Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Samuel Vargas set for July 24 as boxing returns to DAZN

It's one of three fights DAZN announced on Monday, with three events over a five-week period:

• Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Samuel Vargas on July 24, which is Golden Boy Promotions' first event since the COVID-19 pandemic impacted sports in March.

• Julio Cesar Martinez vs. McWilliams Arroyo on Aug. 15 in Tulsa, Okla., which also features Cecilia Brækhus vs. Jessica McCaskill, as Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing USA returns.

• Jorge Linares vs. Javier Fortuna on Aug. 28, at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino.

All three events will be broadcast live and exclusively on DAZN. There will be no fans in attendance.

This follows last week's news of Hearn's Fight Camp, which features four events in August in England, culminating with the Dillian Whyte-Alexander Povetkin fight on Aug. 22.

The Ortiz-Vargas fight was originally scheduled for March 28 at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., but was shuttered a week prior due to the spread of coronavirus. 

Vargas (31-5-2, 14 KOs) will aim to be the first to beat the hard-hitting 21-year-old but has had difficulty winning the big fight, as he has suffered losses to Luis Collazo, Amir Khan, Danny Garcia and Errol Spence Jr. That being said, he did bounce back from a split-decision loss to Collazo last March with a unanimous decision victory over Silverio Ortiz in June.

Ortiz will face his most experienced opponent to date as he looks to remain perfect with all of his wins coming by way of knockout. In his last outing in December 2019, he stopped Brad Soloman in the fifth round to punctuate his hold on ESPN's Prospect of the Year honors.

On Aug. 15, Martinez (16-1, 12 KOs) will defend his WBC World Flyweight title against Arroyo (20-4, 15 KOs). The co-main feature on the card is Brækhus defending her undisputed Welterweight championship against McCaskill. The two were originally set to fight prior to the coronavirus lockdown.

“Finally we have a new fight date and I cannot wait to return to battle,” Brækhus said in a Matchroom press release. “It's been an extended camp in Big Bear with my new trainer Abel Sanchez and I'm very excited to defend my world titles against Jessica on August 15. I know how tough of a fight this is and will be well prepared for victory."

On Aug. 28, Linares (47-5, 29 KOs) will face Fortuna (35-2-1, 24 KOs) for the WBC Diamond Lightweight Championship. Linares has earned world titles in the featherweight, super featherweight and lightweight divisions.