There's no doubt, given enough time, boxing fans will miss the great Manny Pacquiao. His frenetic style, charming smile and surprising craft will one day stamp his ticket to the Hall of Fame. Fathers will tell children about watching him fight, and future stars will try and fail to escape his enormous shadow. He will be forgiven his transgressions, and his failures will be forgotten.

That day, however, has not yet come.

After a retirement that lasted less than four months before a comeback fight was announced, Jesse Vargas was plucked from obscurity for a return bout that just a couple of years ago would have had boxing ablaze. Instead, Pacquiao’s latest bout has been met with something worse than negative press or howls of resentment—it's been met by silence.

Pacquaio, over the course of his career, has generated more than a $1 billion on pay-per-view. For a time, people cared, and deeply, about his every move. His return to the ring, whether anyone bought his retirement of not, should have boxing buzzing. Instead, Saturday's fight bears the look of a box office bust.

How does this happen? While some in the media will blame each other for lack of promotion, point the finger at Manny’s political views, or pinpoint his performance opposite Floyd Mayweather Jr. as the culprit, the lack of promotional muscle behind this bout is the responsibility of one man: Bob Arum, Pacquiao's long-time promoter. 

Arum is the man responsible for picking Pacquiao’s opponent, Vargas, who, not coincidentally, is also a promotional stablemate fighting for Arum's Top Rank Promotions. Arum is the man who decided to do so against the desires of HBO, who dropped the fight rather than waste time and energy on something they didn't believe in. And Arum is the man who approved the decision to bring bloviating hot take purveyor Stephen A. Smith (article contains some NSFW language) into the broadcast booth, despite his lack of experience and clear dearth of boxing knowledge. 

These moves, combined, have alienated the hardcores while assuring those who don't follow boxing closely had no idea Pacquiao was fighting at all. It didn't have to be this way. There are fights for the 37-year-old Pacquiao that would move the needle and perhaps capture the attention of both recreational and serious boxing fans alike.

Canelo Alvarez/Pacquiao would be an enormous event. Terence Crawford/Pacquiao would have been hyped to the moon for HBO. A rematch with Miguel Cotto, another late-career superstar, would be a great late-career fight for both men.

Unfortunately, Arum didn't appear to seriously explore any of these fights. Vargas, a decent welterweight best known for his loss to three-time Pacquiao victim Tim Bradley, was the booby prize. Worst of all, this fight does nothing to build any of those more-interesting contests.

Boxing politics and perception aside, the Vargas fight, ESPN's Nigel Collins writes, isn't completely without merit:

Vargas is better equipped to give Pacquiao a tough fight than recent opponents such as Brandon Rios and Chris Algieri. Rios was outclassed and overwhelmed by the occasion, while Algieri's chin turned out to be as soft as his punch, resulting in six trips to the canvas and an easy win for Manny.

Vargas is tougher both mentally and physically and comes armed with the hungry determination of a man who always thought he would make it to the top and can't quite understand why he hasn't gotten there yet.

The fight might very well be an interesting contest. With 40 looming for the Filipino politician, the nondescript Vargas might indeed provide Pacquiao a challenge. Manny has never been afraid to fight fire with fire, and it's easy to picture some fan-friendly fireworks throughout the bout. Unfortunately for all involved, they will likely be seen in GIF form, by people who made the choice to save their money.

Whether he's capable of giving Manny a fight or not, most casual boxing enthusiasts, if we're being honest, have never heard of Vargas. Oddsmakers, are unimpressed, giving him almost no chance to win. As a promotion, the fight is dead on arrival.

For the first time in his long and distinguished career, Pacquiao has failed to give fans what they want. In return, they've decided to pretend he never came back at all. And who can blame them?

Jonathan Snowden covers combat sports for Bleacher Report.