theScore will be providing full round-by-round coverage of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Jesse Vargas fight on Saturday, Nov. 5
As rewarding as public service might be for Manny Pacquiao, it won't keep the Filipino senator from his passion.
The boxer-turned-politician will officially end his seven-month retirement when he challenges WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas on Saturday (Top Rank PPV, 9 p.m. ET) at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Few thought Pacquiao's layoff would stick following his one-sided win over Timothy Bradley Jr. in April, and, voila, he's back.
"I want to prove that I am still one of the best pound-for-pound fighters," Pacquiao said, according to ESPN's Dan Rafael. "I feel I still have a lot to prove. I am not done with boxing. I will continue to keep fighting as long as I love boxing and boxing still loves me. I do not feel old. I feel like I am still 27."
Pacquiao (58-6-2, 38 KOs) - who's, in fact, 37 - faces a game, albeit significantly less decorated, challenger in Vargas (27-1, 10 KOs).
Some are calling the bout a cash-grab for Pacquiao, who's admitted to earning a relatively paltry income as a politician. Not so, he says.
"I felt very good in that Bradley fight. It is not the reason I continued to fight though. I came back because I felt lonely, not training with my friends and I felt empty and I realized that I could still train and work so that’s why I decided to fight again."
So why Vargas and not junior welterweight titlist Terence Crawford, who poses a bigger threat and whom most fight fans preferred? The question may answer itself.
Vargas will seemingly be fighting with a major disadvantage in the power department, having finished only 10 of his opponents by KO. The Los Angeles native, whose only career loss came via decision to Bradley, managed to stop previously unbeaten Sadam Ali in March for the vacant belt, ending a four-year run in which his 11 fights went the distance.
For his part, Pacquiao has a reputation as a big puncher, but hasn't recorded a knockout since 2009 (Miguel Cotto).
Boxing fans' appetite for Pacquiao's return bout won't be wholly known until the pay-per-view numbers are tallied, but it appears tepid.
Top Rank's Bob Arum will foot the bill for the card after HBO passed on his offer. The bout precedes the premium cable network's showdown between Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev by just two weeks, pitting the two fights head-to-head for PPV buyers.
Arum's stopgap broadcast team will include Bradley as an analyst and Brian Kenny calling the blow-by-blow alongside Stephen A. Smith of "First Take" fame.
"To say I'm incredibly excited would be an understatement," Smith said, according to ESPN.
For Pacquiao's and Arum's sake, let's hope he's not the only one.
