Pacquiao victorious in fight vs Vargas with Mayweather watching

LAS VEGAS—Manny Pacquiao put on a masterful performance to take the WBO World welterweight title from champion Jessie Vargas Sunday (Manila time).

Floyd Mayweather Jr. stopped by to see an old foe, and Pacquiao tried his best to give him a show.

With Mayweather watching intently from a ringside seat, Pacquiao dropped Jessie Vargas in the second round and bloodied his face Saturday night on his way to a lopsided decision that gave him a piece of the welterweight title once again.

Pacquiao won on all three ringside scorecards — 118-109, 118-109 114-113 — to take the piece of the title Vargas won in his last fight. The AP scored it 119-109.

It was vintage Pacquiao at times, even though he couldn’t stop Vargas like he desperately wanted to. And with Mayweather at ringside it certainly will stir talk of a second fight between the boxers who went at it last year in the richest fight ever.

That, of course, would depend on Mayweather coming out of retirement and Pacquiao being able to fight while still attending to his duties as a senator in the Philippines. Mayweather did not answer questions about a possible return to the ring shouted at him by writers at ringside.

“I came to take my daughter to the fights,” Mayweather said, with his daughter sitting next to him.

Just before the bell rang to start the fight, Pacquiao smiled and waved a fist at Mayweather. He then came out aggressive, trying to walk down Vargas and make it a short night.

But Pacquiao, who has not knocked out an opponent in seven years, wasn’t going to stop the younger Vargas in his hometown. Vargas had difficulty dealing with Pacquiao’s speed, but was more than willing to trade punches to try and lure him into a brawl.

In the eighth round he succeeded at doing that, hitting Pacquiao with a big right and punching his gloves together as if to tell him to stand and fight. Pacquiao went right back after him and they traded punches before staring at each other when the bell sounded to end the round.

Vargas was cut over the right eye by an accidental clash of heads in the eighth, and blood trickled into his eye but it didn’t seem to be a factor.

The taller Vargas landed some good right hands of his own, but they were infrequent and he rarely followed up on them. Still, they were enough to keep Pacquiao away at times and offset some of his advantage with speed.

Vargas fell again in the last round but it was ruled as a slip with 10 seconds left in the fight.

Mayweather took a ringside seat alongside his daughter to watch the man who helped make him untold millions when they fought in 2015. Mayweather won that fight, and Pacquiao’s performance was largely panned, though he claimed to have an injured shoulder.

Pacquiao acknowledged Mayweather after his in-ring interview with a smile as Money made his way out of the arena.

Pacquiao, fighting in his 22nd title fight in a pro career that stretches back to 1995, trained at night in the Philippines in the weeks leading up to the fight so he could tend to his day job as a newly elected senator. With the senate out of session, he was back in a more familiar place, with a crowd of some 16,132 nearly filling the UNLV campus arena to watch him take on Vargas, who was in only his second title bout.

Pacquiao, who earned a reported $100 million to fight Mayweather in the richest fight ever, was guaranteed $4 million plus a percentage of the revenue of the fight. Vargas got $2.8 million. With reports from Bong Lozada/INQUIRER.net

source: sports.inquirer.net

Magdaleno shocks Donaire, nabs WBO title

Jessie Magdaleno made a proper introduction into the boxing world after a stunning victory over Nonito Donaire via unanimous decision Sunday (Manila time) at Thomas & Mack Center.

The 24-year-old challenger walked away with Donaire’s WBO World super bantamweight title as he upped his undefeated record to 24-0 while the former champion slipped to 37-4 and saw his four-fight win streak come to an end.

Magdaleno, who was ahead in all three score cards, 116-112, 116-112, 118-110, pressed the issue in the ninth round when he pinned Donaire in the ropes and unleashed multiple combinations to the head of the champion.

Undefeated Magdaleno grew up in Las Vegas but was fighting with Mexico printed on his red and black trunks and was serenaded by chants of “Mexico, Mexico” several times during the fight.

Coming into the fight, Magdaleno was the number one contender, having won eight of his last 10 fights by knockout.

Donaire suffered just the fourth loss of his career despite doing well at the end of the rounds late in the fight.

In the 10th, the Filipino wobbled Magdaleno with good right hard punches at the begin and end of the round.

The two traded heavy blows in the 12th with the crowd on its feet for the final round.

“We definitely won the fight. Losing never crossed my mind,” said Donaire. “I never thought I could lose this. I had a great second half and I thought I controlled the fight.” Agence France-Presse

source: sports.inquirer.net

Pacquiao gives away $1 million on tickets

LAS VEGAS–It’s easy to understand why Manny Pacquiao keeps on fighting.

He’s generous to a fault.

For this fight against Jessie Vargas alone, Pacquiao has spent $1 million (roughly P48 million) for 2,000 tickets given away to friends, relatives and fellow politicians.

That’s a huge amount, considering that he’ll not be receiving the guaranteed $20 million for his third fight against Timothy Bradley in April.

According to sources, Pacquiao will be receiving an undisclosed flat rate plus a percentage of the revenues from The Legend vs The Champ fight card promoted by Top Rank Inc.

Vargas, on the other hand, will get $2.8M outright.

With the lower prices, tickets to the 19,522-seater Thomas & Mack Center, are selling briskly, according to Top Rank honcho Bob Arum.

Despite the absence of HBO, which passed off this time, pay per view sales are expected to rise, hours before the card starts at the home of the UNLV Running Rebels, the 1990 US NCAA Division I champions.

In a mini press conference Thursday, Pacquiao disclosed that nearly 50 percent of whatever he earns from boxing is channeled back to the poor through free housing, hospitalization and other general services programs.

It’s a good thing, sponsors continue to trust Pacquiao’s global marketing appeal. Just this week, Anta, China’s giant sportswear firm, formally announced that it has made Pacquiao a chief endorser.

source: sports.inquirer.net

‘Young lion’ will slay ‘Tasmanian Devil’

LAS VEGAS—What happens when a young lion tangles with a Tasmanian Devil?

According to Jessie Vargas and his trainer, Dewey Cooper, the king of the jungle should prevail over the fierce, carnivorous Australian marsupial.

Vargas, the World Boxing Organization welterweight champion and Cooper, took the posture of the young lion in the interview following Tuesday’s Grand Arrival at Wynn here.

Cooper, a former boxer and kickboxer, referred to Pacquiao as a Tasmanian Devil-type of fighter that could be slain by fighting from a distance and moving with timing and precision.

Vargas agreed.

“He’s had a great career, but I’m here to beat him,” Vargas said. “I hope the best Pacquiao shows up. No excuses.”

“Him and Floyd are the best (of this generation),” Vargas added. ” But there is always that younger lion who wants it more.”

At 27, Vargas is 10 years younger than Pacquiao, who’s returning from brief retirement to try to reclaim the 147-pound title for the third time.

Vargas, who took the crown by stopping Sadam Ali in the ninth round, swears by the effectivity of Cooper’s training methods.

“He (Cooper) can tell me so many things to do. He knows what he is doing. I admire his work.

“This is the reason why I have power, something that’s important. My conditioning is good, excellent.  My power has improved much more that’s why we got a big KO over somebody (Ali) who’s never been knocked out.”

That’s why, Vargas entrusts his fate completely to Cooper on Nov. 5 (Nov. 6 in Manila) when he battles Pacquiao, who’s the heavy favorite, for 12 rounds at Thomas & Mack Center.

“Julio’s the one who started me to start dreaming. This Saturday night will be a memorable night for me and I’m going to live that dream,” said Vargas. “Once inside that ring, you don’t hear anything else but your trainer.”

The admiration is mutual.

“There was nothing to change about him (Vargas),” said Cooper. “He is willing to do unconventional things. Jessie has a versatile mind. He’s just not one-way, he is intelligent, bilingual, nice and he’s a warrior. He’s very athletic.”

Cooper was also generous in his praises for Vargas.

“He can make adjustments, real time real speed. He has a high IQ. He can do when and not to do things. He sees information fast and that’s what he can do.”

Cooper added that Pacquiao’s southpaw stance poses no problem.

“Me being a southpaw, I know certain weaknesses of both,  techniques conducive to a right hander. Will they work on Manny? A lot of those will. We’ve seen things that work on Manny. Manny is not undefeated, (he’s) not 49-0 (Mayweather). He’s (Pacquiao) not unbeatable, he’s beatable.’

Cooper, who fought as a cruiserweight and heavyweight,  regards Pacquiao as an uncoventional boxer.

“He’s got fast feet but his feet go out of control. All these things make him very awkward.

“He’s a Tasmanian Devil-type of fighter You got to have sharp eyes and ready to go. You beat these with distance and timing. At some point, that will cost him the fight.”

Though he’d yielded the floor to Vargas at the tailend of the interview, Cooper found a way to drive home their rallying point

“Never underestimate the hunger of a young lion champion,” Cooper, already standing, hollered repeatedly.

source: sports.inquirer.net