Manny Pacquiao will embark on two missions today: defy time and punch his way into becoming the first senator to win a world boxing title.

Pacquiao (58-6-2 win-loss-draw with 38 KOs) meets youthful champion Jessie Vargas (27-1 with 10 KOs), younger by almost ten years at 27, in an attempt to dethrone him as World Boxing Organization welterweight king at the Thomas and Mack Center.

Turning 38 on Dec. 17, questions have been raised about Pacquiao’s age and ability to handle a young lion and the Filipino swears age is just a number as he vows to press the action at the get-go.

“I am the challenger and I will fight that way,” said Pacquiao after tipping in at 144.8 lbs during Friday’s (Saturday in Manila) official weigh in at the Encore Theater at the Wynn.

“It is not enough to do well, I have to take the title away from him.”

Pacquiao arrived first stripping off his black and gold track suit and stepping on the scale wearing grey boxer shorts and trademark white socks.

“I want to make history. It would mean a lot for me to win this fight,” he said.

“We had a great training camp and we’ve studied his style and we know how he fights,” said Pacquiao, who was elected into the Philippine Senate during the May national elections.

There’s been no other politician with such lofty position who succeeded in becoming a world boxing champion during his fighting days, making Pacquiao’s bid bordering on something that is simply out of this world.

But Vargas is right there to threaten it from taking place at his expense as the Mexican-American vowed to derail it by all means.

“I am not going to hand the title to him. I am keeping it,” said Vargas.

MEXICAN PRIDE

Vargas, who holds a four-inch height advantage and five-inch edge in reach, came in at 146.5 lbs and appeared ripped and ready to do battle with the fighter who once held the mythical title of pound-for-pound king.

Vargas is making his first title defense after winning the vacant WBO crown by beating Sadam Ali.

“Manny Pacquiao has had a great career,” said Vargas, who is from Las Vegas but says he is fighting for Mexican pride. “Everybody that beats him becomes a legend and I look forward to becoming a legend.”

Not many of the fans inside the Encore Theater on Friday were giving Vargas much of a chance.

“Manny will win because he favors this type of boxing style,” said Alex Picarra, of Henderson, Nevada. “Vargas is a good fighter but he is also a brawler and that plays into Manny’s style.”

Picarra, who works for an air conditioning company, said Vargas is out of his league.

“Manny’s still got it,” he said. “I watched Vargas fight Bradley and Bradley dominated him. If Bradley can dominate him, then what is Manny going to do?”

Mikael Osorito, of Daly City, California, is an example of the Manny mania of Filipino expats.

The 41-year-old airport worker flew to Las Vegas just so he could attend the weigh-in.

Osorito will fly home Saturday morning and enjoy the fight on a big screen TV with about 30 friends and family.

“I come to all of Manny’s weigh-ins,” said Osorito, who paid $100 just to watch the weigh-in prior to the Mayweather mega fight in 2015.

“Manny has more explosive power. He is not afraid in the ring. It’s do or die.”

HEAVY FAVORITE

Pacquiao is pressured to come up big as he has been criticized for his lack of stopping power at welterweight since the last time he scored an abbreviated win took place seven years ago.

But Pacquiao, who has won eight world titles in as many weight classes, feels he has been able to load up on ammo the past few weeks, something that he badly needs to shore up his popularity.

Following his loss last year to Floyd Mayweather, Pacquiao’s stock took a hit and it showed when his rousing win conquest of Tim Bradley last April faltered in PPV with only 400 buys.

The numbers were ghastly as Pacquiao once lorded over the PPV scene with many of his fights averaging 1.2 million hits.

Despite his slide, Pacquiao remains as the heavy 7-1 favorite in the scheduled 12-rounder that will be refereed by Kenny Bayless and scored by Glenn Feldman, Dave Moretti and Glenn Trowbridge.

This will be Pacquiao’s 27th fight on US soil stretching back to June, 2001 when Pacquiao, still a scrawny and obscure super-bantamweight, earned $40,000.

Against Vargas, Pacquiao stands to earn much, much more than that although not near the flat fee of a little over $20 million that was given to him by Top Rank big boss Bob Arum.

“He’s getting a negligible fee but he gets a percentage in the PPV and if the PPV doesn’t fare well, his earnings will be affected.”

“But if it does well, of course he gets more,” said Arum.

Assuming Pacquiao brings Vargas to school, Arum has two fighters available for next year although a rematch with Mayweather is tops on the list.

Since Mayweather has opted to retire, Arum is training his sights on active fighters like Terence Crawford and Vasyl Lomacenko.

KNOCKOUT WISH

Back home, Malacañang wished the neophyte senator and the “Filipino flash” Nonito Donaire luck in their respective fights in Las Vegas today (Saturday in the US).

“Two highly-anticipated matches will take place tomorrow (Sunday).  First is the Nonito Donaire-Jesse Magdaleno fight where the ‘Filipino flash’ will defend his World Boxing Organization (WBO) super bantam weight belt,” said presidential communications Secretary Martin Andanar.

“Second is the Manny Pacquiao-Jessie Vargas where our ‘Pambansang Kamao,’ Senator Manny, makes his return from retirement to fight for the WBO welterweight title,” he added.

“We wish our boxers good luck. The whole nation is behind the two boxers cheering for the pride of the Philippines and praying for the win,” Andanar continued.

President Duterte earlier hoped for a Vargas knockout “within the first four rounds” of the 12-round title fight. (With reports from AFP and Elena L. Aben)

Source:
courtesy of MANILA BULLETIN

by Nick Giongco

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