Jessie Vargas is Manny Pacquiao’s sole focus as the Filipino legend spends the last few days of training camp in Los Angeles.
“I’m not taking this fight lightly,” Pacquiao told fightnews two days after his arrival in the US from Manila where he trained for six weeks under the guidance of Freddie Roach.
Pacquiao attempts to dethrone Vargas as World Boxing Organization welterweight king on Nov. 5 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.
To say that Pacquiao is looking past Vargas as he eyes a return match with Floyd Mayweather in 2017 is not right and proper.
“Vargas is the champion and I won’t underestimate him…I’m not thinking about any fights in 2017. One at a time. I can’t say ‘yes’ right now. Let me finish this fight first!”
Vargas, 27, is also in the final stages of his preparation in Las Vegas and is aching to finally get it on with the eight-division champion.
Reports of a Mayweather rematch has been doing the rounds lately but Pacquiao, who turns 38 on Dec. 17, doesn’t want to look past the rugged Vargas.
Vargas is a huge underdog but Pacquiao insists he is the type of fighter not to be messed around with.
You can’t simply fault Pacquiao for not talking about Mayweather since a loss next month is sure to send that mouth-watering match down the drain.
