June 27, 2006 – On Saturday, July 15, there will be another chapter written in the Mosley and Vargas saga as they meet again at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Their first meeting, on February 25, 2006, was an unforgettable night for fight fans. Headlining the undercard will be another rematch of a spectacular fight that took place on October 29, 2005 between two young warriors, WBO Super Bantamweight Champion Daniel Ponce-De Leon and challenger Sod Looknongyangtoy..
In another 12-round bout world championship bout, the thrilling Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz will defend his World Boxing Association title against Randy Suico. Mosley vs. Vargas II will be presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Main Events, take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and will be broadcast live on HBO Pay-Per-View.
In their first bout, De Leon’s brawling style survived a rocky start and a second round knockdown by Looknongyangtoy to win a decision and the vacant WBO Super Bantamweight Championship. When the final bell rung, Looknongyangtoy thought he had won the fight, but De Leon had gotten the best of him in the later rounds, rocking him several times as they went toe-to-toe in the center of the ring. Like Vargas, Sod looks to redeem himself on July 15.
Daniel Ponce-De Leon (28-2, 26 KOs), a southpaw from Cuauhtemoc, Mexico was a member of the 2000 Mexican Olympic Team and made his professional debut on March 31, 2001. He fought seven times in 2001, including twice in May and twice in November, winning all by knockout. Daniel’s first title shot was on August 17, 2002 hen he challenged WBC Youth Bantamweight Champion Idelfonso Martinez and won the fight early in the third round when Daniel broke Martinez’ nose. In 2003, Ponce-De Leon fought four times and won all by knockout, including wins over veterans Franisco Tejedor and Marcos Badillo. On October 22, 2004 Ponce-De Leon won his first major professional title, knocking out former world title challenger Emmanuel Lucero in three rounds to earn the vacant NABO bantamweight crown. Following back-to-back knockout victories Daniel was in position to challenge for the vacant WBO championship title on October 29, 2005 against Thailand’s unbeaten Sod Looknongyangtoy. De Leon was impressive from bell to bell, earning a well deserved unanimous decision over the tough Thai fighter to earn his first world championship. De Leon successfully defended the title on May 27, 2006 with a second round knockout of Gerson Guerrero.
Sod Looknongyangtoy (27-1, 10 KOs) from Petchaboon, Thailand, has a chance to redeem himself of the one blemish on his professional record when he faces Daniel Ponce-De Leon on July 15. Looknongyangtoy’s pro debut, on August 31, 2001, was a schedule ten-round bout and he won the Asia Pacific super bantamweight championship in only his second professional fight. He defended that title seven times among a stretch of twenty-four wins prior to his October 29, 2005 bout versus Ponce-De Leon for the vacant WBO super Bantamweight championship. That would also mark the first time Looknongyangtoy ventured out of Thailand to fight. After losing to Ponce-De Leon, Sod returned to Thailand to win the Asia Pacific super bantamweight title once again, setting up a rematch with Daniel Ponce-De Leon.
Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz (29-0, 14 KOs), from Houston, TX, became the youngest world champion (20-years, nine months) in boxing on July 17, 2004 and the youngest lightweight champion in over thirty years when he defeated Lakva Sim to win the WBA lightweight championship. In that bout, the University of Houston pre-law major began by using hand-speed and combinations to Sim’s head and body. Mid-way through the bout, Sim lured Diaz into a brawl, but the young star showed his intelligence by reverting to his boxing skills to win decisively on all judges’ cards.
Winning that world title was not the first milestone for Diaz at a young age. After winning the right to be on the 2000 Mexican Olympic team, Diaz found out he was three months too young to compete at the Sydney Games. Soon thereafter, on June 23, 2000 Diaz made his professional boxing debut and won on a first-round knockout. He soon was 4-0 with four knockouts just ten days after his seventeenth birthday. Diaz has three successful defenses of his world title.
Randy “Kumo’ng Bato” (Golden Boy) Suico (24-2, 21 KOs) from Mandaue City, Ebu, Philippines, is a former Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) and Philippine super-featherweight champion. After a four-year reign and five title defenses, Suico recently relinquished his OPBF 130-pound belt to move to the lightweight division. In his last successful defense and final bout as super featherweight, Suico won on a fourth-round TKO over Ryuhei Sugita on February 5, 2006. He is currently rated No. 9 by the WBC and No. 12 by the WBA and will be fighting in his first world championship fight in his third United States bout.
The Mosley vs. Vargas II pay-per-view telecast, beginning at 9 p.m. EST/6 p.m. PST on July 15, has a suggested retail price of $49.95, will be distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View and will be available to more than 56 million pay-per-view homes. The telecast will be available in HD-TV for those viewers who can receive HD. HBO Pay-Per-View is the leading supplier of event programming to the pay-per-view industry. For your daily Mosley vs. Vargas II fight week updates, log onto www.HBO.com.