Manny Pacquiao vs. Jessie Vargas

The Legend/The Champ
Resurgence

Date	November 5, 2016
Venue	Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Title(s) on the line	WBO welterweight title
Tale of the tape
Boxer Manny Pacquiao Jessie Vargas Nickname "Pac-Man" "The New Generation" Hometown General Santos, Philippines Los Angeles, California, U.S. Pre-fight record 58–6–2 (38 KO) 27–1–0 (10 KO) Height 5 ft 5+1⁄2 in (166 cm) 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) Recognition Eight-division world champion. Former lineal and two-time WBO welterweight champion. WBO welterweight champion. Former WBA super lightweight champion.
Result
Pacquiao wins via 12-round unanimous decision

Manny Pacquiao vs. Jessie Vargas, billed as The Legend/The Champ was a boxing match for the WBO welterweight championship. The event took place on November 5, 2016 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pacquiao won the fight by unanimous decision and took the WBO welterweight title.

Fight card

• WBO Welterweight bout: Manny Pacquiao vs. Jessie Vargas (c)
  • Pacquiao won by unanimous decision.

• WBO Featherweight bout: Oscar Valdez (c) vs. Hiroshige Osawa
  • Valdez won by seventh round technical knockout.

• WBO Super Bantamweight bout: Nonito Donaire (c) vs. Jessie Magdaleno
  • Magdaleno won by unanimous decision.

• WBO Flyweight bout: Zou Shiming vs. Prasitsak Phaprom
  • Shiming won by unanimous decision.

Broadcasting

For this event, the organizers Top Rank, broadcast, produced and distributed the event on their own under the "Top Rank PPV" brand instead of it being broadcast by HBO, the broadcaster of most Pacquiao fights in the United States. The reason was because the latter had scheduled an event on November 19, and because Pacquiao insisted HBO between November 5 and November 14 to broadcast his bout due to his participation in the Philippine senate, where he is a senator, and of his busy schedule. Because of this, both domestic and international feeds carried the Top Rank-produced broadcast.

MLB Network's Brian Kenny, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith and boxer Timothy Bradley serves as ringside commentators, Crystina Poncher handles interviews and updates at the locker room, while Fox Sports and Extra's Charissa Thompson handles as the hostess of the event.

While the broadcast was a success in the U.S., some international countries (including the Philippines, Pacquiao's home country) had some "minor" problems when the fight is broadcast. Portions where the ringside commentators or Charissa Thompson would appear on camera would be cut out and replace with different shots of the arena. Another is the post-fight interview of the main bout, where it was replaced with natural crowd noise, making it hard to hear what did Pacquiao, Vargas and Stephen A. Smith were actually saying (the latter had a little audio noise, but the fighters are harder to hear).

Fight Recap

By: Mike Sloan | sherdog.com

Round 1: Kenny Bayless is the referee for this WBO welterweight championship and we are underway. Vargas paws with a several nervous jabs in the center of the ring while Pacquiao patiently moves side to side and up and down. Vargas goes with a straight right to the body but Manny can’t counter him in time. Vargas is more composed and relaxed at the midway point and is controlling the distance with his jab. Pacquiao eats a loopy overhand right but is able to come back with a mostly-blocked left hook. It’s mostly a feel-out round, but Vargas pops the legend with a right to the mouth at the bell and Manny counters.

Round 2: Pacquiao opens the round with a straight left to the grill, but Vargas shakes it off as if it didn’t connect. The two tie each other up, and Pacquiao takes the liberty to unload a series of rights to the body. Pacquiao isn’t active at all but he is avoiding most of the loopy punches being hurled his way. Vargas whiffs on a wild left hook and the Filipino counters with a glancing right uppercut. They exchange blows moments later and a straight left drops Vargas onto the seat of his trunks late. He’s up and seems shaken but he’s able to survive the round.

Round 3: Vargas is keeping a safe distance behind the jab but Pacquiao seems to have found his rhythm as he bobs and weaves his way in. Vargas is nailed by another counter left upstairs and he stumbles backward. Jessie regroups and tags his foe with a short left hook but Pacquiao fires a right and left in return. As it stands now, Vargas clearly can’t stand up to Pacquiao’s power and this could be disastrous. Vargas throws a left-right twice and misses by a foot. The Vegas kid follows that up with a sloppy overhand left and misses so badly that he nearly punches the canvas.

Round 4: Vargas is coy to begin the frame and backs away as he paws with his jab. Pacquiao takes his time and then fires off a triple jab-straight left combo. Vargas unfurls a left hook that misses its target by about two feet, but Manny is unable to counter him. Vargas finally connects with a sizzling lead right to the face, but the senator walks right through it. Pacquiao wades in behind several jabs, looking to set up that straight left. Vargas misses a right late and eats another left. Another and then a right. Vargas answers with a right at the bell.

