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Milwaukee (CBS58) — The hometown boxer is ready to take his career to the next level while shining a light on boxing in Milwaukee.
“My name is Roland Vargas. People know me as Nano,” 23-year-old Nano Vargas said when CBS 58 met him at Brew City Boxing in West Alice. “My main goal is, as you know, my dream is to become a world champion.”
Vargas has been boxing since before he was old enough to go to school.
“I was about three years old. My father taught me from an early age. He trained my little brother when he was little, so I was always excited to see them training. So from an early age, my father started teaching me, you know, after work he comes home tired, but I tell him to train me It annoys him. He was willing to make another effort. “So I always thought that was what I wanted to do. I was only three years old. The gloves were up to my elbows, I couldn’t even hold it, but it was a good time.”
Since then, he has been training furiously.
“I don’t like being hit, but I will,” he said with a laugh.
Many people don’t think punching is worth it, but Vargas loves all things boxing.
“It teaches discipline. It teaches discipline, it teaches you how to eat right, how to train, how to stay focused,” he explained. “It keeps people off the street.”
Boxing has always been his destiny as he followed in his father’s footsteps, his favorite boxer. Rolando Vargas Sr. was a Mexican professional boxer. When Vargas Sr. came to the United States, he put on gloves to support his family. Nonetheless, his love of boxing is still alive and he has begun passing on his skills and wisdom to his two sons.
“I always wanted to be like my father. He really inspired me. [He’s] a wonderful person and [I] I got a lot of advice from him,” Vargas said.
“Hard work beats talent. That’s what my dad always told me. [It] No matter how talented you are, if you are undisciplined and don’t put in the work, there will be guys and girls doing more than you. They may not have the same skills or years of experience, but they will get you. ”
A wise word from his father became a way of life for the young boxer.
“I often say that I sacrificed a lot of my youth to throw myself into the sport of boxing. [while] Growing up, hanging out with lots of friends and not staying in after school programs. There really is no such thing. I wanted to concentrate on boxing, so other sports were not possible. So all other sports were off. We are sacrificing years of comfort for decades of freedom,” Vargas explained.
“I really want my family to have a life that they never imagined. I feel like 80% of the reason I box is because I want my family to have a good life. I want my children’s children to have a good life for generations to come, so that they can go to school and choose their career. I hope it will.”
To those closest to him, like his brother Johnny Vargas, Nano’s drive is evident in every punch he throws.
“It’s been amazing to watch him grow up in the sport. From a young age, when he was three or four years old, he would grab onto a glove that was just too big for him. [Seeing him] Just be a master of the craft,” said Johnny Vargas.
“I found him to be something special. A lot of people don’t have the ability that he has. He’s been successful in the sport of boxing.”
Nano’s dreams extend beyond the ring to his hometown of Milwaukee.
“I wasn’t born here, but I grew up here,” he said.
“When he started boxing, he said he wanted to fight in his hometown of Milwaukee.
Before turning pro, Vargas made his mark on the amateur stage.
“I played a total of 161 amateur bouts. I lost 20 out of 161. Winning the Junior Olympics in 2017 was probably one of my biggest accomplishments. Around 2017, 2018, I won the WBC amateur tournament,” he said.
When he was 19, everything took a turn for the better when he decided to become a professional boxer.
“It’s more training, more discipline. You have to take things more [seriously]It becomes more dangerous. Gloves are getting smaller and headgear is gone,” he said.
“It’s a whole other level.”
Vargas puts his time into the sport by constantly practicing and preparing to make sure he’s ready when the bell rings.
“I train six to seven days a week, two to three times a day,” he said.
“Hard work is done in the gym. You get all the training, the running, the conditioning, the stamina. And in the game it’s the easiest thing. You show up and fight. The hardest thing is It’s training. It’s a diet.”
With more games to come in 2023, Vargas is ready for his time and the city to shine.
“I want to put boxing on the map, and I want Milwaukee to be on the boxing map. That’s one of my main goals,” he said.
“I want to play bigger fights with higher level opponents. The more you fight, the harder the fights will be.
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