Overview
- The multi-fight agreement was announced Monday at an open workout in Los Angeles and was confirmed by BKB officials.
- Vargas arrives with a 3-0 professional boxing record and about 14.5 million combined TikTok and YouTube followers, a followership BKB sees as a commercial draw.
- BKB has already named Vargas the headliner for the promotion’s December 5 TikTok card at the Orpheum Theatre, but the fighter’s first opponent and the bout’s formal terms have not been announced.
- Bare-knuckle rules allow punches while controlling an opponent in the clinch but ban takedowns, kicks and elbows, which means Vargas’s gloved-boxing style will face a different tactical test in the Trigon ring.
- Vargas trains under former pro Eric Garcia in Montclair and says the move is both a personal challenge and a chance to show fans who know him online what he can do in a live fight; the signing also highlights BKB’s strategy of using social-media stars to build event audiences.