Who wins at 154? Slug fest, hard to pick! I’d like to see Vargas take it but I give the edge to Alvarez.
Canelo was pre prime at 154, but was still very good. Vargas was a hard guy at 154 as well. But I still would have to go with Canelo.
People forget how good Vargas actually was. His prime losses were to Tito and De La Hoya, and he was a baby when he fought the former, only succumbing down the stretch after a titanic struggle which saw him bounce back from a very tough start. Watch the 5th round of that Trinidad bout, you'll see a beautiful young fighter who only needed just a couple years more seasoning/experience before taking on a killer like Tito.
At what, junior middle? If we're talking about there and specifically during Feroz's notoriously mercurial blink-and-you-miss-it prime...then he savages any 154lb version of Canelo ever seen.
Vargas went to war with Tito and Oscar (both of who I think would beat Canelo at JMW as well), he was neck and neck with "prime" Winky, turned off the animal and turned on his boxing against a still prime Quartey when he saw he couldn't run him over. Vargas was a fairly complete fighter at an early age whereas Canelo didn't really peak until MW. I have no doubt Canelo would win at MW. But If we're talking JMW, that was best version of Vargas, JMW Vargas vs. JMW Canelo, Vargas would definitely lay a beating on him.
I scored Vargas-Winky a draw, but there's no shame in fighting on even terms with Winky. Fernando's victory over Ike was legit. Tito was a monster too soon at that stage, even as precocious as Vargas was and as well as he fought for much of it. De La Hoya is De La Hoya, and there are those who argue that Vargas was already damaged goods from his Trinidad experience.
Lance, I agree with you but one thing I'll say is I'm not sure who they throw him in against if not Tito. Vargas obviously had confidence and liked to challenge himself (something a lot of "top" fighters today could learn from) plus he had already beaten Quartey and Wright.