PACQUIAO RECLAIMS WBO WELTER TITLE IN ANOTHER VIRTUOSO PERFORMANCE (PHOTOS)
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 06 Nov 2016
LAS VEGAS, NV ? The Philippines' pride Manny Pacquiao did it again. And with aplomb.
Mustering the skills his opponent thought he could not even remember, the soon to be 38-year-old eight division champion made the dethroned World Boxing Organization champion Jessie Vargas and his detractors ate their words.
The Filipino southpaw, also known as Pambansang Kamao, dropped Vargas to the seat of his pants with a left counter in the second round and went on to reclaim the 147-pound belt he wore twice before.
From there, Pacquiao knew he had Vargas's number, beating him to the punch in all of the succeeding rounds except in four of the 12-round collision, hitting him harder more often.
Photos by Wendell Alinea / OSMP.
It could have been an overwhelming triumph except for Judge David Moretti who submitted a horrendous score that had Pacquiao led by a mere point, 114-113, meaning had if it not for that second round knockdown, Pacquiao could have not brought home the diadem via unanimous decision.
He lost to Timothy Bradley in a controversial split decision but regained it last April 9.
Judges Glenn Trobridge and Glenn Feldman submitted more believable identical 118-109 decisions.
Feldman saw Pacquiao winner of rounds 1-2-3-5-e6-7-8-9-10-11 and 12 while Trobridge gave the new champ 1-2-3-9-10-11 and 12.
The only man in boxing history to win four lineal titles, emerging victorious in a man vs. man showdown actually taught Vargas neat lessons in ring craftsmanship, like strength alone does not rule the sport of sweet science.
That taller and heftier men do not necessarily beat the smaller and speedier men.
The moral of the story: Never underestimate a smaller, aging man on a mission, who atop the squared jungle carries the 100 million country men on his shoulder.
Pacquiao remained the aggressor from the opening bell, chasing Vargas in all corners and connecting double jabs--even triple jabs--as well as left and right combinations from down under and up.
True to the chief trainer Freddie Roach and his assistants' words, once Pacquiao connected with a strong punch, Vargas became tentative to avoid getting into trouble that happened after the knockdown.
Pacquiao did not attend the traditional post-fight press conference due to 16 stitches he underwent on a cut he suffered in a collision of heads in the final round.
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