Pacquiao vs. Vargas: Early Fight Predictions, PPV Schedule, Odds and Undercard

Boxing star Manny Pacquiao retired following his win over Timothy Bradley in April, but the retirement proved to be short-lived. He soon announced that he would challenge Jessie Vargas for the WBO Welterweight Championship.

This challenge will take place on Saturday in Las Vegas.

The card features three other quality fights, making the Top Rank pay-per-view event an intriguing one. WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire will defend his title against unbeaten Jessie Magdaleno. Oscar Valdez will defend his featherweight title against Hiroshige Osawa.

Zou Shiming and Kwanpichit OnesongchaiGym will open the show in a fight for the vacant WBO flyweight belt. Brazilian gold medalist Robson Conceicao is expected to make his pro debut for Top Rank before the show.

Pacquiao vs. Vargas 2016

What: Match for the WBO Welterweight Championship

Where: The Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas

When: Saturday at 9 p.m. ET

TV: Top Rank PPV

Early Odds (via Odd Shark): Pacquiao -700

Early Predictions

Even though Pacquiao is a relatively heavy favorite, this isn't going to be anything close to a cakewalk for the boxing legend. At 37 years old, Pacquiao is certainly past his prime, and his new career as a senator in the Philippines may have had an effect on his training schedule.

Pacquiao is still a capable fighter, though, as he proved during his win over Bradley earlier this year. In fact, the win over Bradley may be precisely why Pacquiao's camp is confident in the pending matchup with Vargas.

Vargas lost to Bradley last June in a 12-round bout that ended in a bit of controversy. Referee Pat Russell mistakenly called the fight over with time remaining in the 12th round because he mistook the 10-second clapper for the final bell.

Vargas lost the fight by unanimous decision. However, he went on to win the welterweight title with a victory over Sadam Ali this past March.

Pacquiao wants to show that he is still one of the top fighters in the world, and he has chosen to do so against a guy who recently lost to the last man Pacquiao defeated.

How the match unfolds will likely depend on the strategy Pacquiao chooses to employ. He seems to have lost some of his once-fabled power in recent years, but his experience and technical maturity could make up for this.

As promoter Bob Arum recently pointed out, though, things could become heavily contested if Pacquiao throws caution to the wind and takes an aggressive approach, per Bob Velin of USA Today's Boxing Junkie:

"

Jessie is a kid that has all the guts in the world and that’s the kind of fight he wants. Because if Manny is going to go in there with the intention of knocking out Jessie and being very aggressive, that gives Jessie the best opportunity to win the fight. He’s a hell of a puncher, he’s got a lot of guts and you look at his career, he does very well against southpaws, better than he does against orthodox fighters.

"

Arum went on to admit that a loss to Vargas could signal an actual retirement for Pacquiao.

"It will have been a loss at the back end of his career when in fact he is spending so much time with what other people say is his real career, being a senator," Arum said.

We're not convinced Pacquiao's camp would have set up this fight if there wasn't a definitive plan in place. There is simply too much to lose and too little for Pacquiao to legitimately gain. We would expect that plan to include more precision work and defense than one might find in a traditional Pacquiao bout.

Vargas, though, doesn't appear worried at all, as ESPN's Dan Rafael recently made clear:

Pacquiao should be able to pull off the victory here, provided he doesn't get careless and open himself up to unnecessary shots. If the fight goes the distance or Pacquiao can show some of his previous punching power, he should win.

If Pacquiao lets his guard down too much, though, Vargas will have every opportunity to go for the knockout, as he did against Ali earlier this year.