Antonio Vargas vs Daigo Higa Preview July 30th, 2025
Antonio Vargas of Houston, Texas travels to Yokohama, Japan to defend his WBA Bantamweight Belt against hometown hero and former world champion Daigo Higa this Wednesday, July 30th. The 12-round contest takes place at the Buntai in Yokohama and can be seen live in Japan on U-Next. Vargas captured the interim belt in his last outing when he stopped Winston Guerrero in the 10th round. Guerrero was dropped in the first round and Vargas was down in the second round. Vargas was elevated to the full champion when Seiya Tsutsumi was regarded by the WBA as Champion in Recess because of injury. Higa last boxed in February when he battled to a 12-round draw with Tsutsumi in September in a rematch as they battled to a 10-round majority draw back in October, 2020. In his previous outing in September. Higa came out on the wrong end of a controversial decision to WBO Bantamweight Champion Yoshiki Takei.
Vargas vs Higa Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Antonio Vargas +209
- Daigo Higa – 280
My Pick
Vargas, who fights out of Kissimmee, Florida is 28 years old and carries around a record of 19-1 with 11 Ko’s. He’s got 100 rounds of experience to his name since turning pro in 2017 following an extensive amateur career. He captured a gold medal at the 2015 Pan American Games as a flyweight and boxed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, losing in the round of 16 to Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan. His lone defeat as a pro came at the hands of Jose Maria Cardenas when he was stopped in 113 seconds in May, 2019.
Vargas beat Jorge Perez via an eight-round unanimous decision to win the vacant NABA Jr Bantamweight Title. He also has wins over Felipe Rivas, Hernan Marquez, Lucas Rafael Baez, Jesus Martinez and Michell Banquez. Thirteen of Vargas’ 20 pro opponents have had winning records and he has won 58 per cent of his fights by stoppage, including six of the past seven. Vargas measures just over 5-feet-5-inches tall with a 66-inch reach.
Higa is 29 years of age and has quite a bit of power in arsenal as he carries around a record of 21-3-2 with 19 Ko’s and has 148 rounds of experience under his belt since turning pro in 2014. When it comes to wins, 90.5 per cent of Higa’s victories have come by stoppage but he’s stopped just three of his past nine opponents and is 5-2-2 over that span. He stands 5-feet-4-inches tall with a 64-inch reach so gives up 1.5 inches in height and two inches in reach to the champion.
Since making his pro debut Higa has captured the vacant WBC Youth World Flyweight Title as well as the Oriental and Pacific Flyweight Belt. He became a world champion in 2017 when he stopped Juan Hernandez Navarrete in the sixth round for the vacant WBC Flyweight Belt. The title was on the line for Higa only as Navarrete came in over weight. He defended the belt by stopping Thomas Masson in the seventh round and Moises Fuentes in the first. Higa then suffered his first defeat and lost his title when Cristofer Rosales halted him in the ninth round in 2028.
This time Higa came in over weight and the title was only up for grabs to Rosales. Higa won the WBO Asia Pacific Bantamweight Belt in 2020 when he dethroned Yuki Strong Kobayashi by stopping him in the fifth round. He lost that belt in his first defence in April, 2021 when Ryosuke Nishida beat him via a lopsided 12-round unanimous decision. Both draws on Higa’s record were with Seiya Tsutsumi over 10 rounds in 2020 and 12 rounds earlier this year. He also has wins over Froilan Saludar and Sirichai Thaiyen.
Prediction…
Higa looked very impressive last year in his defeat against WBO Champion Yoshiki Takei in a slugfest and lost by scores of 114-113, 114-113 and 115-112. I thought he won the fight but then he arguably got a bit of a gift draw against Seiya Tsutsumi earlier this year with scores of 114-114 across the board. Vargas isn’t known for his power but he’s stopped most of his opponents lately and had an extensive amateur career. I believe Higa will have to be at his absolute bets this week to beat Vargas but if he can replicate his performance against Takei then he has a pretty good shot at coming out on top.
A pick-em fight with Higa having the edge in power.
Play: Higa -280 @ BetOnline.ag
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Antonio Vargas betting • Daigo Higa betting