Pacman eyes new career highlights vs Vargas
LAS VEGAS – Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao is confident history will be in his corner as he tries to dampen the exuberance of the youthful Jessie Vargas, the reigning WBO ( World Boxing Organization) welterweight champ, in their title showdown at the Thomas and Mack Center here Saturday (Sunday morning in Manila).
A victory over Vargas will not cement his place in the uppermost tier of of the sport – he has long secured that one – but will add new perspectives to his fabled career.
And Pacquiao is keenly aware that he isn’t done chasing history. At 37, he is the only boxer to win world titles in eight different weight classes and knows that beating Vargas will put the Filipino champ in another light – a lawmaker who delivers haymakers.
The moment he steps inside the ring to face his younger and taller opponent, Pacquiao will make the record books as the first senator to be inside the ring.
Beating Vargas and winning the title will also make him the first senator to become a world champion.
“I want to set another record in the history of boxing as the first senator and champion,” Pacquiao, trying to stretch his good years inside the ring, said up on stage during Friday’s official weigh-in at the Encore Theater of Wynn Hotel.
“It will mean a lot because it will be a big honor for my country,” he said.
No other Filipino has brought greater honor and pride to the country than Pacquiao the past 10 years.
He has become a household name, a global superstar and one of the richest athletes ever. During his surge from 2008 to 2010, he became the face of boxing.
Also in that stretch, he was elected to Congress.
But it seems that Father Time has slowly caught up with Pacquiao, now 4-3 in his last seven fights.
Any other boxer who loses three of his last seven fights should be on his way out, and at his age, the hard-hitting boxer may be considered past his prime.
In 2012, Pacquiao lost twice, dropping a controversial match against Timothy Bradley and being knocked out cold by Mexican nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez.
Many thought that was the beginning of the end of one of the great stories in the sport.
Pacquiao, however, rose from the grave, winning fights he was supposed to win, successive ones against Brandon Rios, Timothy Bradley and Chris Algieri, leading up to his historic and record-smashing encounter with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in May 2015.
He lost on points then admitted he fought Mayweather despite a shoulder injury he aggravated in training just two to three weeks to the fight.
Pacquiao drew the ire of some fight fans for concealing the injury. Pacquiao underwent surgery on his right shoulder, and 11 months later he faced Bradley for the third time.
He was impressive and sent the American down twice en route to a unanimous decision.
Then he announced his retirement from the sport.
Now, seven months after, he’s back in the ring, after being elected senator last May. He said life as a retired boxer made him “sad and lonely” not being able to do what he loves most.
With the support of his family, he decided to stage a comeback.
“I’m so happy to be back,” he said on the eve of the fight.
Pacquiao’s future as a boxer does not stand on solid ground because another defeat, in this case against a boxer 10 years young and four inches taller than him, will certainly spark calls for his retirement – for good.
Again, this fight could be Pacquiao’s last, and if that happens, then it will be all politics and Bible preaching the rest of his life.
Vargas is determined to beat Pacquiao, and the other day he said if he lands the big shot then “for sure he (Pacquiao) will go down.”
The Mexican-American who stands 5 feet 10 inches said it’s his time to shine. “I respect his talent. But now it’s my time. It’s time to talk about me and my performance on Saturday,” said Vargas, hoping to score the victory and earn his ticket to stardom.
He is a 7/1 underdog. Pacquiao’s horrific knockout loss to Marquez in 2012 only showed that the Filipino icon is like any other boxer.
He will go down and get knocked out if hit hard enough.
However, Pacquiao has vowed to prove a lot of things in this fight. “I want to prove a lot of things. I want to prove that I’m still here,” said the boxer who fought his first professional fight in 1995, in the 105-pound division, and earning no more than $20 in Philippine money.
“I want to prove that I’m not that old,” he said. As a superstar, Pacquiao is used to earning around $20 million per fight, and against Mayweather, he ended up richer by $120 million.
This time, however, following his short- lived retirement, Pacquiao is feeling the pinch even if he said in an interview with entertainment portal
TMZ the other day that he spent $ 1 million on 2,000 fight tickets for his family, relatives and friends and the friends of his friends.
HBO, the giant network and provider of pay- per- view fights, has shied away from this fight, leaving Bob Arum and his Top Rank crew all alone in promoting and selling the fight on PPV.
“Anything north of 600,000 buys would be a big night and he’d make a lot of money.
I’m hoping he makes money like the Manny of old,” Arum said in an Associated
Press report. “If this fight does well, then HBO (payper-view) will be out of business,” said trainer Freddie Roach.
There’s not much buzz surrounding this fight, unlike before, even here in Vegas where there are other events on tap during fight week, including an automotive convention that has brought people in.
The fight is not taking place at the MGM Grand, the home of boxing, but at the 21,000-seat Thomas & Mack Center, home of the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels, who were gracious enough to move an exhibition game the evening ahead of the fight so the venue could accommodate the Pacquiao fight. A total of 7,000 seats were sold for $50 each.
It’s the first time $50 could get a person in a Pacquiao fight. They’re practically giving those tickets away.
There’s belt-tightening around Team Pacquiao, with less airline tickets given away back home to those who normally get one, two or three so they could watch the fight live in Vegas.
Those who made it here as Pacquiao’s guests, other than members of the team itself, were billeted in a hotel with cheaper rates.
In the past, almost any Tom, Dick and Harry can ask and are given room keys to the same affluent hotel where Pacquiao is staying.
“We are cutting down on cost,” said Pacquiao’s adviser Mike Koncz.
For the first time in many, many fights, Pacquiao does not have a guaranteed purse and what he’s earning in this fight will all depend on how it sells.
His third and last fight against Bradley did nothing more than 300,000 PPV hits.
He should be happy surpassing those numbers on Saturday.
Pacquiao, therefore, has to be impressive against Vargas, and the best way to do that is to score a knockout.
He hasn’t scored one since stopping Miguel Cotto in the closing seconds of the 12th and final round in 2010.
He had gone the full distance in 10 of his last 11 fights. Being impressive here on Saturday should help Pacquiao regain the leverage in seeking the bigger fights and the bigger purse. It can also help lure Mayweather out of retirement, and face Pacquiao in a rematch.
“There’s just too much money on the table for that rematch and for these two boxers to walk away from.
An impressive win here and we can call out the bigger names,” said Roach.
The 56-year-old Roach, also trying to stretch his best years as a trainer, said if Vargas fights as aggressive as he said he would, the fight can be over in five rounds.
Pacquiao must go for the knockout here. There’s no other option.