The depressing realization that the Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather fight is kaput is finally settling over the boxing community. As has been repo

The depressing realization that the Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather fight is kaput is finally settling over the boxing community. As has been reported by Dan Rafael at ESPN and a variety of other news outlets, it seems that Pacquiao will now be slated to face welterweight contender Joshua Clottey while Mayweather is working on lining up an opponent for himself.

Both fighters are still planning on using the proposed March 13 date, which means that instead of battling it out in the ring they will be battling it out on the balance sheets to see who draws more pay-per-view sales and possibly gains an upper hand in further negotiations should the fight ever rematerialize. Yes, it's likely that after having our strings pulled for the better part of two months, that a fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao could still rise to the surface in September of this year.

For his part, potential Mayweather opponents have been rumored as Kermit Cintron and Paulie Malignaggi, although a handful of other fighters have been named as well. Mayweather's fight will still likely take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, while Pacquiao will take a trip down to the Palace in Dallas to fight in Jerry Jones's new Cowboys Stadium.

After all of the back and forth drama, the media ploys and what ultimately amounts to an epic failure on the part of all sides, one question remains in the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight cancellation fiasco.


Lots of people deserve a share of the blame for Pacquiao vs. Mayweather not getting made. Starting with those who deserve the most...

Bob Arum: Yes, he of, "Yesterday I lied, today I'm telling the truth," fame. Throughout the entire affair Pacquiao's promoter was more interested in taking shots at Floyd Mayweather and his camp, and trying to work over the media then to work out a deal. As Golden Boy representative Richard Schaefer repeatedly told media outlets that the fight could still get done and only small issues needed to be ironed out, Arum jumped at every opportunity to say the fight was dead.



Arum formerly promoted Mayweather, until their relationship turned sour and Mayweather bought his way out of the contract. Arum's stubborn refusal to work amiably with Mayweather when it would have benefited everyone involved was one of the driving factors of the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight


Pacquiao Vs. Mayweather Comes to a Screeching Halt, Who's to Blame?
being tanked.

Manny Pacquiao: Boxers are superstitious people. That's why they have such rigid routines and it forms the basis of some of their courage to step into the ring and exchange thunderous shots to the face with one another. However, Pacquiao's superstitious belief that having his blood drawn would make him weak and his resulting refusal to adhere to the demands of Mayweather was the final boulder that could not be moved out of the way for the mega-fight to get made. Ultimately, if you are a clean fighter, why wouldn't you agree to have your blood taken for $50 million?

Floyd Mayweather: Accusing Pacquiao of taking steroids was a win-win media ploy for Mayweather... except if Pacquiao retaliated by refusing to take the tests and instead filing a lawsuit, which he did. For his part, Mayweather did compromise on many of the details of the bout, however at the end of the day his stance on Olympic drug testing instead of the typical commission-based tests gets the "he never wanted the fight anyway" tag thrown back in his face.

Fighting a junior welterweight contender such as Paulie Malignaggi while Pacquiao fights a welterweight contender would be further embarrassment. Not to mention, how can a fighter with the self-given nickname "Money", not cease his demand making, and let his fists do the talking for an absurdly rich payday?

Richard Schaefer: Despite being far less culpable than Arum, Schaefer could have come up with more creative negotiating strategies to get the fight made. Mayweather's camp agreed to a ludicrous $10 million fee for coming in overweight. Schaefer could have compromised on the blood testing demands of Mayweather and came back with a $10 million penalty for any pre or post fight positive test results.

There's more blame to go around too. Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach for his media sensationalism and constant interviews one minute approving the bout and the next minute deriding it; Mayweather's father Floyd Mayweather Sr. for getting the Pacquiao steroid allegations started; fans, promoters and networks for aimlessly allowing the charade to play itself out and on down the line.

Somebody, anybody, needed to step up - or suck it up - and do something to save this bout. Nobody did, and it's truly an atrocity for everybody involved. Long, drawn out and venomous negotiations are a common occurrence for major boxing contests, but traditionally, the fight always got made.

The fact that this one didn't is a monumental catastrophe for all parties involved. Maybe the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao bout happens in September. Maybe it doesn't. Maybe one of the two guys loses their interim bouts on March 13 and all of the glam and glitz falls off the contest. At this point though, who cares?

Source: associatedcontent.com