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Op-Ed: Pacquiao likely to go for 1st KO win in 7 years against Vargas

On Nov. 5, Pacquiao will most likely go for a knockout win against Jessie Vargas at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

All indicators point to a possible KO win following a recent disclosure by Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning coach Justin Fortune, saying he had noticed Pacquiao’s increased speed and power since he fought Timothy Bradley last April 9.

“I’ve been on the job for only a week, but this I can tell you, Manny has improved a lot since we last work together last April for the Timothy Bradley III fight,” Fortune observed. “He’s lot stronger now and faster,” he added.

With Pacquiao’s gradual transformation following his loss to Floyd Mayweather last year, there is little doubt he will go for a knockout win over Vargas.

But why there is an urgent need for Pacquiao to score a KO win now and not later in his remaining fights?

First, he needs to do something about his declining popularity following his loss to Mayweather last year.

One of the reasons why Pacquiao failed to generate the desired number of pay-per-view (PPV) buys during his third fight against Bradley was his less impressive performance against Mayweather.

But even before the last Bradley fight, Pacquiao was already struggling with low PPV output following his knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico in 2012. In his comeback fight after his devastating loss to Marquez, he only managed to win over Brandon Rios via a unanimous decision same with fights against Chris Algieri and his second fight against Bradley.

Pacquiao’s declining PPV numbers have already cost him his usual $20 million guaranteed purse and his longtime promoter Bob Arum won’t be restoring it unless he shows his newfound killer instinct and go for a knockout win on Nov. 5.

Secondly, Pacquiao has indicated that he will continue fighting. If he does, he needs to show his increased speed and power as strength and conditioning coach Fortune had earlier confirmed. The outcome of the Vargas fight will determine the financial viability of his succeeding fights.

Pacquiao is aware of the mounting clamor from fans for a knockout win and most likely, he will go for it. Pacquiao is huge favorite with some odds makers pointing to Pacquiao as a 10-1 favorite to win.

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