Mark Magsayo vs Rey Vargas official for July 9th at the Alamodome

As revealed last month and confirmed a week later, newly crowned WBC featherweight champion Mark Magsayo will make his inaugural title defense against former super bantamweight champ Rey Vargas at the Alamodome on July 9th.

Magsayo (24-0, 16 KO) shocked Gary Russell Jr. for the title in January, an opportunity he received thanks to Vargas (35-0, 22 KO) electing to take a tune-up against Leonardo Baez instead of jumping right into a bid for featherweight gold. Vargas is far from a victory lap; the 31-year-old enjoyed a lengthy, largely dominant reign at 122 that saw him beat solid foes like Ronny Rios, Azat Hovhannisyan, and Tomoki Kameda.

Whether he can be a force at 126 is anyone’s guess, but he’s a legitimate challenger. If Magsayo can beat him decisively, you can scrape that asterisk right off his “world champion” status.

No word yet as to the undercard, but you’ll know as soon as we do.