The Hottest Boxing Storylines for the Week of November 6
Manny Pacquiao is back!
Sure, he wasn't really gone that long, but Pac-Man is still one of the biggest stars in the sport and scored a nice victory Saturday night in Las Vegas over Jessie Vargas to claim yet another welterweight title.
We take a look at the Filipino icon's performance and what could come next for both him and Vargas.
Next we turn to action in the week and weeks ahead.
Danny Garcia faces Samuel Vargas in an underwhelming stay-busy fight before moving on with a huge March unification showdown with Keith Thurman.
We look at whether this fight will prepare him for that matchup.
Also, we touch on Anthony Joshua's title defense against Eric Molina and the pending return of Lucas Matthysse.
These are the hottest boxing storylines for the week!
Did Manny Look Like Old Manny?
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Pacquiao came out of the gate like gangbusters Saturday night and promptly deposited Vargas on the seat of his pants in the second round. He looked something similar to the buzz saw who dominated the sport for nearly a decade during his prime.
It didn't last for the full 36 minutes, but Pacquiao had more edge to his game than we had seen recently. He was aggressive and didn't seem troubled by an opponent who was 10 years younger, taller and possessed a significant reach advantage.
Was it vintage Pacquiao?
No, but it's impressive to shred a young, hungry fighter when Pacquiao is in the shadow of turning 38 years old and has nearly 70 professional fights on his resume. None of that even mentions his full-time governmental responsibilities as a senator in the Philippines.
Who knows how the pay-per-view numbers will turn out (though Stephen A. Smith was predictably awful and out of his depth on commentary), but it's clear Pacquiao still has something in the tank. He's an attraction and will remain so.
A fight with Terence Crawford would be risky, but it's one that fans would want to see and could give Top Rank a nice passing-the-torch moment from its old war horse to its new star. There's also a certain rematch with a fighter who was ringside (and will remain nameless) that will be spoken about plenty.
Regardless of who he fights next, it should be clear at this point that there will be a next time for Pac-Man. He's not even close to done, which is good for a sport in need of stars.
Where Next for Jessie Vargas?
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Vargas gave a good account of himself Saturday night despite losing by lopsided scores.
The fight was more exciting than the final verdict, but it played out pretty much the way most pundits were predicting.
The tall, rangy Las Vegas native was successful in spurts at using his size to keep Pacquiao at bay, but the Filipino icon remains an elite fighter, while Vargas is just a good one. There's no shame in that. There are, after all, levels to this boxing thing.
Vargas still has the potential to be a factor in the welterweight mix.
It would be nice to see him get a few cracks at fighters from across the aisle now that Arum and Al Haymon have broken the ice with a Crawford-John Molina matchup next month on HBO. A fight with Garcia down the line could be very interesting.
Ditto for Amir Khan.
It doesn't seem likely that Kell Brook, who was heading toward a unification bout with Vargas when Gennady Golovkin came calling, would be interested in that bout now, but who knows?
There are options, and we want to see more of Vargas.
Can Samuel Vargas Prepare Danny Garcia for the Big Fight?
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Garcia faces Vargas Saturday night in his hometown of Philadelphia in a non-title bout that will be his final start before a huge March 4 welterweight unification showdown against Keith Thurman. The latter bout was announced as part of Showtime's huge first-quarter schedule for 2017.
Vargas is a non-factor in the welterweight division but has won five straight contests against nondescript opposition since prospect-level Errol Spence blew him out in early 2015.
Garcia and team have been criticized for taking what equates to a glorified sparring session against a low-level opponent to prepare for what might be the toughest challenge of his career. It's hard to see how—other than simply staying busy and getting in a couple of rounds―that Vargas does much for Garcia.
Then again, that's exactly the point.
And that's part of the shame of how Garcia's career has been managed recently.
Garcia is a talented fighter.
He put himself on the map in a big way with upset wins over Amir Khan and Lucas Matthysse.
The Matthysse fight was a one that most didn't expect him to win and gave him big exposure as the co-featured bout on the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Canelo Alvarez undercard in September 2013.
Garcia is still one of the elite fighters, even if he won't need to be against Vargas, Thurman is a whole different story. Hopefully that fight—win, lose or draw—will help him recapture some lost momentum.
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Should Fans Be Disappointed About AJ-Molina?
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Joshua will make the second defense of his IBF Heavyweight Championship December 10 at the Manchester Arena in England against fringe contender Eric Molina. This fight is not the one that fight fans were hoping to see, but that hasn't stopped 17,000 tickets from being sold on the opening day of sales.
For a while, it seemed that Joshua, who is considered by most to be the future of the division, would defend his title against former long-reigning divisional kingpin Wladimir Klitschko.
That fight fell apart under odd circumstances, but it seems to be back on track for next year with the IBF and WBA belts on the line, per Dan Rafael of ESPN.com. That assumes that Joshua can avoid what would be a significant upset against Molina.
Molina previously challenged for a heavyweight championship against Deontay Wilder in June 2015. He gave a good account of himself before falling to a colossal right hand in the ninth round.
He's since scored a pair of victories, including a stoppage win over past-his-best Tomasz Adamek in April.
This isn't a bad fight for Joshua at this stage.
Molina isn't a world-beater, but he's a competent pro who will give his all.
Joshua should win and set up a huge fight with Klitschko next year, and that alone provides fans with an incentive to check this one out.
Is Lucas Matthysse's Return a Good Idea?
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Matthysse is one of the hardest hitters in the sport, but he hasn't fought since suffering a shocking knockout loss to Viktor Postol in a fight for a vacant junior welterweight belt in October 2015. He suffered significant injuries to his left eye in the fight and had the look of a fighter who had reached the end of the road.
Apparently, the image didn't match the reality.
Per Rafael, Golden Boy Promotions is targeting an early 2017 return for The Machine, who has returned to training after taking a significant period of time away from the sport to heal his injuries. He apparently considered retirement but instead will return to the ring in March or April.
Matthysse carries huge power in his fists, but he's come up short in some of the biggest fights of his career.
He dropped disputed decisions to Zab Judah and Devon Alexander before suffering a knockdown in an upset loss to Garcia in 2013.
The loss to Postol came just months removed from a decision win over Ruslan Provodnikov in a brutal slugfest that took a lot out of both men. Both have lost fights since, each in significant upsets.
Time will tell if this is a good idea.
Per Elisinio Castillo of Boxing Scene, Matthysse said in March that he had no desire to return to the ring, and whenever a fighter develops that type of mentality, it's usually difficult to return to top form.
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