Amir Khan vs. Samuel Vargas results, highlights: Khan dominates Vargas, calls out Manny Pacquiao

Andreas Hale

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Amir Khan vs. Samuel Vargas results, highlights: Khan dominates Vargas, calls out Manny Pacquiao image

Former unified junior welterweight champion Amir Khan continues his comeback, as he takes on Samuel Vargas in a welterweight bout on Saturday, Sept. 8 from the Arena Birmingham in Birmingham, England.

Khan (32-4, 20 KOs) made a successful return to the ring after nearly a two-year layoff, when he knocked out Phil LoGreco in just 39 seconds in April.

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Vargas (29-3, 14 KOs) is currently ranked No. 10 in the WBA. He last fought in June, having gone to a draw with Mauro Maximiliano Godoy. Two of Vargas' three losses came to former two-division world champion Danny Garcia and current IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr.

This should be nothing more than another tune-up for Khan. While Vargas is a step-up in competition, the 31-year-old should come out of it unscathed. Khan needs to get rounds in after such a long break, and Vargas should provide him with that on his road to a title opportunity at 147 pounds.

Amir Khan has officially lined himself up for a massive fight by putting together a dominant performance and scoring a wide unanimous decision over Samuel Vargas at the Arena Birmingham in Birmingham, England. 

But it wouldn’t be a Khan fight without a little bit of drama as the Brit had to pull himself off the canvas in the 2nd round. 

The fight, which was streamed on DAZN’s Facebook, found Khan’s speed and technical advantages to be too much for the lumbering Vargas (29-4) to handle. Khan started off fast and repeatedly beat Vargas to the punch. In the second round, Khan launched a vicious combination and sank his opponent with a right hand. However, in true Khan fashion, he would leave himself open. 

With seconds to go in the round, Khan pressed forward but found himself on the wrong side of an overhand right hand that dropped him. Fortunately, the round was over, and Khan was able to get his bearings back in between rounds. Khan would score yet another knockdown in the third with a right hand that seemingly caught Vargas on the back of the head. 

Although he was well ahead, Vargas proved to be a game opponent who refused to wit under the pressure. As the rounds went on, Khan took his foot off the gas and opted to fight a little smarter without putting himself at risk. 

Khan would fight in bursts and land seemingly at will as Vargas simply pressed forward and hoped to land another Hail Mary power shot. He nearly caught Khan asleep at the wheel in the 10thwhen a right hand stunned Khan. Nevertheless, it was something that the former unified junior welterweight champion shook off. In the end, it was a one-side performance by Khan with scores of 119-108, 119-109, 118-110.

“I really wanted to go the distance,” Khan (33-4) said afterward. “It’s been 3 years since I went 12 rounds. There were times I could have put him away, but I picked my shots. I could have knocked him out, but I want to get the rounds if I want to move up and take on the likes of Kell Brook and Manny Pacquiao.”

With the victory, Khan has put himself in position for a big fight. Many fans want to see Khan take on fellow Englishman Kell Brook in what would be a massive fight. But, for Khan, the name he’s set his sights on is none other than Manny Pacquiao. 

“There’s a massive demand but the only fight that works for me over Kell Brook is Manny Pacquiao. That’s my #1,” he said.”

Matchroom Boxing CEO Eddie Hearn said that he would weigh the options with Khan. However, he also made it clear that a Khan vs. Brook fight is “now or never.” Regardless, there appears to still be a vested interest in Amir Khan and whoever he fights next is sure to be a major league clash.  

Khan vs. Vargas fight card

Amir Khan vs. Samuel Vargas; welterweights

Round 12: Khan throttling Vargas with combinations to start the round. Vargas still hanging around and pressing forward. Khan making technical mistakes but Vargas is unable to take advantage. Khan plucks away as Vargas continues to look for one big punch. It's simply not there. This one is over. 10-9 Khan (118-108)  

Round 11: Khan immediately lands a hard right hand to back Vargas off. Khan making a crucial mistake of dropping his hands. He's tiring but well ahead on the scorecards. Khan seems resigned to winning by decision and stays on his bicycle for much of the round. Vargas briefly traps Kahn on the ropes and lands some hard shots to the body. Finally, a round for Vargas. 10-9 Vargas (108-99 Khan) 

Round 10: Khan opens up with five punches after Vargas misses a wide hook. Khan may have slowed down but he's still light years faster than Vargas. Vargas backs Khan up to the ropes and lands shots to the head and body. Khan toys with him and lands a shot to the body once they are back in the center of the ring. Khan making Vargas miss badly. He spends much of the final minute circling. Vargas lands a hard right hand at the end of the round that stuns Khan. 10-9 Khan (99-89 Khan)

