In a one-sided 12-round title fight, Pacquiao was dominating Vargas from the opening round enroute to a second round knockdown after Pacquiao landed a short left counter that caused Vargas to touch the canvas for a knockdown call by referee Kenny Bayless.
Pacquiao continued his assault as he staggers Vargas with a left but Vargas scored a big right counter as they exchanged left and right combos in the mid round. Vargas touched the canvas but no knockdown count was made by the referee,
Heavy exchanges from round four up to the eighth round when Vargas face had shown blood dripping from his busted nose. He was clearly hurting as he walked to his corner. It was evident that Pacquiao was clearly ahead on the scorecards by the end of the ninth round.
It was quite clear at the start of the tenth round that the fight was slipping away in favor of Pacquiao as he was at least two or three points ahead.
It was apparent Vargas needed a stoppage to win but Pacquiao was relentless and continued his assault to score another point in round 11.
In the last round Pacquiao was still dominating but Vargas showed courage and determination until the final bell.
Two judges scored the fight at 118-09 while the other judge had it close at 114-113, all in favor of Pacquiao as winner by unanimous decision to become the new WBO welterweight champion.
When asked after the fight who will be his next opponent, Pacquiao said he will fight whoever is put in front of him by his promoter.
“I don’t know, whoever the people want me to fight, I am not picking an opponent, whoever my promoter gives me I will fight. Anybody at 147 (welterweight),” said Pacquiao, who greeted Floyd Mayweather as he acknowledged his presence during the fight.
For his part, Vargas acknowledged Pacquiao’s speed but said the third round knockdown was more of a slip which was actually ruled by the referee as such.
“It was a flash knockdown in the 3rd, he has tremendous speed. Sometimes you get caught with those quick shots you don’t see and it knocks you down, Vargas said.
“We are only improving. I apologise if I let the fans down but I tried my best and we are only getting better. Fighting Pac only elevated my game and it makes me better,” he added.
With the win, Pacquiao improved his record to 59-6-2, 38 KOs while Vargas dropped to 27-2-0, 10 KOs.