Round 5: Vargas paws with his left jab early, but Pacquiao steps underneath it and pops the champ with a few rights in return. Manny feints with a few lefts and then rattles off a few jabs; every punch keeps Vargas honest and defensive. They trade leather in the center of the ring and it’s Vargas who connects with a powerful right to the jaw. Pacquiao creates some space and tags the younger man with a right-left to the noggin. Vargas shakes it off and counters with a left hook, but he catches only air. Vargas closes the round with a flurry of rights and lefts, but none of them land. Very close fight.

Round 6: The two welterweights trade jabs for the better of the first minute, with neither man landing anything noteworthy. Vargas is smiling at the eight-division champion and is saying something to him, but Pacquiao isn’t biting. A few jabs and a left by Manny and at the midway point, there is some minor swelling around Vargas’ right eye. Pacquiao pops him with a right hook and Vargas backs off, but the Mexican-American comes right back with a three-punch combo. A beautiful counter right to the face snaps Manny’s head back just before the bell.

Round 7: Vargas lands a decent overhand right to the head and then follows it up with a left hook to the hip. Bayless warns him for the low blow. Manny snaps his foe’s head back with a textbook southpaw jab and then another. Pacquiao’s follow-up left hook just misses and Vargas counters him with a right upstairs. Vargas ducks under a right but swallows a straight left, though he takes it well and shakes his head “no” at the Filipino legend. Pacquiao snaps a few jabs out and the punches make Vargas miss two left hooks badly and he stumbles off-balance.

Round 8: Pacquiao touches the champ with a few jabs early and is looking to land that massive left-handed missile. Both welterweights have fallen into the trap of trying to land one punch at a time instead of setting up the attacks with multiple punches. Finally a right wakes Vargas up and they swap fists in the center of the ring. They exchange some terrific blows until their heads come together. There’s a cut above Vargas’s right eye and it’s bothering him. Pacquiao connects with a left and a right, but Vargas is tough, answering the punches with a few of his own.

Round 9: Pacquiao walks into a stiff jab almost as soon as the round begins and then ties Vargas up. Their heads clash again but Vargas is able to crack the Filipino with a slick right on the inside. Manny tags him with a left upstairs but Vargas counters with a pair of shots to the gut. Their heads clash again, but thankfully nobody is hurt or cut. Pacquiao has slowed down quite a bit down the stretch of the round and is tying Vargas up more and more. Jessie tags his counterpart with a nice overhand right and then a left at the bell.

Round 10: Replays between rounds show that the cut above Jessie’s eye in the eighth came from a punch, which the Nevada Athletic Commission has ruled. As of the beginning of this stanza, the cut is not problematic. They trade some leather early but Vargas is shaken by a left and right up top. Vargas comes right back but he’s drilled by another straight left to the face. Vargas backs off and when he comes back in to attack, his left hook misses by a mile. Manny retaliates with a short left to the melon again and then a powerful right. Vargas is rattled by the punches but he smiles in an attempt to cover up the shots’ impact. Pacquiao avoids a loopy left hook and nails his foe with a perfect right jab. Vargas stumbles to his right and misses another left hook badly. It’s all Pacquiao in this round.

Round 11: Pacquiao storms out of his corner and clips Jessie with a loopy overhand left. Vargas answers with a left but he eats a right-left in return. Pacquiao charges in with his gloves down and Vargas nails him with a powerful right to the forehead. Manny eats another right hand and stops throwing momentarily. Vargas has come alive and catches Manny with a right and when Pacquiao dives in with a flurry, he is ripped by a left hook upstairs. They stand forehead-to-forehead briefly and during the exchange, Pacquiao nails him with a short left. When they separate, Vargas is tagged by a right hook and he stumbles down to the canvas, but Bayless rules it a slip.

Round 12: Pacquiao storms out of his corner and clips Jessie with a loopy overhand left. Vargas answers with a left but he eats a right-left in return. Pacquiao charges in with his gloves down and Vargas nails him with a powerful right to the forehead. Manny eats another right hand and stops throwing momentarily. Vargas has come alive and catches Manny with a right and when Pacquiao dives in with a flurry, he is ripped by a left hook upstairs. They stand forehead-to-forehead briefly and during the exchange, Pacquiao nails him with a short left. When they separate, Vargas is tagged by a right hook and he stumbles down to the canvas, but Bayless rules it a slip.

Manny Pacquiao def. Jessie Vargas via Unanimous Decision (114-113, 118-109, 118-109) becoming the new WBO welterweight champion.

Fight purses

Guaranteed Base Purses

• Manny Pacquiao ($4,000,000) vs. Jessie Vargas ($2,800,000)
• Oscar Valdez ($200,000) vs. Hiroshige Osawa ($50,000)
• Nonito Donaire ($400,000) vs. Jessie Magdaleno ($90,000)
• Zou Shiming ($5,000) vs. Prasitsak Phaprom ($5,000)