Shields won her second straight gold almost 10 years ago and has since become one of the best female boxers of all time. Stevenson, who won silver at bantamweight, secured his status as a four-division champion after winning The Ring and WBO 140-pound titles in January and is The Ring's No. 3-rated pound-for-pound fighter.

Lopez, who represented Honduras, didn’t medal, but has since gone on to be a two-division titleholder, including becoming the unified lightweight champion in 2020.

Antonio Vargas hasn’t reached that level of stardom in his career, but can change that June 13 when facing Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona on DAZN worldwide.

“It represents a lot because he's a big name, and my name is not that big,” Vargas told The Ring.

“I know beating a guy like this, it’ll put my name on the map, and give me the exposure I’ve been looking for. Every fight is to build a big name, generate big money and big fans, but I’ve got to beat somebody big. When they told me about this guy, I’m like, ‘Wow, this would be the perfect fight.’ After I beat him, it’ll put me where I believe I belong.

“I grew up with Lopez, Stevenson, Shields – we all come from that same era, and they got big names. I feel like I should be on top. When I took the loss, I had to work my way back up, and I’m right there again. So, I’m like, ‘Lord, I believe this is a good season I’m in right now,’ and all I got to do is just get past this guy, and I’ll be on top with my peers.”

Vargas (19-1-1, 11 KOs) is the WBA bantamweight champion in recess, but he and his co-promoter, Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn, expect him to be reinstated as the full champion before facing Rodriguez (23-0, 16 KOs).

Vargas, of Kissimmee, Florida, won the interim WBA title with a 10th-round stoppage of Winston Guerrero in December 2024. That win began him and Seiya Tsutsumi alternating turns as full champion and champion in recess.

The 29-year-old was elevated to full champion in May 2025 and Tsutsumi (13-0-3, 8 KOs) became the champion in recess when he couldn’t defend his title due to injury. In his lone defense, Vargas fought to a unanimous draw on July 30 against Daigo Higa in Japan.

The death of his mother prevented Vargas from defending the title against Tsutsumi in December 2025, so they swapped titles.

Tsutsumi, 30, defeated future Hall-of-Famer Nonito Donaire by split decision on December 17 in Japan. All signs pointed toward Vargas and Tsutsumi finally fighting on April 11, but the former was still recovering from a facial fracture against Donaire and was unable to defend his title that soon.

“It’s confusing,” Vargas said. “It’s a headache because you want to train, you got a fight date, you want to take the fight and it gets a little frustrating because you don’t want to hit your peak too early. It’s weird. It’s really hard to prepare. I’m just thankful now that I guess that chapter is closed. I got a fight date in front of me, which is almost two months from now. It keeps me level-headed. I’m more focused, and don’t got to worry about Tsutsumi.”

Rodriguez, a two-division champion and The Ring’s No. 4 fighter pound-for-pound, will fight for the first time at bantamweight. The dynamic southpaw from San Antonio, Texas, holds The Ring, WBA, WBC and WBO 115-pound titles and could potentially move back down to junior bantamweight to try and become the undisputed champion.

Along with Rodriguez’s pure boxing ability, Vargas praised his boxing brain and views him as the toughest challenge of his career.

“He likes to press, but it’s his angles, he presses forward, while angling and shifting,” Vargas said. “So that makes him very unique and different. We’ve definitely been training for a style like that. He’s a southpaw, too, so that’s a little different. Got to keep the foot out and know when to shift.

“He has a very high IQ [and] very good resume. He’s beaten a lot of good champions, and it’s definitely one of the best fights on my resume. I’ve definitely been training really hard and preparing. If I’ve got to box the guy or press him, I will. Definitely want to have at least two, three different game plans going into the fight, because I know he’s not just going to have one game plan.”