Will Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao Create a Fan Backlash?

The reality has set in. Boxing is moving on without a Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight, with both men pursuing their own fights on the March 13 date when it once appeared they would face each other.

As a result, disappointment and disgust are the best two words for summing up the mindsets of most boxing fans. I’d add disillusionment, but most longtime observers have grown too accustomed to the illogical way in which the sport operates to be shocked that the bout fell apart.

The current state of affairs has been dissected nonstop for the last several weeks, and there are almost as many different opinions on who shoulders the most responsibility as there are fight fans. But if there’s a common thread amongst all the discourse, it’s that both Mayweather and Pacquiao have earned their fair share of the blame.

With the very real possibility that Floyd and Manny will be taking part in dueling pay-per-views in a few months, the next logical question is whether all of the negative feelings swirling around will lead people to vote against both fighters with the only real weapons they have: their wallets.

Common sense alone suggests that the broadcasts will be in for some rough sledding. The casual fans who would have given Mayweather-Pacquiao a shot at becoming the biggest boxing event of all time are gone, possibly not to return for years.

Each man (but Pacquiao in particular) has a contingent of diehards who will ensure their new fights aren’t complete flops. For the hardcore fans without a particular rooting interest, it will have to be the matchups that convince them to tune in.

That seems dicey at best right now. Pacquiao foe Joshua Clottey is well-respected and a tough night for even top welterweights, but he’s short on name recognition.

We don’t even know who Mayweather will be facing. The leading candidate now appears to be Nate Campbell, a talented boxer but one who has never fought at welterweight and also isn’t a proven draw.

The bouts will already suffer from being run against each other, forcing people to choose. If Mayweather-Pacquiao would have done, say, 2.5 million buys, it’s tough to see each one doing 1.25 million when they are on at the same time.

Add in the lesser-known opponents for each man and it looks almost impossible. Fan backlash is the x-factor, because if a sizable number of regular boxing viewers decide they are too fed up with the whole mess to buy either fight, Floyd and Manny better steel themselves for some depressing numbers.

Everyone’s loss is someone’s gain, and these are great opportunities for Clottey and Campbell (or whoever ends up facing Floyd). They will be significant underdogs, but they can instantly put themselves on the map if they manage to pull off upsets.

Or at least they can if anyone is watching. They have to cross their fingers and hope fans want to see Mayweather and Pacquiao in the ring so badly that it outweighs the dejection they feel when they think about what could have been.

Nick Tylwalk is the editor and co-founder of BoxingWatchers.com . Follow his Twitter feed @Nick_Tylwalk .