A LOT of questions were answered in Sunday's (November 6) championship fight between Manny Pacquiao and Jessie Vargas.
Yes, Senator Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao can still hack it at almost 38 years old.
And yes, there's still a lot left in the gas tank for probably one more successful run towards a return to the apex of the boxing world.
THE FIGHT. In the first round, both fighters were a bit cautious, trying to size each other up. But in the subsequent rounds, Manny shook off the ring rust and proceeded to outbox Jessie Vargas.
A laser-like left straight found its mark late in the second round and dropped Vargas.
Vargas kept things honest by utilizing his lead left jab with a stinging right hand behind it.
But he really had no answer for Manny's speed. Darting in and out, weaving laterally at times, Manny landed punches cleanly and effortlessly.
Vargas rallied in the middle rounds but after round 7, it was all Manny. Vargas suffered a cut in the 8th and it's all downhill from there.
Amazingly, Manny didn't even appear gassed out in the championship rounds and his activity and punch flurries remained constant.
It was a boxing clinic that was dished out by Manny and ultimately, it was his speed that overwhelmed Vargas, who at times looked like the older fighter in there.
WHO'S NEXT. We certainly hope Manny will be fighting somebody of consequence in his next outing and Terence Crawford and Floyd Mayweather Jr. were mentioned as possible opponents.
But I would much rather see him go up against the winner of the WBA-WBC welterweight unification fight between Danny Garcia and Keith Thurman set in March of next year.
Both of those guys are A-list, heavy-handed fighters that would make for an action-packed donnybrook.
And hey, arch-rival Juan Manuel Marquez is still around. How about a 5th fight against the last man to knock him out?
Floyd will probably start making some noise too, after watching that fight as he likes to be in the limelight, but ultimately, it will take a lot of moolah to coax him out of hibernation.
