By Miguel Rivera

Although he thought his opponent would be the countryman Hugo Ruiz, who eventually lost the super bantamweight title of the World Boxing Council last Friday in Osaka, Japan, the sanctioning body has officially set down Rey 'King' Vargas (28-0, 22KOs) as the mandatory challenger to the the new world champion Hozumi Hasegawa (36-5, 16KOs). Vargas wants the fight in the coming months.

Vargas, ranked number one in the division and official challenger of the green and gold belt at 122 pounds, did not hide his surprise at the result of last week's fight where Ruiz was stopped by Hasegawa in the ninth assault.

Under the guidance of his trainer Nacho Beristain, Vargas has been working very hard  for several years to get to this moment.

"It is a title that has been changing hands. Ceja had it in July, then took it was taken off of him by Ruiz, and now Hasegawa has it. We have no objection with the opponent, I want the world championship, which is my dream," said Vargas.

"I'm more than ready to be the opponent for Hasegawa in his first defense. I am the mandatory challenger, I hope I can face him soon. If it was up to me, I would do it at the end of this year."

About the fight between Ruiz and Hasegawa, Vargas said - "I saw Ruiz as the 60-40 favorite. I was expecting a different fight. Ruiz was not able to adapt to the style of the Japanese fighter. I was surprised that he didn't not come out to fight after the ninth round."