Depending on who you ask from Manny Pacquiao's camp, he may or may not already have his opponent solidified for his scheduled November 5th bout.
Word came yesterday from Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz that Welterweight titlist Jessie Vargas (27-1-0, 10 KO) is the lucky boxer to have obtained the opportunity to shock the world in a fight against the 8-division Filipino star. However after running the selection by Top Rank's Bob Arum, he was much less adamant that a Vargas scrap is a done-deal.
"I am going to find out what the f--- is on Manny's mind and it's not easy to talk to him on the phone" Arum said before he makes a trek to the Philippines on Sunday night with Koncz. "We have to talk about a lot of things. Among the issue is opponent".
The list of possible competitors in the Pacquiao sweepstakes is quite slim, consisting of only Vargas and Super Lightweight Terence Crawford, Many boxing fans would salivate at the thought of seeing the new Senator in the Philippines taking on a hot rising star in Crawford, but team Pacquiao has made a theme of allowing the fighter to pick his fights recently, which brought about Koncz's announcement.
Pacquiao (58-6-2, 38 KO) was last seen toppling Timothy Bradley, another hand chosen opponent, in April. The fight was immediately followed by the news of his retirement to focus on a political career in his home country, although most fans and insiders assumed the time off would be short lived. The popular opinion is the Filipino star hopes to discard of Vargas at the Tomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas this November, which will hopefully lure Floyd Mayweather Jr. out of retirement to concoct a mega-rematch in Dubai.
While the Vargas fight is not set in stone, it appears as if it is all but a foregone conclusion, provided Koncz is reciting accurate information from Pacquiao. "Manny has the final say" Arum reaffirmed, "I have no idea who Manny wants to fight yet, but it's up to him, not up to me and not up to Michael." Arum and Koncz expect to be making an announcement soon after their trip to the Philippines this Sunday.
