Press Release:
Junior welterweight sensation Emiliano Fernando Vargas and Olympic middleweight standout Troy Isley made important strides last year but now look to take bigger leaps as they initiate their 2025 campaigns on Saturday, March 29, at BleauLive Theater at Fontainebleau Las Vegas.
Vargas will take on veteran Giovannie Gonzalez in an eight-rounder, while Isley squares off against Etoundi Michel William in a 10-round clash.
Vargas-Gonzalez and Isley-William join a loaded card headlined by the WBO welterweight world title rematch between reigning queen Mikaela Mayer and former champion Sandy Ryan.
In the co-feature, Brian Norman Jr. makes the first defense of his WBO welterweight world title against Puerto Rico’s Derrieck Cuevas.
Mayer-Ryan II and Norman-Cuevas will be broadcast live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+ at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.
Unbeaten featherweight contender Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington will face Jose Enrique Vivas in a 10-round WBC final eliminator, the featured bout of the ESPN+-streamed undercard. Vargas-Gonzalez and Isley-William will also stream live and exclusively on ESPN+.
Vargas (12-0, 10 KOs), the 20-year-old son of former junior middleweight world champion Fernando “Feroz” Vargas, had a banner 2024. He outpointed Nelson Hampton in March before stopping Angel Varela in the sixth round in May. A month later, he tore through Jose Zaragoza with a series of left uppercuts to score a first-round stoppage and tallied a fifth-round TKO over Larry Fryers in September. Gonzalez (20-7-2, 15 KOs) is an eight-year pro who last fought in October, pushing unbeaten Jose Luis Vazquez the distance before dropping an eight-round decision.
Isley (14-0, 5 KOs) launched his pro career in February 2021, racking up 10 wins before linking up with 2023 Trainer of the Year Brian “BoMac” McIntyre. The 26-year-old piled up three wins in 2024. In March, he broke down Marcos Hernandez before stopping him in the seventh. Three months later, he settled unfinished business with Javier Martinez, beating his former amateur rival over 10 rounds. He returns after cruising past Tyler Howard in November. William (16-1, 12 KOs) is a 31-year-old native of Ivory Coast who suffered his first defeat against Jose Miguel Borrego in October.
In other ESPN+ undercard action:
Cleveland’s Tiger Johnson (14-0, 6 KOs) will return in an eight-round welterweight tilt against San Antonio-born spoiler Kendo Castaneda (21-8, 9 KOs). Last year, he vanquished Paulo Cesar Galdino via first-round TKO in February and registered eight-round decision victories over Tarik Zaina in June and Yomar Alamo in September. Johnson, a Tokyo Olympian, was supposed to fight on Feb. 14 before his opponent withdrew due to weight issues.
Dedrick Crocklem (1-0, 1 KO), the latest fistic uber-talent from Tacoma, Washington, goes for pro win number two in a four-round junior lightweight tilt versus Dionne Ruvalcaba (2-1, 1 KO). Crocklem signed with Top Rank in December and made his pro debut last month in Tacoma with a hometown second-round TKO against Nesly Trezile.
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