This was how the the Pacquiao-Vargas fight will play out on Nov. 5 when they face each other in the ring at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to famous boxing commentator, Bob Sheridan.
“Jessie Vargas is a very good fighter, I’ve called several of his fights, he’s a wonderful kid. Manny in his last fight looked terrific and if we see the Manny that fought Timothy Bradley, I think it can be a long night for Jessie Vargas. Jessie Vargas on the other hand is young and strong and this is his Superbowl, this is the biggest fight of his life now,” Sheridan told Robert Brown of OTR boxing.
Asked exactly what is his prediction on the outcome of the fight, Sheridan said he believes Pacquiao will win by decision.
“This one is a tough one for me. Based on what I saw the last time Pacquiao fought, and until I see him really defeated, I’m going to stick with Pacquiao. I think that he will most likely win a decision over Jessie Vargas,” Sheridan said.
Sheridan’s prognosis is shared by boxing experts saying that Pacquiao will regain his WBO welterweight title provided he can surpass his performance when he fought Bradley last April. Pacquiao knocked down Bradley twice in their third fight en route to a unanimous decision win.
Pacquiao’s greatly-improved ring performance was attributed to his successful shoulder surgery right after his fight against Floyd Mayweather last year.
Pacquiao’s longtime trainer Freddie Roach said he noticed Pacquiao’s killer instinct is coming back as shown in the last Bradley fight and thinks Pacquiao will have more fights coming after the Vargas bout.
“He has the killer instinct coming back and I like that a lot. With his religion, it (the killer instinct) got away from him for a little while but he is very dedicated to his religion also and that makes the training a little more difficult.” he said
Pacquiao has returned to the Philippines after a three-day press tour in key cities of the US to promote his upcoming fight against Vargas.
Roach is set to join Pacquiao in a few days in the Philippines where most part of the training will take place.
