Orange, Texas, is a small town of about 20,000 on the Sabine River near the Louisiana border. An hour and a half or so from Houston. It was best known for being home to all-pro Free Safety and Super Bowl champ Earl Thomas who also played for the Texas Longhorns from 2007-2009. The little town may now become the city of champions as fellow Orange native O'shaquie "Ice Water" Foster is on the verge of a world title. Foster is 29 years old and currently sports a 19-2 (11) record. It's been a wild ride for Foster, who was once one of the sport's top young prospects. His momentum was derailed after suffering two losses in eight months in 2015-16. He has bounced back in championship form winning nine consecutive fights, including picking up wins over Muhammadkhuja Yaqubov, Miguel Roman, and Jon Fernandez of Spain. He is now just one small step away from becoming a world champion.
Today WBC's Board of Governors unanimously approved the petition from current WBC featherweight champion, Rey Vargas, to fight for the vacant super featherweight title against Foster, the mandatory contender and silver champion. The world title became vacant last month when Shakur Stevenson vacated it on the scale when he missed weight before his title defense against Robson Conceição.
Vargas currently holds the WBC featherweight title and has a record of 36-0 (22). He has held world titles at both 122 and 126. He last fought in July and outpointed Mark Magsayo to capture the WBC 126-pound world title.