Pacquiao vs. Vargas Results: Winner, Scorecard Recap and Prize Money Split

Manny Pacquiao ended his brief hiatus to square off against Jessie Vargas at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas on Saturday night, and the 37-year-old made good on his status as a heavy favorite with a unanimous-decision victory. 

The fight was officially scored 118-109, 118-109, 114-113 in favor of Pacquiao, according to ESPN.com's Dan Rafael.

By virtue of the win, Pacquiao (59-6-2) is now the WBO welterweight title holder after Vargas (27-2) snatched the vacant belt with a TKO triumph over Sadam Ali in March.   

According to Rappler's Ryan Songalia, Vargas earned $2.8 million for putting his WBO welterweight title on the line. Conversely, Pacquiao's payout will be based on pay-per-view purchases and fight proceeds. 

"Manny is virtually on percentage," Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said, per Songalia. "So whatever figure they put on the contract is meaningless because most of the money earned in this fight goes to Pacquiao."

Yahoo Sports' Chris Mannix added that Pacquiao was guaranteed a minimum of $4 million for taking the fight. 

Pacquiao justified that payday early and often on Saturday night with a knockdown of Vargas in the second round, and that only represented the beginning of his dominant night. 

As Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole noted, Pacquiao's punches were blistering compared to the ones Vargas countered with: 

With Pacquiao punishing his opponent, Rafael noted that Vargas—who appeared wobbly in a wide stance—was not suited for the spotlight: 

Vargas countered with several hard rights in the sixth round to make Pacquiao sweat just a bit, but the aging wonder picked up steam in the seventh and re-established himself as the fight's premier boxer, according to CompuBox: 

Dictating pace with power and speed, Pacquiao inched closer to victory with every passing round. His overhand left was the fight's most effective weapon, and Vargas simply didn't have the juice necessary to send Pacquiao tumbling to the canvas. 

However, Pacquiao also wasn't able to land a knockout—an accomplishment he hasn't been able to boast since 2009.  

And while Saturday's win won't bolster Pacquiao's stature in a big way, it proved he still has the chops necessary to take down talents 10 years his junior.  

It also allowed him to reclaim the title of WBO welterweight champion following a couple of rough outings. 

Pacquiao first secured the WBO welterweight belt with a win over Miguel Cotto, but he proceeded to cough it up in 2012 when he suffered a controversial split-decision loss to Timothy Bradley Jr. The fearsome Filipino was able to exact revenge with a title win over Bradley two years later, but the belt wasn't in his possession for long.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. later squashed Pacquiao by unanimous decision in May 2015, and the belt had been out of reach ever since. 

But with two straight wins to his name—the first of which came in an underwhelming rubber match against Bradley in April—Pacquiao has the look of a fighter who could continue to pursue compelling fights as he pushes 40. 

Vargas, meanwhile, will have to rebound with a couple of confidence-building wins if he wants to pursue another shot at the belt after suffering his second career defeat on Saturday. 

Post-Fight Reaction

Pacquiao wasn't available for a post-fight press conference, so ESPN.com's Arash Markazi relayed quotes from the victor's interview in the ring shortly after the decision was made official: 

According to Iole, Arum later threw out several intriguing names for Pacquiao's next fight: 

"I hope everyone here enjoyed the fight," Vargas said at his post-fight presser, per Markazi. "I know it made me a better fighter being in the ring with Manny."