Alberto “El Explosivo” Machado would like to face Francisco “El Bandido” Vargas in a battle of former world champions - and the fight could very well become a reality.

The vice president of the company Miguel Cotto Promotions, Héctor Soto, who co-promotes Machado with Golden Boy Promotions, says there are ongoing negotiations to stage that fight in early May, as part of the Cinco De Mayo card that will feature the return of Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Álvarez.

Machado (22-2, 18 KO's) returned in December, in his lightweight debut, to pick up a solid win over Ecuadorian Luis Porozo. The Puerto Rican decided to move up after not winning the 130-pound title of the World Boxing Association (WBA) in his rematch against Andrew Cancio.

“It would be a fight that would define the careers of the two boxers. Vargas is a former world champion and is coming back from a victory, as is Machado,” said Soto to Jorge Ayala.

A showdown between Machado and Vargas had been discussed a few years ago. At the time Vargas (26-2-2, 18KO's) was the WBC world champion at 130 pounds - a title that he lost in January 2017 to Miguel Berchelt. Berchelt tried to regain the title from Berchelt in May of last year, but he was stopped again.

Vargas has not seen any action since October 2019, when he picked up a win over Ezequiel Avilés.

“It would be good exposure and Machado is going through a good period in his career. It can be a fight that takes the winner to a title or secures him a high ranking. We are recommending to Golden Boy Promotions, the promoter for (the date of) May 2, to make that fight. It would be a good fight and we will do our best to make it happen,” said Soto.