After beating Timothy Bradley via a unanimous points decision in April, Manny Pacquiao pledged to retire from boxing. However, five months on, the iconic Filipino returns to the ring to take on Jessie Vargas, with the WBO welterweight title on the line at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday.
For Pacquiao, now 37, it’ll be the 67th fight of his decorated professional career; he’s won 58 times, lost on six occasions and drawn twice. Vargas, the champion, has fought 28 times, with his only loss coming against Bradley in June 2015.
Here’s a look at some key details ahead of the bout, including a predicted start time and how the bookmakers think this one will go.
Full odds selection available via Odds Shark and are accurate as of Monday, October 31.
The fight is scheduled to begin at around 7 p.m. local time, although as the main event on the bill, it’s anticipated it’ll be closer to 9 p.m. before Pacquiao and Vargas step into the ring.
Fight Preview
Having fought the likes of Floyd Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya and Juan Manuel Marquez, Pacquiao has had more hotly anticipated fights in his professional career than this one. Nonetheless, the veteran will be keen to show he can still sparkle in the squared circle.
After losing to Mayweather in 2015 it was unclear quite what Pacquiao’s next move would be, especially given the shoulder injury suffered in the bout and the subsequent recovery. A third fight with Bradley underwhelmed some, although there were glimpse from Pacman that a fire still burns within him.
Pacquiao showed his trademark intensity in the bout, as well sufficient power to put Bradley down twice. If those types of shots land against Vargas, you sense he’ll be in business against the champion.
However, the Senator of the Philippines is expecting a difficult evening. “This is a big challenge for me because, first, I’m a challenger and he’s the champion,” he said, per the Daily Telegraph. “And this is my first fight since I was elected as a senator, so it’s an honour for me to bring another record in my career.”
During his preparations for this fight, Pacquiao has been keeping some illustrious company, as we can see here:
Vargas will be desperate to make the most of his time in the spotlight, though. Not only will he be up against one of the best fighters of this generation, this will be the first defence of his WBO strap, which he won with an impressive stoppage win over Sadam Ali in March.
The champion does have some reasons to be confident coming into this one. Pacquiao, while still a classy operator, is no longer the force of nature he was in his peak years; as the younger man by a decade, Vargas may be too vibrant and too durable for the Filipino to handle.
There’s an unbending confidence about the man from Los Angeles. As ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael noted recently, despite his underdog tag, Vargas is convinced he can triumph against his iconic opponent:
Even so, it’s a massive ask. Pacquiao may be on the wrong side of his best days, but he’s still an outstanding fighter. In terms of his in-ring smarts, counterpunching skill, experience and determination, there aren’t many in the sport who can match him. As such, Vargas needs to be perfect in his execution in all facets of the fight.
It’s unlikely he has that type of performance in him, though. After all, Bradley coasted to a points-decision win over Vargas last year, and the former struggled to cope with Pacquiao in their previous meeting. Different styles make for different fights, but the chasm in quality between the two men will be too wide for the champion to bridge.
Prediction: Pacquiao wins via decision