Pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao failed to knock Shane Mosley out in their match this morning at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, but they damn near put everyone who watched the match to sleep. After getting rocked by Pacquiao in the 3rd round, Mosley spent most of the rest of the match refusing to engage in combat, leading the crowd of 16,000 to serenade him with boos.

The ignoble outing was probably the last one for the once-proud veteran warrior, who sat atop the pound-for-pound rankings a decade ago. It was hardly a surprise to anyone that Pacquiao was dominant throughout – virtually anyone who knew anything about boxing knew that it was a mismatch – but most people did not expect that it was going to be this bad. After getting knocked down in the third round, Mosley seemed happy to get out of each round alive, with his guaranteed $5-million payday from this fight to serve as a nest egg for his retirement.

While most of the blame for the snoozefest should be laid at the feet of Sugar Shane, Pacquiao wasn’t exactly faultless either. Before the fight, there had been talk that the gentleman from Sarangani had lost his killer’s instinct, and it did seem that for most of the match, he was happy to simply pick his spots against Mosley instead of going all-out. An errant knockdown call against him in the 10th round seemed to have lit a fire under Pacquiao, and his resentment toward the referee fueled the most exciting moments of the match.

It’s a disappointment because Pacquiao has spoiled us with balls-to-the-wall action throughout his career, and I wonder if we’ve seen the last of that. His last three fights, including this one, have been complete blowouts – the Miguel Cotto match the last time he was tested at all – because he was pitted against opponents who simply couldn’t match up decently against him.

See, it’s going to be very, very hard to find an opponent who is in his class; there’s Floyd Mayweather, but he’d rather spend his energy jerking off to Lady Gaga these days. And even if there’s anyone else out there who can give Pacquiao a fight, chances are, his handlers won’t sign up for it because it’s not good business sense to take such a huge risk. Only Mayweather is worth it.

And whether Pacquiao knocks out his opponent or he simply dominates each round, he gets paid at least $20 million. There’s not much incentive for him to risk opening himself up to go for the kill, especially if he’s opponent, like Mosley or Joshua Clottey, isn’t really looking to fight. This isn’t the first time a Pacquiao fight has ended up as a disappointment, and I have a sneaking suspicion this would be the norm rather than the exception.