Manny Pacquiao felt the hunger and drive that the younger Jessie Vargas had before they met in the ring.
Pacquiao knows the pressure of trying to defeat a legendary fighter to make your own name in the ring.
But the former eight-division champion bluntly said this past week he didn?t think Vargas had the necessary skills to be an elite fighter.
Pacquiao was right.
The future Hall of Famer displayed his usual fast hands and shifty feet to easily defeat Vargas by unanimous decision (114-113, 118-109, 118-109) before an announced crowd of 16,132 Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center.
One of those is attendance was retired boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather Jr. Mayweather sat ringside to watch his former opponent, Pacquiao, and fighter, Vargas, who was once with Mayweather Promotions.
?Not bad,? Mayweather said about Pacquiao?s performance. Mayweather defeated Pacquiao last year in the most lucrative match in boxing history.
The Las Vegan Vargas was out-skilled as soon as the bell rang. Pacquiao (59-6-2, 38 KOs) dropped Vargas (27-2, 10 KOs) with a big left punch in the second round.
Vargas, with only the overhand right in his arsenal, had decent spurts, but wasn?t able to capitalize on the few power shots he landed.
Las Vegas has a new world champion. Local fighter Jessie Magdaleno started fast and did enough to take Nonito Donaire?s WBO junior featherweight title in a unanimous decision (116-112, 116-112, 118-110).
Magdaleno?s speed took over the early rounds, but struggled to keep pace in the later rounds.
?I worked so hard for this. Can?t believe I beat a fighter like Donaire,? Magdaleno, 24, said. ?I don?t have words to describe it.?
Donaire (37-4, 24 KOs), who could one day be in the Hall of Fame, went out like a true champion. The Filipino Flash stunned Magdaleno with his left hand to make a late surge.
?We clearly won the fight,? Donaire said. ?We had control in the later rounds.?
Magdaleno?s older brother, Diego, had his hands on his head with a big smile after the scorecards were announced. Diego Magdaleno failed twice on his attempts to become a world champion. The Magdaleno family finally achieved its dream.
Before the fight, Donaire said he would start slow and look to be a defensive fighter with new trainer Ismael Salas in his corner. The toned down pace probably cost Donaire the belt.
Jessie Magdaleno (24-0, 17 KOs), who stood out with dyed blond hair, was noticeably faster and stronger than Donaire for most of the rounds. But the 33-year-old Donaire had plenty left in the tank.
Magdaleno?s stablemate, Oscar Valdez, had an easy night to defend his WBO featherweight belt.
Valdez recorded a seventh-round technical knockout against Hiroshige Osawa. Magdaleno and Valdez are both trained by Manny Robles.
The Zou Shiming-Prasitak Phaprom sequel was better than the original, but the outcome was still the same.
The faster and stronger Shiming cruised to another unanimous decision against Phaprom (120-107, 120-107, 119-108) to open the Pacquiao-Vargas PPV card with fireworks.
Shiming, who defeated Phaprom in 2014, took the vacant WBO flyweight title to add to his trophy case, which includes two Olympic gold medals for China.
?My dream is finally complete,? Shiming said. ?I?m a pro champion, Olympic champion and world champion.?
Shiming danced and smiled at Phaprom after every combination that landed. Phaprom, who goes by ?Mini Manny,? wasn?t rattled and kept tapping his chin at Shiming.
