Kell Brook v Manny Pacquiao - worth a few quid on PPV

It's fair to say Kell Brook is not on Jessie Vargas's Christmas card list.
Jessie VargasJessie Vargas
Jessie Vargas

The pair seemed destined to fight at the start of September, possibly at Bramall Lane. Vargas had signed his end of the deal, but then the Sheffield fighter plumped for a more prestigious contest with Gennady Golovkin.

This weekend, Vargas fights Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas. They contest the WBO world welterweight belt, worn by Vargas.

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Brook will have half a mind on facing the winner, if he stays at welterweight and makes a full recovery from his fractured right eye socket. At the risk of further upsetting the American, he thinks that Pacquiao will be the victor. And a Brook v Pacquiao scrap would make decent PPV money.

“Of course I would be interested in the winner” Brook told the broadcaster ESPN.

“All the fans were saying I didn’t fancy fighting the best fighters, but I have gone in there with the best in the world in Golovkin, and I’m ready to do it again. I’m after the biggest and best fights out there, those are the ones that are going to get me up for it.

“Once you have become world champion, you need special fights to really keep you motivated in training. A world title unification fight would do that.

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“I see Vargas getting some success, but I just think with Pacquiao’s experience, having been in with the better opponents, he’s going to have too much.

“But I don’t see Pacquiao stopping him...he’ll win on points. He’s had a lot of time out: is his passion still there? It could catch up with you at that age, so he’s got to be careful, and that makes the fight interesting.

“Vargas is a good fighter but he’s not the best out there. There’s not massive margins at this level, but I don’t think he’s in the super league with Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia and myself. Unless he shows us something I’ve not see before, I don’t see him winning.”