Pacquiao vs. Vargas

Pacquiao-Vargas to be distributed by Top Rank’s PPV arm

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By Chris Williams: It looks like Top Rank promoter Bob Arum won’t be going with either of the main cable networks HBO or Showtime to televise former eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao’s next fight against World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Jessie Vargas (27-1, 10 KOs) on November 5. HBO passed on the fight for whatever reason. Supposedly, HBO didn’t want to televise the Pacquiao-Vargas fight on the date that Arum wanted it to take place because they already have the Andre Ward vs. Sergey Kovalev fight taking place in November.

HBO is said to not wanting to carry two PPV fights in the same month. But you have to wonder whether the network perceived the Pacquiao-Vargas fight as being a potential poor one in terms of fan interest and PPV buys, because it’s not a great fight at all. There are many boxing fans that are griping in forums on the internet that the match not being worthy of PPV. Arum wants the Pacquiao-Vargas fight to be on PPV, but it’s simply not a good fight in terms of it being an exciting match-up. Vargas is seen as a beatable champion, as he already proved last year in losing to Tim Bradley.

Nonito Donaire possible for Pacquiao-Vargas card

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By Chris Williams: WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire (37-3, 24 KOs) could be fighting his #1 WBO mandatory challenger Jessie Magdaleno (23-0, 17 KOs) on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Jessie Vargas card on November 5 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

This would be a big deal if the 33-year-old Donaire were to fight on the Pacquiao vs. Vargas card, because it would increase interest in the card with some boxing fans. Top Rank needs to beef up the Pacquiao-Vargas card in the worst way because it’s not a fight that will likely attract much interest from the boxing fans to purchase it on pay-per-view.

In addition to Donaire-Magdaleno possibly being added to Pacquiao;’s card. There’s also could of other big fights on the card as well being talked about.

Pacquiao could fight twice in 2017

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By Eric Baldwin: If former eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao can get past WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas in flying colors on November 5 in their fight on pay-per-view, then Pacquiao is expected to be back for two fights in 2017.

Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum is reportedly saying that the Filipino star will fight two times next year. Arum isn’t saying who the soon to be 38-year-old Pacquiao will be fighting in 2017, but Arum has mentioned that he would like to match him against his fighters Terence Crawford and Vasyl Lomachenko. Both are with the 84-year-old Arum’s Top Rank stable, so putting the fights together should be a cinch for the aging promoter.

Pacquiao also has the potential option of fighting former WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo Alvarez, but it’s unknown if Arum will want to make that fight. Canelo isn’t with Arum’s Top Rank stable.

Pacquiao vs. Vargas: Jessie says Kellerman is ignorant

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By Chris Williams: WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas (27-1, 10 KOs) thinks ESPN First Take analyst Max Kellerman is ignorant for his recent comments in saying that if Manny Pacquiao (58-6-2, 38 KOs) loses to Vargas in their fight on November 5, then it suggests that the Filipino fighter is over-the-hill. Kellerman said that it appears that the reason why Pacquiao chose to fight Vargas next instead of unbeaten WBC/WBO light welterweight champion Terence “Bud” Crawford next is because he’s only fighting for money rather than for the sport.

Kellerman sees Vargas as the easier option for Pacquiao than Crawford, who he feels would be a real test for him if the fight had been made. Pacquiao, 37, had the option to select the Top Rank promoted Crawford for his next fight, but he instead selected Vargas.

It’s easy to understand why Pacquiao selected Vargas to fight, because he’s clearly a more beatable guy. All Kellerman is doing is speaking the plain facts.

Pacquiao vs. Vargas: Did Kellerman rush to write off the fight?

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Image: Pacquiao vs. Vargas: Did Kellerman rush to write off the fight?

By Gerardo Granados: Since the November 5th fight between Manny Pacquiao and Jessie Vargas was officially announced, I have read and hear criticism towards this fight, but I don’t think it’s a bad match up at all. In fact, I believe this one might as well end up in the upset of the year. So, I asked to a friend sports journalist Niccolo Chaves if he thought that Max Kellerman had rushed to write off the Jessie Vargas vs Manny Pacquiao upcoming fight. But my friend didn’t know what Max Kellerman had said at the ESPN First Take show last week.

So I told him that basically Kellerman said Manny Pacquiao was cherry picking Jessie Vargas. My friend replied “Well, Vargas is no Sugar Ray Leonard, but he still has a belt and can be decent after the third Tim Bradley fight. When Floyd Mayweather and Pacquiao are involved, the expectations are so sky high that often their matches are mismatches.”

Malignaggi surprised HBO not televising Pacquiao-Vargas

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Image: Malignaggi surprised HBO not televising Pacquiao-Vargas

By Patrick McHugh: HBO decided recently not to televise the November 5 fight between Top Rank promoted welterweights Manny Pacquiao and Jessie Vargas for their fight at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. HBO reportedly wants to televise the Pacquiao-Vargas fight on October 29 in order to package it with the Tyson Fury vs. Wladimir Klitschko fight card.

Showtime commentator Paulie Malignaggi was surprised that HBO chose not to televise the Pacquiao-Vargas fight because he still sees the Filipino star as capable of bringing in pay-per-view buys at this point in his career, even though his last fight against Tim Bradley was said to have done poorly in not selling what he’d done in the past.

Arum might self-distribute Pacquiao vs. Vargas

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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.

O Manny, Where Art Thou?

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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.

Pacquiao vs. Vargas could be shown on Showtime PPV

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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.

Koncz: Pacquiao vs. Vargas is the perfect fight

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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.