Rodriguez (23-0, 16 KOs) is ranked No. 4 pound-for-pound by The Ring and previously held The Ring, WBA, WBC and WBO 115-pound titles. His days in the junior bantamweight division are officially done, however, as he begins building his body for an inevitable bout against 122-pound king Naoya Inoue.

San Antonio’s Rodriguez has scored five consecutive stoppage wins and is coming off a 10th-round knockout win of former WBA champ Fernando Martinez on November 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Vargas (19-1-1, 11 KOs, 1 NC), of Kissimmee, Florida, appears to be another victim and a steppingstone to a super fight – on paper, at least. Vargas has been rocky yet victorious over his last three fights, despite getting dropped in each contest.

Jesse Rodriguez: “I feel that I do have a lot more I can show to the fans. In past fights, I haven’t had to show a hundred percent of myself. As the fights get tougher, the better I perform. My mentality is that I just go in there and do what I have to do. I have a more relaxed style now with all of the experience that I have picked up along the way. I’m more confident now in the ring.

“They could have thrown any world champion at 118 and we would have said yes. Vargas happened to be the one that was willing to fight me. The fight presented itself, we got it done, and here we are. I haven’t seen much of him, so I can’t speak much on the [dangers he presents as an opponent]. But I know that he’s a tough fighter with speed. I am expecting a tough fight on June 13.”

Antonio Vargas: “There are a couple of things I’ve seen that I think I can take advantage of during the fight. I’ll be able to see more of the openings as the fight goes on. Neutralizing him is all about timing, punch placements and landing the cleaner shots while catching him on the exchanges. Every fighter has a different rhythm and timing, so as the rounds go by it will be a little easier to figure out his style. He’s definitely a unique fighter. He likes to shift and use angles more than other fighters, so that’s what I've been training for.

“I believe I need to get at least a couple of knockdowns to solidify a win or stop him to win this fight. If it’s a close fight, they’re probably going to give it to him. … The world is going to be shocked on June 13.”

Jesse Rodriguez is listed as a -2500 betting favorite, and Antonio Vargas is a +1100 betting underdog, according to DraftKings. A draw is listed at +3000.

The over/under on the number of rounds the fight is projected to last is set to 6½ rounds. The over is set at -110, while the under is -125.

The Ring’s Mike Coppinger and Max Kellerman have made their predictions. Think you can beat them? Predict winners for prizes.

The undercard is missing major names, but the co-main event should be a banger when Mexico’s Arturo Cardenas (17-0-2, 9 KOs) and local favorite Jordan Martinez (16-0-1, 15 KOs) meet in a rematch four months after their 10-round junior featherweight firefight resulted in a split draw at the same venue. Martinez leveraged the performance into a promotional deal with Matchroom Boxing.

The card will also feature a women’s world title bout between IBF lightweight champion Elif Nur Turhan (13-0, 8 KOs) and Gabriela Tellez (7-0, 3 KOs).

Prospects Adrian Rodriguez, Ronny Alvarez, Trini Ochoa, Hector Beltran and Xechal Esquivel round out the rest of the card.

Desert Diamond Arena; Glendale, Arizona

The main portion of the Matchroom Boxing show will stream live on DAZN, beginning at 8 p.m. ET (1 a.m. BST).

Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan.