Manny Pacquiao reclaims WBO welterweight title
Filipino Manny Pacquiao regained the WBO welterweight title on Saturday night at the Thomas and Mack Center by unanimous decision against Jessie Vargas, another Mexican to his list.
The Filipino fighter imposed his strength, speed, and experience over the desire and youth of the Mexican-American who ended his reign in his first exposure.
Pacman, who returned after a short four-month retirement, achieved the conquest of the crown to become the first senator to achieve such a feat, thanks to the speed and quantity of punches from different angles that he used during the 12 rounds of the fight. The judges rewarded his performance with scores of 114-113, 118-109, and 118-109.
"I am so happy with my performance, I wanted to win every round. Walking to the ring as a challenger was something that motivated me a lot and I am very happy," said PacMan Pacquiao, who improved his record to 59-6-2 with 38 knockouts.
In front of more than 16,000 attendees, Manny Pacquiao recalled the old times and with speed and power, tied the hands of the champion from the first episode, causing Vargas' desperation.
After five minutes, following a right hook that entered squarely, the response from the Filipino caught Vargas off guard and sent him to the center of the canvas without understanding when that straight right connected to the tip of his nose.
"Fighting Pacquiao is like playing chess. You have to be alert at all times. He was very fast and difficult to control," said the Mexican-American who suffered his second defeat in his career.
Although Pacquiao couldn't finish the action in the second round, the Filipino continued to work to dominate most of the fight, causing frustration in Vargas, who despite powerful right crosses to the face couldn't make the oriental retreat.
By the eighth round, fatigue took its toll and Vargas could no longer keep up, a response after the champion's onslaught left a deep cut on the left eyebrow of Dewey Cooper's pupil.
With this victory, Pacquiao regained the title he lost in 2015 to Floyd Mayweather.
Mayweather makes an appearance
The multi-champion Floyd Mayweather was seen on Saturday night at ringside of Champ vs. Legend, the fight where Manny Pacquiao regained the WBO welterweight title by defeating Jessie Vargas.
"I called Floyd to be my guest of honor at this fight... If I will fight him again, I don't know yet," acknowledged the Filipino.
Mayweather was seen for the first time at a Pacquiao fight, causing loud boos from the spectators, days after he stated that his return to boxing is imminent and that's why he keeps training.