Timothy Bradley Jr to face Jessie Vargas on June 27

Timothy Bradley Jr will make his return to the ring on June 27 when he faces Jessie Vargas in an HBO main event from the StubHub Center in Carson, California. The fight had been rumored this week, and an announcement was made last night.

Bradley (31-1-1, 12 KO) had a rough 2014, going 0-1-1 in a pair of fights against Manny Pacquiao and Diego Chaves. The draw with Chaves was fairly controversial, with most observers believing Bradley deserved the victory, including our own Connor Ruebusch, who scored the fight 117-111 for Bradley.

Rather than dwell on that or go with a rematch that doesn't seem all that attractive, Bradley, 31, moves on to face Vargas (26-0, 9 KO), who had something of a breakout year in 2014. Vargas went 3-0 on the year, beating Khabib Allakhverdiev, Anton Novikov, and Antonio DeMarco. His win over Allakhverdiev was featured on the Pacquiao-Bradley II undercard.

The 25-year-old Vargas has been competing at 140 pounds, but will move up to 147 to face Bradley.