By Lance Pugmire / Los Angeles Times
LAS VEGAS — Follow the money, yes. But follow the clues, too.
The strongest indication yet that Manny Pacquiao will get a second chance to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. came to life on Saturday, when Mayweather entered Thomas and Mack Center to take a ringside seat for Pacquiao’s convincing unanimous-decision triumph over Jessie Vargas.
Mayweather (49-0) has been retired since September and his 40th birthday arrives in February, but there are millions of reasons to believe he and Pacquiao (59-6-2) will consider a rematch of the richest prize fight in history.
Because the first version in May 2015 was a dud—Pacquiao fought with a significant shoulder injury and Mayweather remained in his patented technical, elusive style—there’s no way a rematch would generate the $600-million-plus that one did.
But in considering the best possible fight of 2017—unbeaten middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin versus Mexico’s No. 1 draw, Canelo Alvarez—it’s conceivable Mayweather-Pacquiao II would be bigger.
Pacquiao’s contribution began with his invitation for Mayweather to attend the fight. Mayweather acquired seven seats and received a roar from the crowd at his entry.
Just before the first bell, Pacquiao acknowledged Mayweather’s presence by smiling and raising his right glove in his direction.
The senator from the Philippines then proceeded to follow his two-knockdown victory over Timothy Bradley in April by dropping Vargas once en route to a 115-113, 118-109, 118-109 triumph.
It easily could have been a three-knockdown showing if not for referee Kenny Bayless’s generous rulings that Vargas’s 11th- and 12th-round trips to the canvas were slips.
“He was very quick on his feet,” Vargas said of Pacquiao. “When Bradley complained about his toes [in fighting Pacquiao], you definitely have to stay on your toes. He was quick.”
Vargas landed just 104 of 561 punches, while Pacquiao smacked Vargas with 101 of 212 power punches and flashed Mayweather another knowing grin before the 12th round.
“I thought Manny performed extraordinarily well,” Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum said. “When he’s moving and punching like that, when he disappears around a guy and comes out on the other side throwing punches—that’s great craftsmanship.”
Will his next round be against Mayweather?
Keeping with the mystery, Mayweather assessed Pacquiao’s showing as “not bad” before exiting.
Pacquiao did not attend the postfight news conference after requiring 16 stitches to close a 12th-round cut over the right eye. He’s expected to talk to reporters later Sunday.
“We had a surprise visitor and he had a number of things to say that became part of the [pay-per-view] broadcast,” Arum said. “But Floyd is retired as far as we’re concerned, and I respect that.”
Todd duBoef, Arum’s stepson and president of his Top Rank promotion company, visited with Mayweather and embraced the former Top Rank fighter.
“We have a lot of feelings for each other,” duBoef said. “This is no circus act; it’s a genuine relationship.”
And knowing Mayweather as well as he does, did duBoef believe the visit to watch Pacquiao translates to a coming rematch?
“It’s good for banter. It’s good for headlines, but I’m not going to read too much into it,” duBoef said.
Pacquiao is obligated to return quickly to the Philippines for his Senate work, but he has an extended recess between April and May. Arum is planning a January visit to explore Pacquiao’s future possibilities that start with Mayweather, but also include super-lightweight champion Terence Crawford or super-featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko as a next opponent.
Vargas, who was formerly promoted by and trained with Mayweather, said he’d like to watch the rematch.
“I’m a boxing fan,” Vargas said. “Everybody is still interested in what will happen.”