Jessie Vargas

Arum might self-distribute Pacquiao vs. Vargas

by

arum12345

By Allan Fox: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is considering self-distributing the November 5th fight between his two fighters Manny Pacquiao and Jessie Vargas due to HBO choosing not to televise it for that date. HBO wants to televise the Pacquiao-Vargas fight on October 29, along with the Wladimir Klitschko vs. Tyson Fury fight.

By putting those two fights together in one package, it makes for a better pay-per-view event. HBO doesn’t want to televise two PPV events in the same month apparently. They have the November 19 fight between Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev that will be televised on HBO PPV.

read more

O Manny, Where Art Thou?

by

Image: O Manny, Where Art Thou?

By Rishad Marquardt: One can’t have a detailed discussion on the career of Manny Pacquiao without talking about Floyd Mayweather Jr., and with it, few people would resist the temptation to compare the two. I can’t speak for everyone, but when people would watch Floyd, many would watch hoping that this time was the time he was going to taste defeat and at the same time would be able to witness the ensuing arrogance wiped clean from his face.

It was as attractive a reason to watch him fight as any other. Many boxing fans would admit that watching his defensive skills was akin to satisfying a guilty pleasure, one would watch on in awe of a master technician in action. But despite this, all too often it was his demeanor, attitude, and choice of fights – and especially their timing, that were a painfully monotonous source of frustration and dissatisfaction.

This was never the case with Manny. He would mirthfully bob up and down in the ring before a fight, his facial expression glazed in concentration, yes, but not with the menacing and antagonizing stare that encompasses the expressions of so many a pugilist.

read more

Pacquiao vs. Vargas could be shown on Showtime PPV

by

Image: Pacquiao vs. Vargas could be shown on Showtime PPV

By Allan Fox: HBO reportedly passed on the idea of televising the November 5 fight between Manny Pacquiao and WBO welterweight champion, according to their promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank. Arum thinks HBO chose not to televise the Pacquiao-Vargas fight because it would have taken place two weeks in front of the November 19 fight on HBO pay-per-view between Andre Ward and IBF/WBA/WBC light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The idea is that the PPV sales for the Ward-Kovalev fight might have been affected by another PPV fight earlier in November between Pacquiao and Vargas. Arum is vacating in Aspen right now, but when his vacation is over, he plans on talking to Showtime about them possibly televising the Pacquiao-Vargas fight, according to RingTV.

read more

Koncz: Pacquiao vs. Vargas is the perfect fight

by

Image: Koncz: Pacquiao vs. Vargas is the perfect fight

By Chris Williams: Manny Pacquiao and World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Jessie Vargas will give the fight fans the fight they want to see on November 5 in their match at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Pacquiao vs. Vargas (27-1, 10 KOs) fight will likely be a more entertaining fight than Pacquiao vs. Terence Crawford, a fighter that was one of the options for Pacquiao (58-6-2, 38 KOs) to choose from.

The difference between Vargas and Crawford’s style of fighting is like night and day. While Vargas will be coming forward to slug all night long against Pacquiao, Crawford likely would have been moving constantly, looking to counter punch, and not standing in place for any length of time.

read more

Arum: Pacquiao is ready for Mayweather after Vargas

by

arum5767

By Eric Baldwin: Manny Pacquiao is fighting WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas on November 5, not because of his World Boxing Organization title or for the money that he’ll be getting from the fight on pay-per-view. The reason why Pacquiao is taking the fight against Vargas is to stay ready for a potential big rematch against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2017. That’s what Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank is saying.

If the former eight division world champion Pacquiao beats Vargas, then he’ll be in the perfect position to face Mayweather next year if he comes out of retirement. Mayweather says he wants to get a nine-figure payday when/if he comes back looking for win No.50. While Mayweather recently mentioned wanting to fight UFC star Conor McGregor, the only realistic chance he has of getting that kind of payday is against Pacquiao, not McGregor.

