Fernando Vargas, Jr., along with his younger siblings, have absorbed as much information from their famous father in the gym.

It has translated to with impressive performances, especially as of late.

Vargas, Jr. dropped Juan Carlos Cordones twice en route to a first-round knockout win late Friday night at the Southwest University Event Center in El Paso, Texas.

Father and trainer Fernando Vargas, Sr., a former two-time world junior middleweight titleholder, was impressed with his son’s performance. Fernando Sr. teaches Fernando, Jr., along with siblings Amado and Emiliano, to utilize a strong mental approach to be one step ahead of their opponents.

“I always send my boys (with the mentality of) ‘intelligence first,’ then we see what his opponent is bringing and we work off that,” Vargas, Sr. told The Ring on Sunday night. “But if I see something before that, I tell my boys what it is and they do what I’m asking them to do and we’ve gotten the win.”

The 27-year-old southpaw Vargas Jr. dropped Cordones with a right hook to the head midway through the first round. Cordones beat the count, but was knocked down again, this time from a barrage of punches. Cordones took more punishment, prompting his corner to throw in the towel, resulting in referee Robert Velez to stop the fight at 2:49.

With the win, Vargas improved to 15-0, 14 knockouts.

Vargas last fought on March 16, knocking out former welterweight contender Brad Solomon in the fourth round. Prior to the win over Solomon, Vargas knocked out Wilfredo Buelvas on November 11.

Cordones, who resides in La Romana in the Dominican Republic, falls to 14-5, 9 KOs. The 28-year-old has lost his last five bouts, all by knockout.

Early Saturday morning, Vargas, Sr. flew out to Miami, Florida to be in the corner of Emiliano, who fought in preliminary action on the Top Rank card. Much like his older brother the night before, Emiliano made quick work of Jose Zaragoza (9-9-2, 3 KOs), stopping him in the opening round. Emiliano improved to 11-0, 9 KOs.

This Saturday, lightweight Amado Vargas (10-0, 4 KOs) hopes to make it a clean sweep for the family as he faces Sean Garcia (7-0-1, 2 KOs), the younger brother of Ryan Garcia, in an eight-round bout.

Vargas, Sr. is seeing the legacy of his last name being carried on by his three sons.

“Praise God for all his blessings,” said Vargas. “Proud of all my boys. It’s amazing to be by their side as they chase greatness. You can’t make a pitbull (out of) two chihuahuas. The Vargas blood is no joke.”

Also on the card in El Paso, lightweight Abel Mendoza improved to 41-0, 30 KOs, defeating journeyman German Meraz (65-70-3, 41 KOs) of Agua Prieta, Mexico by unanimous decision. Scores were 59-55, 59-55, and 60-54 for Mendoza.

Featherweight Nathan Rodriguez of Pico Rivera, California won by knockout after round three over Jose Saant. The 19-year-old Rodriguez improved to 15-0, 10 KOs.

Saant, who is originally from Gualaquiza, Ecuador and now resides in Bedford, Ecuador, falls to 15-5-1, 5 KOs.

The card was promoted by Marv Rodriguez.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]

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