Round 9: Vargas continues to give chase and Khan dances away with a pop of the jab. Khan lulls Vargas to sleep and rips a three-punch combination. Perhaps Khan is comfortable with winning a decision here as Vargas refuses to go away. Khan cuts loose a crisp left hand that stuns Vargas. Khan continues to circle, Vargas continues to chase. Same story. 10-9 Khan (89-80 Khan)

Round 8: The pace is much slower in this round. Khan is circling and only throwing in short bursts. Vargas not taking advantage of Khan taking a break. Khan is certainly taking a round off. Vargas presses forward and Khan smacks him with a short right hand. Another Khan round but the fight has slowed a great deal. 10-9 Khan (79-71 Khan)

Round 7: A slow start by both sides but Khan still plucking away with the jab. A wild exchange ensues and Vargas lands a hard right hand. Khan digs to the body with hooks. Khan lands hard to the body and clips Vargas with a short right hand. A much slower round but Khan is still very much in control. 10-9 Khan (69-62 Khan)

Round 6: Khan is landing just about every single punch that he throws. Vargas corners him and launches his own barrage. Khan stays in the corner as Vargas continues to throw. Khan steps out of the corner and thrashes Vargas with a combination. There's no quit in Vargas. Unfortunately, that's all he has for Khan. Khan lands a five-punch combination to the body and ends at the head. It's terribly one-sided. 10-9 Khan (59-53 Khan)

Round 5: Vargas charges forward and lands a body shot. Khan launches a six-punch combination and destroys the body. A massive flurry by Khan has Vargas in trouble. It looks close to a stoppage. Vargas is just eating menacing power shots. Vargas' face is a lumped-up mess. Khan charges forward again and clobbers Vargas with yet another combination. Vargas showing little more than courage and heart as he continues to eat a barrage of punches. 10-9 Khan (49-44 Khan)

Round 4: Hard body shots from Khan to open the round. Vargas can do little more than lunge forward and launch a wide hook. Khan is far more disciplined and continues to beat his opponent to the punch. Vargas lands a huge right hand that Khan takes well. Khan fires back. As the round closes, Khan continues to use the jab and establish himself as the better fighter. 10-9 Khan (39-35 Khan)

Round 3: Khan seems to have shaken off the knockdown and goes back to work. Khan drops an of-balance Vargas with a right hand that was near the back of the head. Vargas is up and looks fine. He's stalking Khan but not doing much aside from following him around and eating punches. Khan with a combination that splits Vargas' guard. 10-8 Khan (29-26 Khan) 

Round 2: Khan unloads a left hand and follows with a combination. Vargas backs up and is dropped by a right hand! Khan coming in to finish. Vargas is in big trouble. He's hanging on for dear life. Khan lands four straight left hands. Vargas seems to have his legs back under him. Vargas drops Khan with a right hand at the buzzer! Khan gets to his feet but that was a shocker. 9-9 (19-8 Khan)  

Round 1: Khan opens up quickly with a hard right hand. The speed advantage is evident early. Khan's movement keeps Vargas off balance and he cracks Vargas with a hard right hand. Vargas sneaks in a left hand but pays with a four-punch combination. Varas tries to shake it off but gets stung again. A three-punch combination lands for Khan. Vargas has done next to nothing in the first round. 10-9 Khan (10-9 Khan)  

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Khan vs. Vargas latest news

—​ Amir Khan describes how he's treating Samuel Vargas fight.

— Khan vs. Vargas to air on DAZN social media platforms.

— Vargas says if he hits Khan , he's crumbling to the mat.

— Khan has to go to extreme measures to make weight.

Andreas Hale

Andreas Hale Photo

Andreas Hale is the senior editor for combat sports at The Sporting News. Formerly at DAZN, Hale has written for various combat sports outlets, including The Ring, Sherdog, Boxing Scene, FIGHT, Champions and others. He has been ringside for many of combat sports’ biggest events, which include Mayweather-Pacquiao, Mayweather-McGregor, Canelo-GGG, De La Hoya-Pacquiao, UFC 229, UFC 202 and UFC 196, among others. He also has spent nearly two decades in entertainment journalism as an editor for BET and HipHopDX while contributing to MTV, Billboard, The Grio, The Root, Revolt, The Source, The Grammys and a host of others. He also produced documentaries on Kendrick Lamar, Gennadiy Golovkin and Paul George for Jay-Z’s website Life+Times.