Manny Pacquiao to fight Las Vegan Jessie Vargas at Thomas & Mack Center
Manny Pacquiao has made up his mind on his next opponent.
The former eight-division champion announced in a news release Tuesday that he’ll be fighting Las Vegan Jessie Vargas on Nov. 5 at the Thomas & Mack Center, ending a brief retirement from boxing.
“Boxing is my passion,” Pacquiao’s statement read. “I miss what I’d been doing inside the gym and atop the ring.”
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum confirmed Pacquiao’s announcement. He had dinner with Pacquiao in the Philippines on Tuesday and was informed by the boxer’s choice to fight Vargas.
Vargas (27-1, 10 knockouts) will put his WBO welterweight title on the line in the HBO pay-per-view bout. Vargas beat out unified junior welterweight champion Terence Crawford for the right to fight the Filipino senator.
“I do have the WBO title, a title Pacquiao once had, and if he wants a shot at the title, he’ll have to go through me,” Vargas, 27, said last week.
Arum said he plans to have a news conference with Pacquiao and Vargas in Los Angeles next month.
The 37-year-old Pacquiao (58-6-2, 38 KOs) walked away from the sport in April after a unanimous decision over Timothy Bradley Jr. at the MGM Grand Garden. The future Hall of Famer wasn’t sure he could handle boxing and his duties with the Philippines senate.
Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0492. Follow him on Twitter: @gmanzano24
