Manny Pacquiao was handed a unanimous decision against Jessie Vargas on Saturday to reclaim the World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight belt with Floyd Mayweather watching closely at ringside of the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
The ring’s first and only eight-division champion won 118-109 twice and 114-113 on the cards, and admitted afterwards his next opponent would be whoever the global fans want the most, and that would be, who else but Mayweather, the retired superstar.
During the final undercard bout, Mayweather – whom Pacquiao said he invited to his comeback fight – strode to ringside and took a seat in front of the ringside, immediately igniting renewed talk of a rematch next year with Pacquiao, whom he outpointed in May 2015 in the richest fight in boxing history and billed as the fight of the century.
Their fight generated a record 4.6 million pay-per-view buys and more than $600 million, but was a monumental turn-off for the worldwide television audience. However, a rematch would do even more profit- and global interest-wise.
Against Vargas, the future boxing Hall of Famer was coming out of a brief retirement that followed his lopsided decision win against former two-division champion Timothy Bradley Jr. in April.
Though the way you look at it, Pacquiao’s seven-month hiatus can hardly be considered a retirement but nonetheless he is back with vengeance, and obviously with Mayweather on his mind.
Will it take two to tango? Can Mayweather be tempted into a similar comeback? Will Mayweather lace up the dancing shoes again and face Pacquiao in a grudge rematch?
Whether the unbeaten American will grant the Filipino legend the opportunity again to slug it out in the ring is a big question mark. Much may depend on how he viewed Pacquiao’s performance against Vargas.
Pacquiao, the first senator to win a world title, came into the fight against Vargas 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.
Just before the opening bell, Pacquiao looked over at Mayweather, waved his right glove to Mayweather and smiled. After the one-sided scores were announced, Pacquiao climbed the ring post with his new belt over his shoulder in front of Mayweather and smiled at him again. Mayweather responded by giving him a thumb’s up.
Though he’ll be 38 next month, Pacquiao produced a performance that Mayweather rated “not bad.”
Mayweather turns 40 in February, and could finish 50-0 should he opt for a rematch of a fight he convincingly won as Pacquiao labored through a serious shoulder injury. He knew he could have done better had it not been for that injury which he incurred just days before the fight.
If Mayweather wants a rematch, Pacquiao is certainly interested as the legend wants revenge, and redemption.
Even if super-lightweight Terence Crawford and super-featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko would be in consideration for Pacquiao too, Mayweather is logically the only opponent for Pacquiao that makes sense.
And the next time they meet just to settle the issue – again – of who is best of all time, it might just be a much, much better fight. Hopefully we won’t have the six-year wait we had last time.