Amado Vargas might have been tested, but he won his junior welterweight main event bout against Eduardo Hernandez Trejo on Saturday at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California.

Vargas won an eight-round majority decision over Trejo in a bout via the scores of 76-76, 77-75 and 78-74. The bout was promoted by MarvNation and streamed on DAZN.

Vargas, a 24-year-old from Las Vegas, is the middle child of former titleholder Fernando Vargas, who is his trainer as well as his father. Amado Vargas targeted Trejo’s body early in the first round, but the roles were reversed by the end of the round, with Trejo pushing forward against Vargas.

The next two rounds were fairly even. The fourth round saw the fight slow as Vargas continued to be first to the punch, but Trejo, a 27-year-old from Tijuana, Mexico, looked to counter. Trejo landed a clever right hand on Vargas’ body in Round 5 as he began to put his punches together.

Trejo was busier in the sixth, but Vargas landed the eye-catching punches while Vargas loaded up on power shots that hurt his ability to be efficient in the round. Vargas rallied in the seventh, pushing Trejo back and controlling the round.

A confusing sequence of events happened in the eighth and final round when Trejo stumbled to his knee. Referee Thomas Taylor ruled it a slip, but Vargas continued to throw punches while Trejo's knelt on the canvas. Taylor took control, clearly stating the situation, and didn’t take a point from Vargas or score Trejo’s knee as a knockdown. Once action resumed, the fighters exchanged punches to the final bell. Both stood on the ring ropes with their arms raised believing they had won the fight.

“I had to dig deep for this fight,” Vargas said. “He's a great fighter. Much respect to him.”

When asked if Trejo deserved a rematch, Vargas said he wanted bigger names.

“He's a great fighter,” Vargas said, “but I want bigger fights, and this is a great learning experience for me.”

Vargas last fought in July, stopping Sean Garcia, Ryan Garcia’s brother. Vargas is now 12-0 (5 KOs). With the loss, Trejo, 8-3 (5 KOs), saw a three-fight winning streak snapped.

Junior lightweight Nathan Rodriguez, of Pico Rivera, California, picked up a second-round knockout of Oxnard, California’s Jorge Villegas in the co-feature. The time of the stoppage was 1:36.

Rodriguez, 20, landed a right hand to the body of Villegas while he was on the ropes, which forced him to take a knee in Round 2. Later in the round, Rodriguez landed a straight right hand that connected with the 23-year-old Villegas’ face, followed by a combination that ended with a left hook to the body to force him to a knee once again. Villegas got to his feet, but referee Ivan Guillermo stopped the contest when Rodriguez then landed a flurry of unanswered punches.

Rodriguez is 17-0 (11 KOs), while Villegas dipped to 14-5 (13 KOs).

Junior welterweight Miguel Gaona, of El Sereno, California, got a second-round knockout over Braulio Rodriguez, of Coral Springs, Florida. Gaona landed a short right hand from a southpaw stance, dropping Rodriguez, who could not get to his feet. The time of the stoppage was 18 seconds of the round.

Gaona, a 26-year-old southpaw, now holds a record of 6-0 (5 KOs). Rodriguez, 36, is 22-13 (19 KOs).

Light heavyweight Lawrence King, of San Bernardino, California, won a unanimous decision over William Langston of Kenosha, Wisconsin, but the scores didn’t reflect the fight most saw. All three judges saw the fight 79-73, which felt too wide for such a competitive battle. 

King, 28, improved to 18-1 (14 KOs), and Langston, 30, saw his record fall to 12-4-1 (8 KOs).

Junior lightweight Santos Ortega, of La Quinta, California, won a four-round unanimous decision over veteran journeyman Diuhl Olguin, of Oak Hills, California. The three scores were 40-36. 

Ortega improved to 10-0 (3 KOs), while Olguin fell to 17-44-7 (10 KOs)

Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.