Share

Pacquiao puts retirement on hold, takes on Vargas

He is in the US for only a short time, to attend a Los Angeles news conference announcing his title challenge of World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight world champion JESSIE VARGAS (27-1, 10 KOs), of Las Vegas, Nev. He used his time on the podium to diplomatically encourage fans to buy thousands of $50 seats for November 5 at Las Vegas’ Thomas and Mack Center, where he will go after the 27-year-old Vargas’ WBO welterweight title. I threw a lot more punches than him and I thought I did more than he did.

Advertisement

However Pacquiao – who abruptly ended his own retirement in August following what was billed as his farewell bout against Timothy Bradley in April – said he suspected only money would tempt Mayweather to get back in the ring.

“I have had trouble with the shoulder since 2009”, Manny said.

Roach must move to Manila for six weeks to train Pacquiao in the breaks between his senatorial duties.

Even if Pacquiao beats Vargas, he’s not likely going to do much other than get put in with Crawford. “I’m open to any fight”, Pacquiao told reporters in Beverly Hills.

Mayweather outpointed Pacquiao in a unanimous decision victory in their May 2015 superfight, the highest-grossing bout in history which grossed more than $500 million according to most estimates.

“Manny still has a good future in boxing, I think”, Roach said. Pacquiao certainly wants a second go at Mayweather, but do fans really need to see it?

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum never claimed Pacquiao’s victory over Bradley would be his final fight.

“I know that I’m the underdog in this fight?”

This means that for him to become a big PP star, he needs to fight and beat top names, and he needs to have an exciting fighting style. After a half-century in promotion, Arum knows a boxer’s vows are only as strong as their wills. HBO always shows their PPV fights a week later on regular HBO.

If Arum is going to have his fighters on PPV, then they won’t be seen by many boxing fans if the fights aren’t interesting enough to be purchased by them. “I really believe this will lead to us forming our own boxing network”.

Pacquiao who just arrived in Los Angeles on Wednesday September 7, will attend the only fight announcement press conference for the Pacquiao vs Vargas Pay-Per-View event. The press conference will be in Beverly Hills and both combatants and their respective trainers will be in attendance to answer questions from the media. The matchup is an extraordinary opportunity with little downside for the Mexican-American champion, but he won’t be content just to bank his fee for playing a bit part in Pacquiao’s saga. An worldwide icon, Pacquiao is the only fighter to win eight world titles in as many different weight divisions.

Advertisement

Asked what had prompted his decision to come out of retirement, Pacquiao smiled: “The main reason is because when I hung up my gloves, I realised that the sport that I loved, I was no longer active with that”.

Manny Pacquiao said he would be ready to fight Floyd Mayweather again if there was a demand for it from fans