Their futures. Smith's two world title defeats have been at the hands of two of the best in the division, Jose Pedraza (WBC) and Jason Sosa (WBA), but making a statement out in America will bump him up the rankings. Lose, however, and there might not be a third time. Vargas is hunting a rematch with Berchelt, who ripped the WBC belt away from him in January, and these 10 rounds will see what shape he is in.
The vacant IBF title fight between Tevin Farmer and Kenichi Ogawa will top the bill. Philadelphia's Farmer (25-4-1-KO5) fights for the first time since being shot in his right hand in the summer and is now in a Twitter war with Davis. The other challenger, Ogawa (22-1-KO17) from Aichi is looking to step up a gear and follow in the slipstream of compatriots Takashi Miura (WBC) and Takashi Uchiyama (WBA), who have both recently held one of the recognised four.
There is the small matter of living legend, Orlando Salido (44-13-4-KO14), also on the card. 'Siri' is a three-time featherweight world champion and was the only man to do what Guillermo Rigondeaux will try and do: beat Vasyl Lomachenko. Salido stopped him becoming the fastest ever world champion in his second contest. Add the fact that he drew with and only lost on points to Roman Martinez and wants to settle a score with Vargas - surely opponent Miguel Roman (57-12-KO44) is in for a tough night.
The super-featherweight scene will explode on the same night, when WBO supremo Lomachenko takes on Rigondeaux in a New York blockbuster and Farmer and Ogawa fight for the vacant IBF belt, which used to belong to Floyd Mayweather's man, Gervonta 'The Tank' Davis. Throw in the fact that Alberto Machado picked up the WBA strap in October and there are plenty of options and issues going on at 130lbs.
Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino has hosted some of boxing's biggest and memorable fights, with the 12,000-seater Events Centre taking centre stage. Smith is making his professional debut in America and will be part of the venue's second fight of the year, the first being the small matter of Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev's rematch. Saul Alvarez against the recently-retired Miguel Cotto and Amir Khan's loss to Danny Garcia also stand out.
Go back to the 'old' Mandalay Bay and Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera's first bout stand out, Manny Pacquiao's knockdown spectacular against Juan Manuel Marquez and the Diego Corrales-Jose Luis Castillo classic were also hosted there. Wins for the likes of Floyd Mayweather, Lennox Lewis, Oscar de la Hoya and Felix Trinidad can also be added to the list.
Stay up or set your alarm because the live coverage begins at 3.20am, in the early hours of Sunday morning, live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Action.