McGregor reportedly wants a 50-50 deal for a fight against Mayweather, which means there’s no way that Mayweather will be able to get a nine-figure payday fighting that guy. Only against Pacquiao does Mayweather have a chance of getting that kind of money, but he needs to come back next year.

read more

Pacquiao makes disappointing choice

by

Manny Pacquiao

By Leigh K. Seto: Manny Pacquiao as a young up and coming fighter was a dynamo only comparable to Roberto Duran himself. He was taking out not just hall of fame fighters like Cotto, Margarito and Hatton, but also legends like Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Oscar Dela Hoya and Juan Manuel Marquez. He garnered respect of the public and the world over.

Unfortunately, that fighter has been laid to rest. He has become the corporate with Bob Arum and those challenges are so far gone now, it’s just folk lore.

read more

Pacquiao: I’m fighting Vargas because he is a champion

by

pac66

By Allan Fox: Manny Pacquiao upset a lot of boxing fans on Wednesday when he revealed that he’ll be fighting WBO light welterweight champion Jessie Vargas (27-1, 12 KOs) in his next fight on November 5. Some of the boxing public wanted to see Pacquiao fight Terence Crawford, while others wanted to see him face the likes of Keith Thurman. Vargas is a good option because he’s a world champion, and he looks to be improving from the performance he put in against Tim Bradley last year. Vargas seems to be sitting down more on his shots than he used to in the past, and this will make him a threat to beating Pacquiao on November 5th.

Crawford was obvious choice simply because he’s in the same Top Rank stable as Pacquiao and he’d been mentioned as an option for Pacquiao by their promoter Bob Arum. If Arum had included other guys like Thurman, Danny Garcia or Adrien Broner, then one of them likely would have been the preferred choice for Pacquiao instead of Crawford.

read more

Kellerman tears into Pacquiao for fighting Vargas

by

kellerman

By Chris Williams: Max Kellerman in his ESPN role as a commentator tore into Manny Pacquiao today for his decision to fight for a world title against WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas on November 5 instead of choosing to move down in weight to fight WBC/WBO 140lb champion Terence Crawford.

Kellerman believes that Pacquiao chose the Vargas fight because it was the easier fight for him than the Crawford match-up, which Kellerman sees as a potential 50-50 affair. Kellerman says that Pacquiao vs. Vargas fight is a “money grab” on Pacquiao’s part or at least it looks like money grab.

What Kellerman fails to see is that there’s no real reason to fight Crawford, because he’s A. not a pay-per-view attraction B. There’s no upside in fighting him because he’s not well known C. Pacquiao won’t get credit from the casual boxing fans for beating Crawford D. Pacquiao would be risking a much, much bigger money fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. by taking the small money fight against Crawford.

read more

Manny Pacquiao to fight Jessie Vargas – It’s official!

by

pac999

By Chris Williams: Manny Pacquiao has reportedly confirmed that he’ll be facing World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Jessie Vargas for his next fight on November 5 rather than facing Terence Crawford, another one of Top Rank promoter Bob Arum’s stable fighters.

Pacquiao, Crawford and Vargas are all Top Rank fighters, so the Pacquiao-Vargas fight will be an in house one for Arum where he has his fingers on the gearshift of the promotion. The Pacquiao vs. Vargas fight is expected to take place at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada.

read more

Pacquiao to decide on Crawford or Vargas next week

by

Image: Pacquiao to decide on Crawford or Vargas next week

By Chris Williams: Manny Pacquiao says he can’t speak on who he’ll be facing for his next fight on November 5th until he meets with his promoter Bob Arum next week. Top Rank boss Bob Arum will be flying over next week to meet with Pacquiao in the Philippines so that the two of them can decide between Terence Crawford and Jessie Vargas for his next fight in November.

It’s thought by some boxing fans that Arum wants Pacquiao to fight Crawford because he has more star potential than the 27-year-old Vargas. However, fighting Crawford would involve Pacquiao moving down to 140 and fighting the American at his own weight for his WBC/WBO light welterweight belts.

read more