By Shunning Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Agreed to a Bout He Doesn't Want

This all could have been so easy.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. Manny Pacquiao. Two boxing immortals squaring off in Las Vegas. Record HBO PPV buys. Millions and millions of dollars. Everybody wins.

Unfortunately, the great boxing enthusiasts who continue to support the sport while the UFC steals the headlines will not get what they wanted all along—a classic, one-for-the-ages fight.

After failing to reach an agreement Wednesday, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, who represents Pacquiao, said the fight with Mayweather and Golden Boy Promotions is off.

Arum and Top Rank president Todd duBoef met with Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, owner Oscar De La Hoya, and Mayweather adviser Al Haymon on Tuesday in Santa Monica, Calif., to discuss a deal that would bring the fighters into the ring.

The two parties, with lawyers present, agreed on everything except for the details concerning the drug testing procedures.

Daniel Weinstein, who has mediated disputes between Top Rank and Golden Boy before, aided in the drug testing discussion until an agreement appeared to be reached. The only thing left to do was to get the fighters to sign off on the pact.

Pacquiao and Mayweather agreed to unlimited urine testing, common protocol for the Nevada State Athletic Commission, but did not agree on blood testing. Mayweather demanded unlimited and random blood testing in addition to the urine tests.

Pacquiao, who originally was against all blood testing, agreed to take three blood tests: One during the kickoff news conference, one no later than 30 days before the fight and one in his dressing room immediately after the fight.

This wasn’t enough to convince Mayweather to fight.

Pacquiao then agreed to take the second blood test 24 days prior to the fight, said Arum. Mayweather said no thanks, forcing Pacquiao to walk the other way.

“Manny accepted what was on the table, and Mayweather rejected it,” Arum told ESPN. “[Mayweather] didn’t want the fight…he never wanted the fight.”

So it appears that’s that. Arum will now try to set up a fight between Pacquiao and junior middleweight titlist Yuri Foreman.

We may not be getting the fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao we had hoped for, but the real battle between the two is just beginning.

Mayweather made a fuss about the drug testing procedures when his father, Floyd Maweather Sr., publicly accused Pacquiao of using performance-enhancing drugs without any basis for his argument. Mayweather Jr. jumped in on the steroids bomb, and now Pacquiao appears set to go forward with a lawsuit.

At best, it was pure stupidity on behalf of Mayweather. At worst, it was reckless slander that could potentially lead to an ugly court case and a large check being addressed to Pacquiao.

By all accounts, Pacquiao was willing to forgive Mayweather of the accusations if they could agree on the drug testing procedures and if Mayweather would offer an apology for the PED remarks.

Mayweather swung and missed both times. Now Arum and Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz will go to court to publicly repair Pacquiao’s reputation.

“We will proceed with the lawsuit in an effort to clear [Pacquiao’s] name and tarnished image,” said Koncz. “Now they’ll have to prove to a judge that Manny is on drugs, which they won’t be able to do because he’s not. This is about principle.”

Pacquiao filed a defamation lawsuit in the Nevada U.S. District Court last week but will now likely pursue all available legal remedies. Could Pacquiao perhaps make more money than originally thought without ever throwing a right hook at Mayweather?

What is baffling is that the accusations that came from Mayweather’s mouth were probably nothing more than his typical false bravado. Mayweather is a bright guy. He knows how to stir the media pot, build the hype and get inside the head of his opponent before they ever step foot in the ring.

I would bet that Mayweather doesn’t actually believe Pacquiao takes performance-enhancing drugs, but simply wanted to get under the skin of the naturally calm Pacquiao.

By going after an acclaimed fighter who has never failed a drug test, Mayweather is entering a ring that he never planned to enter. I’m sure Mayweather never envisioned a serious lawsuit when he slipped the PED acronym into his verbal sparring, but that’s what he’s going to get.

I could see Mayweather giving Pacquiao a call and agreeing to the fight once he realizes that he could have avoided this whole legal mess by simply apologizing and meeting Pacquiao halfway, but it’s too late for that.

I thought for sure somehow, someway this fight would happen, but the picture has changed drastically. Too much has happened for this fight to convene now, and it’s all a shame.

This is the muddied conundrum that boxing continually deals with. Please, tell me how this is good for boxing and its fans?

Tell me how being 80 percent showman and 20 percent fighter produces a better product for the boxing audience to enjoy

Tell me how the roots and undying passion behind this once-great American sport are withstanding the crooked, machismo-laden business practices that now take center stage.

You can’t.

We began this whole process with an event that benefited everyone— the fighters, fans, promoters, trainers, HBO execs, and Las Vegas bigwigs.

Now we end this thing with everyone getting punched in the jaw.

I was looking forward to this fight perhaps more than any other sporting event of 2010, and I didn’t grow up with boxing as my first love.

If I feel this disappointed, I can’t imagine what die-hard boxing fans feel, those who grew up anxiously waiting for every card.

This is about them.

When many causal fans are jumping ship to MMA events, it’s these fans who are sticking by the sport. And this is what they get? A legal battle?

Floyd Mayweather Jr. thought he ducked out of the biggest fight of his career by not agreeing to the drug testing procedures and therefore, effectively ending the Mayweather-Pacquiao hype.

But, really, Floyd still has a fight to prepare for.

It just happens to be the one that nobody wanted.

You can reach Teddy Mitrosilis at [e-mail].