Betting odds go 10-to-1 for Manny in Vegas tiff

MANILA, Philippines - Manny Pacquiao, who’s coming out of a short-lived retirement, is heading to his Nov. 5 fight with unheralded WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas as a 10-to-1 favorite.

Pacquiao, the eight-division world champion, was impressive in his rubber match against Tim Bradley last April that when he announced his retirement, no one really believed him.

Pacquiao is coming back to fight on Nov. 5 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Los Angeles, against a 27-year-old champion who still is not in the level of Pacquiao.

Pacquiao, on most betting stations two months to the fight, is at 10-to-1 or 9-to-1. He’s at minus-1000,  meaning you need $1,000 to win just a hundred.

Vargas, now holder of the belt Pacquiao used to wear, is at plus-550, meaning if he wins, by any means, a $100 bet pays $500.

Pacquiao, who’s now a senator, is in the first phase of his training in Manila. Because of his legislative duties, he has decided to stay.

The 37-year-old superstar, actually 38 this December, will head to Los Angeles for the final push of his training just a couple of weeks to the fight.

That’s when Senate is in recess.

Vargas, only 27-1 inside the ring, and with 10 knockout wins, is not surprised with the odds because he’s not supposed to be.

In return, he vowed to prove a lot of people wrong.

“The press has never had my back,” Vargas said in an article that came out of the Los Angeles Times.

“I’m going to tear this guy apart to prove all these doubters, the haters. It’s nothing against Manny; I just have to do what I have to do. The anger that I have is because of the way I have been treated by some in the press,” said the young champion.

Pacquiao is 58-6-2 with 38 knockouts.

Meanwhile, saying the boxing media has never given him enough credit, Vargas promised to turn them and all his other critics into believers once he defeats Manny Pacquiao.

In a report by Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole, Vargas expressed frustration at how critics purportedly belittle his selection as Pacquiao’s next opponent for a Nov. 5 bout in Las Vegas.

“The press has never had my back,” Vargas told Iole, who reported sensing anger in the Las Vegas-based fighter’s words.

Vargas is a 10-1 underdog over Pacquiao, and his selection as the Filipino icon’s next foe has indeed raised eyebrows in the boxing community.

Pacquiao, many critics claim, should have picked a more dangerous opponent such as rising star Terence Crawford.

Vargas, for his part, isn’t taking the criticisms lightly and vowed to silence those who doubt him the moment the bell rings in his showdown with Pacquiao.

Iole then reported that Vargas later on personally apologized to him for his rant.

Vargas isn’t known as a heavy puncher, as evidenced by scoring only 10 knockouts in 27 wins. Additionally, he lost to Timothy Bradley, a fighter whom Pacquiao had dominated in their trilogy.

The champion said he is treating the criticisms as motivation.

“The way I’ve been treated, that gives me a lot of fuel and I’m using that as fire to come out with this victory,” said Vargas.

 “When I beat Manny Pacquiao, I’ll tell all the critics in the press, ‘You doubted me before; well, doubt me after that.’ When they see what I do to Pacquiao, let’s see if they’re still going to doubt me.” – With Dino Maragay