Manny Pacquiao has upped his preparations for his WBO welterweight title fight with Jessie Vargas on November 5th at the Thomas and Mack Centre in Las Vegas.
The Filipino is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Timothy Bradley in their rubber match last April.
Vargas (27-1) is a game opponent but it is unlikely the fight will draw huge PPV numbers. Pacquiao's previous fight with Bradley drew a reported 470,000 buys in the states and this bout isn't being promoted by HBO. Instead Top Rank will distribute the fight themselves.
Pacquiao spent most of this camp in his native Philippines before arriving in Los Angeles to fine tune his preparations with Freddie Roach.
An interesting twist to the story is that Floyd Mayweather has visited Roach's Wild Card gym twice in recent months. The unbeaten American retired from the sport last year with a perfect 49-0 record but Roach believes he is angling for a second fight with Pacquiao.
#TeamPacquiao #TeamLegend #PacVargas
November 5th Live on Pay-Per-View pic.twitter.com/EvHQORf2nD— Manny Pacquiao (@mannypacquiao) October 28, 2016
Speaking to boxingscene.com, Roach said: "First I'd like to know why he visited me twice two months ago. He came by my gym. The first time I was here, the second time I was in Russia. He wanted to watch the sparring and watch my guys work out."
"I asked him if he was looking for Manny Pacquiao. He kind of smiled and ignored everything. I don't really know why he came here, but why else would he come here? I think he's looking for Manny Pacquiao. I think that fight can be made," he added.
On Mayweather's retirement, Roach said: "I think that he's back for sure. He's not done either. He's still a good boxer, he's still fresh. He's not the most exciting guy in the world to watch but he's still a good boxer."
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