Why Jessie Vargas and his supremely confident trainer believe he’ll beat Manny Pacquiao

LAS VEGAS – Dewey Cooper was seated at the head of a table in a swanky restaurant at the Wynn Las Vegas, but he should have been standing at a pulpit given the way he was preaching the gospel of Jessie Vargas.

Cooper, a former world champion kickboxer and a one-time wide receiver at UNLV, has landed the biggest gig of his career. He’s preparing Vargas, the 27-1 WBO welterweight world champion, for the fight of his life on Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Vargas will meet the legendary Manny Pacquiao, and Cooper knew full well before walking into the room with a handful of boxing reporters that the sentiment in the media and in the fan base is decidedly against Vargas.

Cooper is a large man with a thick chest, dreadlocks that reach the middle of his back and a booming, resonant voice which is almost impossible to ignore.

Cooper raved about Vargas’ intelligence and his athletic ability. He boasted of the champion’s high fight IQ, which shouldn’t really be all that surprising considering he’s been trained by, among others, Roger Mayweather, Israel Salas, Roy Jones Jr. and Erik Morales.

Cooper was, essentially, delivering a heart-felt sermon on behalf of his guy, who has largely been overlooked during the build-up. The only thing that was in doubt was whether he was trying to hawk the pay-per-view or whether he was trying to convince Vargas to believe in himself.

“We’re not underestimating what Pacquiao can do,” Cooper said in his best James Earl Jones voice. “He’s already put that body of work up. But that’s in his mind. We’re talking about something that’s in [Vargas’] soul instead of something that’s in Pacquiao’s mind. If it’s in your mind, you know you can do it, because you’ve done it before. I know I can drink water because I do it every day. It’s in my mind. But what if this were a 100-pound glass, could he pick it up and drink from it? Probably not.

“There’s a difference. Jessie has it in his soul to do it. Manny has it in his mind. I keep trying to tell guys, there’s a big [expletive] difference between something that’s in your head and being willing to die for it, man. Big difference.”

Pacquiao is nearly 38, he’s got a full-time job as one of 24 nationally elected senators in the Philippines and he squeezed his training in where he could.

In 2008, he was in much the same situation as Vargas is in now. At that time, Pacquiao was a couple of days from his 30^th birthday and was challenging the legendary Oscar De La Hoya. De La Hoya was just about at the end of the line and was trying to squeeze out one more win and the big payday that went with it.

But Pacquiao brutalized De La Hoya. He was too fast, too precise and too powerful, forcing the Golden Boy to quit on his stool after eight one-sided rounds.

Now, nearly eight years later, the tables have turned. Pacquiao is the legend nearing the end of his career and with little left to prove.

Vargas is the young fighter with the good record and multiple world titles who still, much to his angst, has his share of doubters.

“I understand how he feels right now, because I’ve been there in that situation,” Pacquiao said. “But sometimes, we think too much and [don’t consider] our skills.”

Vargas was raised in Las Vegas, and like many young Hispanic men growing up in the fight capital of the world, he fell in love with boxing. He used to root hard for De La Hoya and Julio Cesar Chavez.

Chavez had many of the most significant moments of his career in Las Vegas, and it caught the attention of an adolescent Vargas.

“Julio got me to start dreaming,” Vargas said. “I wanted to be just like him. I wanted to be him. After every win, I dreamed of getting up on those ropes like he did and having the entire stadium cheering for me. I’m still working on it now. But this Saturday night, I believe it’s going to be a memorable night for me. It’s going to be the beginning of something. I’m going to be living the dream.”

Vargas, who is fully bilingual, does some work on boxing broadcasts for Spanish language television. He was asked if being a broadcaster and quickly having to assess what is occurring in the ring and then explain it cogently to his audience helped him adjust quickly to what he saw during his fights.

Vargas beamed, and started to answer, when Cooper jumped in. He couldn’t pass up this opportunity.

“He has that fight IQ, and you can see it,” Cooper said. “The thing about a champion, an experienced guy who has been fighting since he was a little kid, he can make the adjustments, real time, real speed. He has intelligence. Guys, never underestimate the intelligence of this guy. He has a high IQ, separate from fighting.

“So yeah, he can make the adjustments and knows when to do things. That’s what being intelligent is about: Seeing something, processing that information fast and reacting.”

Vargas understands what he’s up against. He knows as well as anyone the outstanding career Pacquiao has had and all of the skills he brings to the ring.

He’s gotten a bit annoyed at reporters he’s felt have been dismissive of his chances in the fight. He’s not, he said defiantly, a punching bag. He’s an elite, world-class fighter who intends to win.

And he insists he knows how to fuel his anger.

“From time to time, it gets to me,” Vargas said of his doubters. “It makes me get aggressive and want to hit Manny Pacquiao that day, at that moment. When those questions are being asked, I want to prove it to them then and there. But then I remind myself to calm down and wait until the fight.”

This is the fight he’s waited his entire life for. When Pacquiao made his debut in Las Vegas on June 23, 2001, Vargas was 12 years old. Pacquiao is a legend now and Vargas is trying to become one.

A win over Pacquiao would be a good place to start.

“He’s had a great career,” Vargas said. “I’m here to defeat him. I hope the best Manny Pacquiao shows up so that when I defeat him, there are no excuses on their part.”

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