LAS VEGAS — There was high drama before Manny Pacquiao and Jessie Vargas threw a single punch Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center.
That is because Floyd Mayweather, the retired superstar, strode to ringside with his daughter during the final undercard bout and took a seat in front of the ringside media, immediately igniting the possibility of a rematch with Pacquiao, whom he outpointed in May 2015 in the richest fight in boxing history.
That rematch would not even be discussed without a Pacquiao win — but no worries.
With Mayweather leaning in and intently watching the fight, Pacquiao stormed to a one-sided decision victory to reclaim a welterweight world title before a wild crowd of 16,132.
After the scores of 118-109, 118-109 and 114-113 in favor of Pacquiao were announced, he climbed the ring post with his new belt in front of Mayweather and smiled at him.
Mayweather responded by giving him a thumbs-up. Mayweather’s comment to the ringside media on Pacquiao’s performance: “Not bad.”
ESPN.com scored the fight 119-108 for Pacquiao.
After a fairly close opening round, Pacquiao landed a lightning-fast straight left hand in the second round that landed flush and dropped Vargas to the seat of his pants late in the second round.
Pacquiao kept up an intense attack in the third round, and Vargas looked like a deer in headlights as the crowd went will with chants of “Manny! Manny!” Pacquiao was jumping in and out and tagging Vargas with left hands and making him miss badly.
Vargas began to find his footing midway through the fight. There were many exciting exchanges on the inside, and Vargas landed a thudding right hand as the bell ended the sixth round.
The eighth round was action-packed as Vargas backed Pacquiao up with a right hand, before Pacquiao unleashed a flurry. They traded shots, and Pacquiao connected with an overhand right in the final seconds.
Vargas emerged from the round with a bloody gash over his right eye, which cutman Rafael Garcia worked on as soon as the round ended. When Pacquiao nailed Vargas with a right hand in the ninth round, blood went flying from Vargas’ wound.
Pacquiao kept the pressure on in the 12th round. He came into the fight having not scored a knockout in 11 consecutive fights since a 12th-round stoppage of Miguel Cotto to win a welterweight title for the first time in November 2009, and he seemed to really be gunning for one.
But Vargas was tough and took plenty of hard shots, including a right hand that sent him backward in the final minute of the fight.
