Tapped to test the mettle of one of boxing’s most promising junior welterweights, Clones native “Lethal” Larry Fryers is predicting a big upset in his scheduled eight-rounder with the unbeaten Emiliano Vargas at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, this Friday.
The fight will be televised live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+ at 10:30 p.m. ET. Tickets are available at ticketmaster.com.
Vargas, who’s 20, is the youngest fighting son of two-time world light middleweight champion “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas who held the IBF title from 1998 to 2000, and the WBA title from 2001 to 2002. Since jumping to junior welterweight, the younger Vargas, aka “El General,” has scored a pair of knockouts, including June’s first-round destruction of Jose Zaragoza.
“Well, he’s undefeated, he's a big prospect, and [promoters] Top Rank think an awful lot of him,” Fryers [13-6-1, 5 KOs] said of Vargas [11-0, 9 KOs]. “They want to find out if he’s the real deal and that’s why they contacted me to fight him. They want to find out whether this kid’s as good as he thinks he is.”
He said Vargas and his brain trust will be disappointed.
“Unfortunately, come, Sept. 20, I'm gonna bust that balloon because I’m gonna steamroll this guy. I’ll be very disappointed if I don't stop [him]. Tune in on Sept. 20 and watch me [pull] off a big upset.”
Fryers, who lives in upstate Westerlo, New York, and trains in Albany, will be ending a 15-month layoff. The 33-year-old’s last bout was a sixth round technical decision over Dimash Niyazo in Atlantic City, in June 2023, for the fringe WBB super lightweight title.
SEAN TITLE TILT
One of the top amateurs in the country, Sean O'Bradaigh’s honors include the Ring Masters/Golden Gloves middleweight crown and the New York Boxing Tournament Elite light heavyweight title. He returns to action on Sept. 26 at the Melrose Ballroom in Queens, hoping to add the SBC Elite 176 pound belt to his ledger.
Sean O'Bradaigh celebrating a win.
O'Bradaigh’s faces new sensation Carderon Deleon, a 19-year-old knockout artist who scored a dramatic last second KO to dethrone previous 176 titlist Adrian Frometa last June. Frometa, who narrowly outpointed O'Bradaigh for the SBC crown last January and later beat him again in the 2024 Ring Masters final, was ahead on points when he was starched by a Deleon left hook.
O'Bradaigh, who’s 22 and is coached by NYAC’s Richard Stephenson, is aware of the challenge Deleon, from Brooklyn’s Gym X, poses. “I’ve been training every day trying to get in the best shape of my Life.”
He said of Deleon, who’s also the Ring Masters Novice 176 champion: “He’s 19, a young kid. He’s been winning everything and his main thing is he's a big puncher. He knocks out half the guys he fights, so I just gotta watch out for the power.
“A lot of fights he's kind of losing and then comes back with a big shot and ends up winning, you know. So, I gotta make sure I stay clear of that for the nine minutes [three rounds] and I should be able to outbox him.”
Asked which hand Deleon hits hardest with, O'Bradaigh said: “It’s kind of both actually. I think he's knocked out people with overhand rights and left hooks. The Frometa one was a left hook.”
The doors at the Melrose Ballroom open at 5:30 pm with the first fight at 6:30 pm. For tickets and other information, visit here.
