Pacquiao, Vargas meet face to face in final press conference

Former multi-division world champion Manny Pacquiao and WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas faced off at the final press conference before their PPV showdown on Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas

Manny Pacquiao: I thought I wouldn’t see you again, but now I’m here to continue my journey and all I can say for this fight is I respect Vargas and his team, how dedicated they are. I feel what he’s feeling right now because I’ve been there when I was 27 years old, 28 years old, and how hungry I was. What I’m thinking when I prepared for this fight was I have to make sure I’m in condition, work hard even though I’m working in the office. It’s not easy being a senator working in the office and being a boxer while you’re training. It’s hard, but it’s a good thing when you are happy and enjoying it.

Jessie Vargas: I had a great training camp. This has been my best to date. I’m very happy with my team, they’re bringing out the best in me. I said before my last fight and we’re planning on outdoing that performance. We’re looking stronger, faster, we’ve over-exceeded every aspect in training when it comes to speed, power, intelligence in the ring, ring savvy. We have a strong hook, we have a strong right, either way. If he wants to sneak over to the right we’ll catch him there, if he wants to sneak over to the left we’ll get him there. So we’re ready. I can’t be any more ready than this.

(Report from fightnews.com)

Knockout loss to Vargas will send Pacquiao to retirement

NEW YORK CITY -- Manny Pacquiao "might be forced to retire" in prizefighting if he loses by knockout in his 12-round title fight against WBO 147-lb titlist Jessie Vargas in Las Vegas on Nov 5.
But owing to his not-so-impressive knockout percentage, oddsmakers are giving Vargas a 50--50 chance to win by KO when he defends his title against the former seven-division titlist at the Thomas & Mack Center, according to writer Jefrey Celiz.
In fact, Vargas has been installed as underdog in the first defense of the title he collected via TKO in March this year.
Taller by four inches and younger by 11 years, Vargas managed to secure only one stoppage victory in his last 12 fights.
Pacquiao, on the other hand, hasn't won by knockout since he scored an 11th round TKO against Miguel Angel Cotto in 2009 also for WBO welterweight fight.
His 12-round unanimous decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 2, 2015 was viewed by analysts as "the signs of the times" and calls for his retirement reverberated after he claimed he had concealed an arm injury prior to the multi-million bout.

BORING

"Normally, boxing aficionados might think this fight is going to be boring since both fighters have not been so explosive in their previous fights, but fans might be surprised to see that both fighters will be aiming for a knockout win," observed Jeff Randall, a boxing analyst from New York.
Randall said since Vargas is the defending champion, he might press the action and wait for the Filipino senator to commit a mistake and unload his bombs.
Vargas has put to sleep 10 of his 27 victims. His last fight ended with a spectacular 9th round TKO over Sadam Alim to claim the vacant WBO title in Washington, D.C. on March 5, 2016.
The only blot in his record was a unanimous decision defeat to Timothy Bradley for the interim WBO welterweight belt in Carson, California on June 27, 2015.
In September 2008, Vargas won his pro debut against the undefeated Joel Gonzalez by first round KO.

KISSED

Vargas got attention when, during a fight against Trenton Titsworth,  he was kissed on the neck and responded by hitting Titsworth during the break. Titsworth was deducted two points, Vargas one.
In his 12th fight, the Las Vegas-based Vargas knocked out a former IBO light welterweight champion Daniel Sarmiento of Argentina. The bout was the main event of FSN's Fight Night Club. In his next fight Vargas won an eight-round unanimous decision against Mexican Ramón Montaño on the undercard of Amir Khan vs. Marcos Maidana.
In terms of experience and quality of opponents, Vargas pales in comparison to Pacquiao, who has knocked out 38 of his 58 customers, including a brutal two-round disposal of the feared Ricky Hatton for the IBO lightweight diadem in Las Vegas on May 2009.