The Bar Fight [Vol. I] Pacquiao vs Vargas: Starboy

He needs this
Like old ladies need Jesus
Please allow me to piece together a thesis

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Canelo told us in his now classic line, that they ‘don't fuck around in Mexico', and WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas is no exception.

Vargas is the type that would interrupt a Manny Pacquiao family dinner table by knocking Pac's plate all over the damn floor. That is basically the kind of respect he's going to have for the Filipino icon on Nov. 5 at the Thomas & Mack Center @UNLV in Las Vegas. (Pacquiao vs Vargas

Pacquiao will respond the way a legend considered a god in his country would if such a thing happened in his house– he'll try to kill him.

Of course, we don't want that to happen, but in a figurative sense, somebody's getting bodied in what will be the best fight not on HBO in November.

Sergey Kovalev vs. Andre Ward should be a great fight at T-Mobile Arena on the 19th, followed by an even greater match-up on the 26th at The Cosmopolitan between Vasyl Lomachenko and Nicholas Walters.

Pacquiao vs. Vargas is an explosive fight that Top Rank boss Bob Arum not only got right for the style match-up that it is, but he's about to prove HBO wrong for not taking it. Then again, who could blame the network? Just thinking about Terence Crawford vs. Viktor Postol has Nyquil coursing through my veins.

HBO was right to pass on that fight, aided by the whole vibe surrounding Pacquiao's terse but comprehensive defeat of Timothy Bradley to close their trilogy.

The late January unveiling of Pacquiao vs. Bradley III at Madison Square Garden in NYC had the dark feel of a cold funeral, as the April 9 fight itself wasn't as passionate an affair at ringside as it was in the ring.

That's because Bradley gave up his WBO title to face Pac a 3rd time rather than make a mandatory defense for no money against Sadam Ali. This is the same Ali that Vargas bludgeoned on March 5 to capture the WBO title with little fanfare.
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The Making Of A ‘Starboy'

To slay Pacquiao and become a mainstream star, Vargas must be willing to sacrifice himself and be born again in the ring. It would also help if he he had The Weeknd's Anti-Christ lightsaber used by Kylo Ren in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”.

Against Bradley, Pacquiao had the look of a popular brand of food on the shelf that had changed its packaging to something very generic.

Though he'd proved himself to remain fresh in content to consume– he somehow looked stale, which is a very damaging perception at the box office and lead HBO to toss his ass in the trash.

Gone was the Nike ‘Swoosh' after he went rogue on gays, igniting rumours they'd been replaced by an Under-Armour logo ala superstar Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors.

Is this new dark side Vargas strong enough to light up a redemption seeking Jedi-master in Pacquiao?

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I hopped off the 2 train at the Wall Street on a hot summer day in 2013 to meet Mark “Scoop” Malinowski for the official Manny Pacquiao vs. Brandon Rios presser in Chinatown.

As I made my way through the financial district amid a sea of humanity – one that gradually got really Chinese, there was a distinction about Pacquiao that stood out as he would among that crowd.

Much of the public and media doubted Pac following his destruction at the hands of Juan Manuel Marquez in December 2012, so he turned a crude plodder into cannon fodder. He's looked a lot like Manny Pacquiao ever since, albeit an older version the public has lost faith in.

Because Vargas has committed the deadly sin of issuing wrath to the pride of Pacquiao, this fight should pit a 27 year-old Antonio Margarito against the coming edition of Pacquiao. This means that Manny will be forced into a different Marquez IV type of fight and must unleash his full arsenal.

Can he turn up and turn down Vargas like the volume switch in a sports car before crashing him into the commentating table of Brian Kenny, Stephen A. Smith, Charissa Thompson and special guest Timothy Bradley?

Up Next… The Bar Fight [Vol. II] Pacquiao vs. Vargas: Inception

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