Charles Martin vs Devin Vargas Preview September 4th, 2022
Former IBF Heavyweight Champion Charles Martin of St. Louis, Missouri returns to the ring this Sunday, September 4th when he takes on fellow veteran Devin Vargas of Toledo, Ohio. The eight-rounder is on the undercard of the Andy Ruiz vs Luis Ortiz tilt and can be seen in America on Fox pay-per-view and on the FITE network in the UK. Martin last fought in January when he was stopped in six rounds by Luis Ortiz after dropping him in the first and fourth rounds. Vargas was stopped in the fourth round by Zhilei Zhang in his last outing in November, 2020.
Martin vs Vargas Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Devin Vargas +1200
- Charles Martin -3300
My Pick
The 36-year-old Martin is a southpaw who enters the contest with a mark of 28-3-1 with 25 Kos. He won the vacant IBF title against Vyacheslav Glazkov in January, 2016 when Glazkov suffered a knee injury in the third round. The title was vacant after it was stripped from Tyson Fury for failing to defend his crown against Glazkov. However, Martin was stopped in the second round by Anthony Joshua in his first defence of the belt just three months later.
Martin has good size at 6-feet-5-inches and an 80-inch reach and he’d rather stop his opponent than go to the scorecards. He does have a pretty good jab and isn’t a bad combination puncher but he’s gotten this far in his career due to his power. And that power is pretty evident as 25 of his 28 wins have come by stoppage and his current knockout ratio stands at an impressive 78.1 per cent. Of course, his chin is somewhat questionable though as his first and third pro defeats were by stoppage to Joshua and Ortiz.
Martin’s second pro loss came at the hands of Adam Kownacki via a close 10-round unanimous decision in 2018. Since Martin’s fights rarely go the distance it means he’s fought just 111 rounds in 32 fights since turning pro in 2012. His lone draw was a four-round affair with Alvaro Morales back in 2013.
Martin has struggled when stepping up in class but has wins against the likes of Gerald Washington, Vincent Thompson, Joey Dawejko, Glendy Hernandez, Tyyab Beale, Alexander Flores, Raphael Zumbano, Damon McCreary, Tom Dallas, Byron Polley and Michael Marrone. Martin also won the vacant WBO NABO Heavyweight title with his fourth-round stoppage of Flores in 2014 and defended it four times.
Vargas is now 40 years old and hasn’t fought in close to two years. He owns a record of 22-7 with 9 Ko’s and has been stopped in six of his seven losses. Those who halted him were; Kevin Jonson in the sixth round in 2009, Andrzej Wawrzyk in the ninth round in 2011, Jason Bergman in the 11th round in 2014, Dominic Breazeale in the third round in 2014, Andy Ruiz in the first round in 2018 and by Zhang in the fourth round in his last outing in 2020.
The only loss he suffered without being stopped in was a wide 10-round unanimous decision to Junior Fa in 2019. Vargas has endured long periods of inactivity as he sat out for two years between September 2009 and September 2011, from September 2011 to March 2014 and from June 2014 to April 2017. in total, Vargas has boxed 127 rounds since turning pro in 2005.
Before that, Vargas enjoyed a fine amateur career as he made it to the quarterfinals of the 2004 Olympics in Greece after winning the Olympic trials. He also won a bronze medal at the 2003 Pan American Games and was the National Golden Gloves Heavyweight Champion in 2000 and 2001 and the US champion in 2003. However, Vargas has been one of those boxers who had trouble adapting to the pro version.
He’s struggled as a pro with his biggest wins coming against the likes of Charles Davis, Boris Shishporenak, Galen Brown, Niall Kennedy, Victor Bisbal and Tommy Washington Jr. Vargas stands just over 6-feet-3-inches tall with a 75.5-inch reach which means he gives up 1.5-inches in height to Martin as well as 4.5-inches in reach. He also lacks power with a current knockout ratio of 31 per cent.
Prediction…
Martin certainly isn’t the greatest heavyweight out there but he enters the ring with all the key advantages over Vargas. These include, age, size, experience, recent activity, chin and power. Considering this, I’m afraid this looks like a complete mismatch on paper. Anything can happen inside the squared circle though but this may not end well for Vargas. Hopefully nobody gets seriously hurt during this bout.
Martin has all of the advantages in what could be a mismatch.
Play: Martin -3300 @ BetOnline.ag
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Charles Martin betting • Devin Vargas betting