The Manny Pacquiao-Jessie Vargas fight for Nov. 5 has officially been announced, and the two will be at a press conference next week to begin promoting the bout and to help move tickets, which go on sale next Thursday.
And now it?s clear where fans who aren?t at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas on that night can watch the card, because after weeks of speculation about which network would carry the pay-per-view, we finally have our answer. None of them.
We already knew HBO, which is putting on the Nov. 19 Andre Ward-Sergey Kolavev fight, wouldn?t be a part of the broadcast because the premium cable outlet doesn?t want to saturate the PPV market for the month of November. Thus, this week, Top Rank?s Bob Arum announced that Top Rank will produce and distribute the card itself.
Here?s something else we learned this week. Pacquiao isn?t looking at Vargas as the final opponent of his career. Pacquiao announced his retirement after beating Timothy Bradley in April, but that break was short-lived. It makes sense that Pacquiao wouldn?t return for a one-off with Vargas, a welterweight belt-holder who doesn?t have much name recognition, but instead will look at the bout as a slingshot into more high-profile events.
In fact, there have been rumors that Pacquiao would fight twice in 2017, and though Pacquiao confirmed that plan to RingTV.com, he also wanted to keep the focus on Vargas (27-1, 10 knockouts), who was out-classed by Bradley for most of the fight in his only loss.
?I don?t want to underestimate him,? Pacquiao (58-6-2, 38 KOs) told the website. ?He?s a champion so I always consider my opponent as one of the best.?
But it?s also delicious to consider who Pacquiao could fight, assuming he beats Vargas ? at this point, Pacquiao is considered about a 10/1 betting favorite. Here are a couple of possible opponents.
-Terence Crawford: A win vs. Pacquiao could make Crawford (No. 8 on the Forbes Top 10 Pound-For-Pound Moneymakers list) one of the most marketable boxing stars in this country, and he?d actually have a great chance to beat Pacquiao. That?s one reason this fight might not happen until Pacquiao decides he?s really ready to retire for good.
-Adrien Broner: I?d expect a dominant Pacquiao win over Broner. Though Broner hasn?t accomplished enough lately to deserve this chance, this would be a fun promotion that could make both parties plenty of money.
-Vasyl Lomachenko: Like the Crawford fight, this bout would carry plenty of risk. Lomachenko (6-1, 4 KOs) is inexperienced at the pro level, but he?s already proven that he?s one of the top-10 fighters in the world.
-Miguel Cotto: Pacquiao dominated him when they fought in 2009, but Cotto is in need of an opponent. And this would be a blast, watching two older veterans battle again.
As for why Pacquiao is returning. He?s already talked about how he wants to make more money for his family, but he also described his love for the sport.
