BOXING: Pacquiao batters Vargas to reclaim WBO title

Manny Pacquiao (left) of the Philippines punches Jessie Vargas during the WBO welterweight title boxing match in Las Vegas, the United States, November 5, 2016. [PHOTO: XINHUA] (161106) -- LAS VEGAS, Nov. 6, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Manny Pacquiao (L) of the Philippines punches Jessie Vargas during the WBO welterweight title boxing match in Las Vegas, the United States, Nov. 5, 2016.

Star Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao reclaimed the World Boxing Organization welterweight title for the third time with a unanimous decision victory over former champion Jesse Vargas on Saturday.

The 37-year-old Pacquiao used a short right-handed counterpunch to floor Vargas in the second round en route to a one-sided win in the US. All three judges scored the bout for Pacquiao, two of them by 118-109 and the other by 114-113. Pacquiao won the WBO title first in 2010 when he beat Miguel Cotto.

He lost it two years later to Timothy Bradley, then got it back by winning the rematch with Bradley in 2014. He lost it last year to the now-retired Floyd Mayweather, who had a front row seat for Saturday’s bout.