LAS VEGAS – Emiliano Vargas recognizes that he has become a target for rivals resentful of the opportunities with which he is being presented.

The 21-year-old son of Fernando Vargas fights Spain’s Juan Leon at junior welterweight on Sunday evening at the T-Mobile Arena on the undercard of the undisputed junior-featherweight title fight between the champion Naoya Inoue and his challenger Ramon Cardenas.

He is marketable on account of not only his surname but his photogenic appearance and Mexican-American heritage, contributing to his rapidly growing profile as a professional of only 13 fights with so much still to prove.

If he continues to win the time will come when his promoters Top Rank have to test him, but he is also fighting in an era when the commercial success of Chris Eubank Jnr’s recent fight with Conor Benn perhaps justified their promoters prioritizing their marketability over those with more talent.

His being around Inoue, even before fight night, has already ensured that his reputation has continued to grow, and ahead of the occasion staged to mark Cinco de Mayo weekend he told BoxingScene: “It rubs people the wrong way the way I get attention so early on. I don’t even got a belt. I just know that that’s God given. You could be a world champion and people don’t know when you’re fighting. That’s horrible for me – to go and do the work and have nobody watch the fight. 

“It’s like being a gladiator – you want people to scream and cheer and that’s what makes a fighter a fighter. I’m blessed. Come fight night, it’s gonna show.

“It’s a big date, especially in the Mexican community, and American boxing. I’m looking to take that date. I know ‘Canelo’ [Saul Alvarez, against William Scull] is fighting the day before so I’m looking to finish strong.

“I remember family coming together, watching Canelo fight; watching Floyd [Mayweather] fight [on Cinco de Mayo]. Floyd’s a smart man. He knows when to fight. The biggest nights and weekends for the Mexican-American culture – and I know I’m blessed to be a part of that.

“Inoue put me on his [social media] story, and I got a bunch of Japanese comments on my posts. It was a good thing – it was a great thing – and I’m gonna maybe fight one day in Tokyo. We took a photo together at the media workout, and I spoke to him and told him he’s an amazing champion and I’m glad to be fighting on his card. I don’t know if he understood a lick of what I said, but he was nodding and saying ‘Thank you’.”

The 28-year-old Leon is one such fighter who is unlikely to get anything like the opportunities Vargas can expect, even if he wins on Sunday evening.

“Being a bigger fighter, he’s coming in from 160, and he has a lot more experience than me,” Vargas continued. “He’s far more rounded as well. I’m just looking to go in there and be smart, and things will open up, without a doubt.

“He’s a come-forward fighter. He can take a punch, and I just know that he’s gonna walk into one of my punches, so I’ve gotta be smart – maybe touch the body a little bit more, because he looks like a big guy. We’ll touch that body and see how he’s feeling.

“He gets hit a little too much. Especially with a fighter like myself – you can’t get hit too much. I got some power in both hands, and I’m looking to be smart. If we go the distance, we go the distance.

“I’m learning on my career. Every fight’s a learning experience, whether it’s a fast knockout or we go rounds. I’m just looking to continue to win and to gain experience and this will work for all of my fights to come.

“Maybe every day, for four or five weeks – I’ll watch a fight over once or twice a day, making sure I’m ready. Physically, mentally, spiritually, I’m ready across the board.”

“I’m inspired to come here and give everything,” Leon said. “I’m a brawler and I come here to fight.”