This Time They Mean It: Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao is Off (For Now)

It looks like the fight everyone wants to see will not be seen, at least this spring.

Though the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao bout has been declared dead before, it looks like it's now been taken off life support. Multiple news outlets are reporting that the fight is off, and both men will look to make other matches for March.

For Pacquiao, this likely means Yuri Foreman and a really good shot at a world title in an eighth weight class. Let's be honest though: he comes off looking worse than his potential opponent after this, simply because it was his side that originally seemed unwilling to compromise on the drug testing.

I'm a huge Manny fan, but it's hard to discount his critics now. Even if he's clean, the perception that he wouldn't do the fight unless he got everything his way is bound to dog him.

Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports says Mayweather will most likely end up facing Paulie Malignaggi, who got a boost with a very impressive performance against Juan Diaz in his last fight. But Paulie was a light hitter even at lower weights, and his strengths are in areas Floyd is even better. I'm not sure how he has much of a chance.

Money doesn't exactly come out of this smelling like roses either, since it looks like he was the one that was unwilling to accept the mediated compromise. There are those who have always thought he was simply too afraid of the possibility of losing to fight Manny (though I'm not one of them), and now that chorus will only grow louder.

I've said before that I thought Mayweather-Pacquiao would still be revisited in the fall if it fell through for the spring, and I'd be surprised if that wasn't the case. Could both men really leave that much fame and fortune on the table?

If they do, maybe my man Shane Mosley will have a chance to land one of them later this year - assuming he gets by Andre Berto, of course.

Posted by The Franchise