Jessie Vargas v Manny Pacquiao: Your betting preview for the big fight

This weekend, the Thomas and Mac Center in Las Vegas will play host to Manny Pacquiao’s first bout in six months, as he takes on American Jessie Vargas. And for those of you planning on staying up to watch the fight (which will take place in the early hours of Sunday morning), we’ve put together a preview to help you decide where to put your money.

At 1/6, the value certainly doesn’t lie in backing Pac Man to win outright. However, we are tempted by the 9/4 on offer for the Filipino to win by KO, TKO or DQ. After all, we are talking about a man who has finished 38 of his previous 66 bouts before the final bell.

And he looks in great shape ahead of the fight…

It’s fight week. #PacVargas???? pic.twitter.com/PYG2qTqFRT

— Manny Pacquiao (@mannypacquiao) October 31, 2016

But he is up against a man who’s hard to knock to the floor. In fact, should Pacquiao win by that method, it would be the first time that Vargas will have been KO’ed in his career.

And it’s safe to say his opponent fancies his chances…

I am the American dream and I will be successful Saturday night! #teamvargas #JV #teamchamp… https://t.co/cPaJSpEli6

— JessieVargas_ (@Jessie_vargasJV) November 3, 2016

Pacquiao has 10 years on his opponent, and just over double the amount of bouts to his name (66). And of those previous fights, he’s faced 431 rounds, giving him a rounds-per-bout average of 6.5.

With that in mind, we wouldn’t be surprised if the 5’ 5½“ man beat his opponent in the seventh round, and you can get odds of 18/1 on him doing just that.

Current WBO World welterweight title-holder Vargas is 9/2 to cause an upset in Las Vegas, but he heads into this one off the back of a comfortable TKO win against Sadam Ali.

It took nine rounds for that bout to be stopped back in March, although at 100/1 it’s unlikely we see an exact repeat of what happened that night.

Here’s what the pair had to say on the upcoming bout…

Manny Pacquiao

“This is a big challenge for me because, first, I’m a challenger and he’s the champion.

And this is my first fight since I was elected as a senator, so it’s an honor for me to bring another record in my career.

I feel I still have a lot to prove. I am not done with boxing. I will continue to keep fighting as long as I love boxing and boxing still loves me. I do not feel old. I feel like I am still 27.”

Jessie Vargas

“A lot of you guys do wish me luck, but in the back of your mind you’re thinking: ‘I don’t think he can do it.’

But I’m here to tell you I can. And just as I’ve always proved you wrong with several other undefeated fighters you thought were either going to beat me or knock me out, now I’m still on top. I’m still world champion.

I’m the only champion that hasn’t got the proper credit. I was picked to lose so many times. I was brought up as an opponent. I was a journeyman, you could say, and I’m only 27 years old.”

So how are you calling this one? Will it be yet another breeze for KO King Pacquiao? Or can Vargas cause a shock?

Have your say in the comments section below!

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing