There are two reasons that made Floyd Mayweather duck Manny Pacquiao for a few years before the fight stopped being relevant – the money was something Mayweather never wanted to settle on, and the fact that he was simply afraid to lose.

Any other excuse given by Mayweather, who actually keeps changing his reasons for the mega fighting never happening, is probably him masking the real truth behind things. Drugs were never the issue. Money, and the chances of losing to Pacquaio always were.

It doesn’t really matter at this point. While Mayweather was in prison, Pacquiao lost to Timothy Bradley in a very weird split decision. This pretty much ended the chances of the two meeting in a fight, at least according to Mayweather. But if there was any hope left for 2013, came the knockout, as Juan Manuel Marquez finally got his win, this time without anyone being able to debate the result, with a sixth round knockout against Pacquiao.

Manny Pacquiao had a chance to make the fight in the past and basically, that’s the best place I’d like to leave it. Now, I’m feeling like I wouldn’t even give him a chance. He had a chance, he blew it, so that’s what it is.

One of the things Mayweahter has also mentioned in the past and when talking to Mlive is that Pacquiao’s only chance to fight with him is leaving Top Rank and joining Mayweather promotions, which is actually Golden Boy promotions, only with Mayweather using his name to promote his own fights and a few other fighters.

Pacquiao is on to other things – fighting Brandon Rios in Macau. Mayweather? He beat Robert Guerrero without too much of a problem, and now is ready to face Saul Alvarez in what is probably the biggest fight possible to align at the moment for PPV purposes.

The biggest fight that could have been? It’s in the past, just like Mayweather said. But the reasons for it not happening aren’t anything that has to do with Pacquiao himself, or at least him blocking the option of it happening. It was always in Mayweahter’s corner, the decision to make it happen. He simply made the right choice on his behalf: Not risk the amount of money or control he has in a fight, not to mention risking his so precious perfect record.

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