By Tom Sargent
Manny Pacquiao made a triumphant return to the ring at the weekend, defeating Jessie Vargas via a unanimous decision, capturing the WBO welterweight boxing title in the process.
The win means Pacquiao is an eight-division world champion with a new record of 59 wins from 67 fights.
Two boxing websites of repute in America have restored Pacquiao to number one in their pound-for-pound-greatest rankings following his dominant victory. They also weighed into that calculation his impressive defeat of Tim Bradley in April, immediately before his brief retirement in April.
Many experts are now predicting a possible rematch with Floyd Mayweather who was ringside for the fight, to be next for Pacman.
Mayweather himself retired with a perfect record of 49 wins from 49 fights after a routine victory over Andre Berto in September last year.
Their fight in May of last year was the richest boxing match in history with the fighters earning an estimated combined total purse of 300 million dollars.
The fight ended up being a relatively underwhelming affair with Mayweather winning on points in Las Vegas which begs the question as to why anybody would want to watch another disappointing clash.
However, any chance of a rematch has been put on hold by Pacquiao as he looks to put boxing to aside and focus on his work in politics as a member of the senate in the Philippines where he was elected for a six-year term.
Pacquiao arrived with Philippine National Police chief Ronald Dela Rosa at Manila’s international airport where he told journalists his plan to return to his Senatorial duties.
He told the Mirror: “I went back after the fight because there is still work at the office and I’m excited to get back to work. So boxing is done, set aside for now, and just focus on work.”
The southpaw also now holds the distinction of being the only sitting senator in history to become a boxing world champion.