Francisco Vargas (L) battling Takashi Miura in what would be named THE RING’s Fight of the Year for 2015. Photo by Naoki Fukuda

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Get your popcorn ready.

A can’t-miss clash between Francisco Vargas and Orlando Salido was finalized on Thursday night for June 4 at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif., on an HBO Boxing After Dark telecast, Golden Boy VP Eric Gomez confirmed to RingTV.com on Friday. The bout will be for Francisco’s WBC 130-pound title and is a plausible Fight of the Year candidate based on the boxer’s hard-fought histories.

Vargas (23-0-1, 17 knockouts) won his title by rising off the canvas to shock Takashi Miura last November in a breathtaking war of attrition. The 35-year-old Salido (43-13-3, 30 knockouts) is rarely in a bad fight, having participated in a barnburner with Roman Martinez last September that ended in a draw (though most, including THE RING’s ratings panel, thought Salido won) and earning a points victory over current WBO featherweight champion wunderkind Vasyl Lomachenko in 2014. Matching Vargas, 31, and Salido, a former featherweight titleholder, was a no-brainer, Gomez said.

“When I make a fight, we’re fans first,” said Gomez, who promotes Vargas. “And on June 4, me and (Golden Boy matchmaker) Robert Diaz can sit back with Tecate beer and we can enjoy the fight,” Gomez said, plugging the Mexican beer brand that endorses both Golden Boy and Canelo Alvarez. “It really is a can’t-miss fight based on their styles,” he went on. “It’s reminiscent of the wars of the past between Erik Moralez and Marco Antonio Barrera and Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez. If these guys do their part, we might have a trilogy on our hands.”

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