Homegrown boxer Carmen Vargas fights for NABF title Thursday in Pasadena

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The same hands Carmen Vargas uses to throw short, lightning-quick punches once helped craft a much longer move in her boxing journey.

"I actually have a school poster board from a project we were doing in high school," Vargas recalled during an interview with ABC13. "And it says, 'I want to be a professional boxer.' It's crazy, because I read it and think, 'Damn, I'm a professional boxer now."

Vargas turned pro in the summer of 2021. But it's not her only career. She works full-time, Monday through Friday - and sometimes Saturday - in an assistant manager role for a Houston area business. After, or before, work, she trains with Carlos Moreno at H-Town Boxing Gym.

"I'm trying to make boxing my full-time job, so I don't have to work a full-time job," Vargas explained. "This is going to be the biggest challenge in my boxing career."

For the very first time, Vargas is fighting for a title on Thursday- and she'll do it at home. Vargas is facing Danielle Bennett for the North American Boxing Federation Super Bantamweight belt in a fight at the Pasadena Convention Center. Houston boxing icon Termite Watkins is the fight's promoter.

"Houston has always liked good boxers," Watkins noted. "I promise you if you like good boxing, you'll love her, because she brings it. That's why I get excited. We've got a homegrown Houston girl fighting for a NABF championship."

"I'm ready to show everybody in Houston what I'm about and that I deserve this championship," Vargas said.

Vargas' boxing dream has taken her from a high school poster board - to a poster fighter in the main event of a professional boxing event.

The fight starts at 7 p.m. at the Pasadena Convention Center, located at 7902 Fairmont Parkway.

You can purchase your ticket, ranging from $40 to $110, through Tix.

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