By Keith Idec

Francisco Vargas believes he has taken a long enough layoff to refresh his body and allow his cuts to fully heal.

Vargas’ last fight, a majority draw with Orlando Salido on June 4 in Carson, California, was unusually brutal. That 12-round slugfest left the WBC world super featherweight champion in serious need of extended rest.

He also underwent plastic surgery to help repair scar tissue over his eyes, the areas where he has suffered a deep gash apiece in each of his last two fights. That leaves Vargas (23-0-2, 17 KOs) confident that cuts won’t become a significant factor during what figures to be another difficult fight against Miguel Berchelt (30-1, 27 KOs) on Saturday night in Indio, California (HBO).

“We’ve come off two tough fights,” Vargas told HBO Sports through a translator. “But we also had a long layoff. And we did that on purpose, so that I was able to heal. And we know that we had those cuts and that we have that damage, per se. But we obviously will take that into consideration as part of our plan.”

The 32-year-old Vargas’ unforgettable brawl with Salido was announced Friday as the Boxing Writers Association of America’s “Fight of the Year” for 2016. His previous fight, another memorable battle against Japan’s Takashi Miura, was chosen as the BWAA’s “Fight of the Year” for 2015.

Vargas stopped Miura (30-3-2, 23 KOs) in the ninth round of a November 2015 bout at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

A resilient Vargas valiantly fought through disgusting cuts over and beneath his right eye, as well as severe swelling around it, against Miura. He also overcame a fourth-round knockdown to win by technical knockout, when he was behind on two of three scorecards (74-77, 75-76, 75-75).

“Hopefully, it’ll be an easier fight,” Vargas said of boxing Berchelt. “But you just never know. You never know what the rival is gonna bring, what they’re gonna do. But hopefully we’ll have a really good fight, so that the people can enjoy it.”

HBO’s “Boxing After Dark” telecast is scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. ET on Saturday from Fantasy Springs Resort Casino. The doubleheader will begin with another super featherweight fight that’ll match Miura against Mexico’s Miguel Roman (56-11, 43 KOs).

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.