Jessie Vargas and Deandre Latimore Featured on February 24 ShoBox

Jessie Vargas and Deandre Latimore, both of whom are promoted by Mayweather Promotions, will be in action on a February 24 ShoBox double-header from the Hard Rock in Las Vegas. Rick Reeno says that opponents will be finalized shortly.

Given that this is all of two weeks from now, expect little more than a showcase program, which is uncomfortably turning into the ShoBox norm when combined with the February 17 show.

Vargas (17-0, 9 KO) has been out of the ring since September, when he opened the Mayweather vs Ortiz PPV with a split decision win over Josesito Lopez in a very close, entertaining fight that lived up to its hype. Recently, the 22-year-old Vargas said he's planning to make the full move up to welterweight. He's been officially fighting as a junior welterweight, but has only ever actually made the 140-pound limit three times in his career.

Latimore (22-3, 17 KO) recently signed up with Mayweather and the St. Louis native will be looking to get his career back on track. He's still kind of treading water thanks to his June 2008 upset of Sechew Powell, as quite honestly he's done nothing of note in the nearly four years that have passed, except for lose a pair of fights.

Looking back, his upset of Powell wasn't even that great to begin with, plus the stoppage was questionable even then.

After that, Latimore lost to Cory Spinks in a St. Louis grudge match, a fight that started with the home crowd cheering heavily for Latimore and booing for Spinks, and by the end had the audience just plain cheering for both fighters after a solid bout. In March 2010 he went to Oklahoma and lost a rematch to Powell.

Since beating Powell, he's gone 3-2, with his three wins over club fighters Sammy Sparkman, Darien Ford, and Dennis Sharpe. The good news is he's still 26, still a southpaw, and does possess some natural talent. There's a career to be salvaged here if he's up for it.

As for ShoBox, I'm really hoping that we don't see this slowly turn into just another series where young fighters get to build up resumes and records by fighting guys who don't have much chance. The March 23 edition with Diego Magdaleno facing Miguel Beltran Jr still looks good, but the Dulorme show next week is pure showcase material, and chances are this will be the same. Change isn't always good.