Fight Club: Pacquiao wins back WBO title

Greg Heaks 22:42 06/11/2016
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  • Manny Pacquiao.

    Pacquiao, who turns 38 next month, floored Vargas in the second round en route to a one-sided victory which allowed him to reclaim the WBO welterweight title which both he and Mayweather held previously.

    It is a title that Pacquiao surrendered when he lost last year to Mayweather in the richest fight in boxing history. The retired Mayweather’s appearance at ringside, at Pacquiao’s request, will certainly stir talk of May-Pac 2.

    “Yes I invited him to come tonight,” Pacquiao said of Mayweather. Asked if he wanted a rematch with Mayweather, Pacquiao said: “We will see.”

    Mayweather took his seat with his daughter just before the fight started. He watched attentively, then left before the fighters had cleared the ring. Pacquiao beat Vargas with a unanimous decision victory to capture the WBO belt for the third time.

    After the fight Vargas was asked if he wanted to see Pacquiao and Mayweather go at it again.

    “Of course,” Vargas said. “I wouldn’t mind seeing it again. We are still very interested in seeing what could happen again.”

    But both Pacquiao, and his promoter Bob Arum, were non-committal about a second fight with Mayweather.

    “Floyd Mayweather is retired. As far as we’re concerned he’s retired and we respect that,” Arum said at the post-fight news conference.

    Pacquiao had to skip the event because of a cut from a head butt that needed 16 stitches to repair.

    Arum did mention other potential Pacquiao opponents, including Vasyl Lomachenko, Terence Crawford and Keith Thurman.

    For now, though, Pacquiao can savour a successful return to the ring as the 37-year-old systematically dismantled the former welterweight champion despite Vargas’ size and reach advantage.

    “I feel happy,” the Filipino senator said in the ring. “I’m trying every round to knock him down but also not be careless.”

    Pacquiao, 59-6 with two drawn and 38 knockouts, showed he still has a lot left in the tank but he failed to get the knockout victory which has eluded him for the past seven years. All three judges scored the bout for Pacquiao, two of them by 118-109 and the other by 114-113.

    Pacquiao won the WBO title for the first time in 2010 when he beat Miguel Cotto. He lost it two years later to Timothy Bradley, then got it back by winning the rematch with Bradley in 2014 before losing it to Mayweather. Pacquiao said he was retiring following his April 9 two-knockdown victory over Bradley in their third fight. He looked impressive in stopping Bradley, showing that he has recovered from a shoulder injury which hampered him in his mega fight against Mayweather in May 2015.

    The Pacman took seven months off to concentrate on his job as a newly elected politician in the Philippine Senate. After serving his first stint as a rookie senator, he says the fire was rekindled and the stage set for a return to boxing.

    Yesterday, both fighters felt each other out as very few punches were thrown in the first round. Pacquiao was quicker to size up his opponent as the Filipino learned early on that he could counter Vargas’ left jab with a right to the jaw.

    That’s what happened in the second round when Pacquiao connected on a right counterpunch that sent Vargas stumbling backwards and onto the canvas.

    “Fighting Manny Pacquiao is like playing a very fast game of chess,” Vargas said. “You have to be alert at all times. He was very fast but I was able to get in a few counters.”

    The Thomas & Mack Center showed their love for Pacquiao, proving he is still a big star in the sport. Whether it’s enough to draw boxing’s biggest star out of retirement remains to be seen.

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