As long as Norris boxes smart and doesn't resort to hitting an opponent while he's down I can see him beating Vargas via decision or late round stoppage.
Prime Norris and his hand speed would be a big issue for Vargas as it was for all of Terry's opponents. With that said, I could see Vargas catching Norris as Norris could be over aggressive when throwing combinations. Both guys were very offensive minded guys that had defensive lapses and not get chins. It would be a fun fight.
Did Norris ever truly beat a legit 154 pound fighter in their prime ? Most of his wins were against fighters past their prime or fighters moving up from Welterweight. I mean I guess you'd favour Norris due to being more highly rated at 154 but I'm not so sure myself. Vargas would probably be the best legit 154 pound fighter Norris has ever fought outside of Jackson. And Norris would also be the smaller man plus Norris has a very shaky chin and Vargas has good pop.
Jorge Castro is a pretty underrated win for Norris. Vargas did have good power and could stop Norris if he managed to catch him with a good shot. Problem for Vargas was that his defense was average and had problems dealing with fast hand speed (ODLH, Wright, Mosley). Norris would be quicker and also the heavier hitter out of the 3.
I did forget about Jorge Castro but outside of that there isn’t many legit 154 pounds Norris actually beat if you actually look at his resume. Then you have fighters like Brown, Taylor, Blocker, who all spent most of their careers at Welterweight. As for Vargas I think he was past his best vs Mosley and even then he gave Mosley a very good fight in their 1st meeting until the horrible eye injury. I thought Vargas did very well vs ODLH and was winning until ODLH caught him in the 10th round which turned the fight around. And finally despite people calling the decision controversial I actually thought Vargas legitimately beat Wright which is arguably better than any wins Norris had vs any legit Jr Middleweight. Vargas had a short prime but I honestly think he would be the best opponent Norris has fought who is an actual legit 154 pounder fighter in their prime outside of Jackson as I said.
Norris' resume, for the most part, is honestly uninspiring when you look deeper into his resume and realize that the majority of the best names on his resume are guys who were clearly not at their best and fought at lower weight classes prior. Vargas gets severely underrated nowadays and I agree that he has a better win at 154 than anyone Norris has beaten (Winky). Still stylistically I think Norris causes more problems for Vargas due to Vargas' defensive lapses and he seemed to not be able to avoid left hooks, which was a punch that Norris was deadly with. A focused Norris, especially from the Simon Brown rematch, would have been too smart, fast, and strong for Vargas to handle IMO.
Good points. It's definitely not a slam dunk for either fighter. Both have flaws which is what makes it such an intriguing fight. I just would put my money on Norris's athleticism and speed over Vargas's determination and grit. I feel like Vargas is very underated because of what his career was post Trinidad. The guy legitimately beat Ike Quartey and Winky Wright although I do think Wright should have got the decision.
What about Quincy Taylor? Carl Daniels at the time was an unbeaten prospect and a southpaw and that was a good win too. I get what you are saying but I thought Winky won but it was very close so it was not a robbery like people claim.
