Fight between Francisco Vargas and Orlando Salido seems bound to be a slugfest

There aren’t too many certainties in sports, but the June 4 super-featherweight title fight between Mexico’s Francisco Vargas and Orlando Salido at StubHub Center seems bound for a knockout.

“The minute when they started talking about this fight, I knew it was going to be a war,� said Salido (43-13-3, 30 knockouts), a 35-year-old former two-division champion who participated in two fight-of-the-year candidates last year against Puerto Rico’s Roman “Rocky� Martinez.

“Our styles match,� said Vargas, 32, who won the fight-of-the-year honor by rallying from getting cut, rocked and knocked down by Japan’s then-champion Takashi Miura in November to win the World Boxing Council belt by technical knockout.

“It’s going to be a tremendous battle in there. I know the guy’s coming to win. He wants to be champion, but I want to remain champion. I don’t know if I have the edge. I’m younger. I have less fights on me. But it’s going to be a fight, a tough fight.�

Appearing Thursday at Olvera Street to promote their HBO main event at StubHub Center in Carson, Vargas (23-0-1, 17 KOs) and Salido discussed the challenges they foresee in the bout and what their prior battles against others have made them.

Salido, for instance, lost to Martinez in their first toe-to-toe 2015 meeting, only to respond with a showing that convinced most ringside observers that he won the rematch that judges scored as a draw.

“You work hard [in fights like that] but then there comes a sense where you know you have him, that it’s just a question of finishing him,� Salido said. “Halfway through that [second Martinez] fight, I knew I had him. He stood up to a lot of shots and I was surprised.�

Vargas said his bout with Miura illustrated the kind of fighting heart that can be communicated even if he can’t speak English. He’ll collect his Boxing Writers Assn. of America fight-of-the-year award at a May dinner in New York.

“The people don’t go out to hear you talk. They go to watch your skills and watch you fight. I believe that’s what does it,� Vargas said.

“People recognize me now and even the non-believers from before know I’m for real. It’s such an honor and privilege. That’s what motivates me, keeps me hungry, makes me want to stay in shape. I want continued success, want to continue as a world champion.�

Salido said he underwent a full medical screening to ensure 20 years of pro boxing won’t imperil his effort in another test of grit.

Vargas said it took about six weeks after the Miura fight, when he suffered a gash under his right eye, to feel clear-headed and prepared to resume battle.

“I feel good. You know, in the history of boxing, the legends … are the ones who fight the best,� Vargas said. “And I want to be known as one of those great fighters. You’ve got to fight the best.�

Tickets, priced $25 to $200, are on sale at axs.com and at the StubHub Center box office. Promoters are still assembling the undercard.

“We’ve promoted many fights where we know going in it’s going to be a war and this is obviously no exception,� said Oscar De La Hoya, Vargas’ promoter.