Manny Pacquiao Saying All the Right Things to Push for Floyd Mayweather Fight

You can't knock Manny Pacquiao for a lack of trying.

If the biggest fight in boxing between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. doesn't happen in June 2015, it will be the fault of Money May for refusing to act. Pacquiao has ditched his apathetic approach to the dream fight for an aggressive one, leaving no doubt that it's now or never.

"I think it's time to say something," Pacquiao said after Saturday's defeat of Chris Algieri in Macau, China. "The fans deserve that fight. It's time to make that fight happen."

Pacquiao is about to turn 36; Mayweather is 37. The window of opportunity is closing quickly, and after three straight wins, Pac-Man has finally garnered enough momentum to convince the public he's worthy of the shot.

Mav Gonzales of GMA 7 added more of Pacquiao's comments:

You can't blame Pacquiao for not really pushing the fight in recent years. He lost twice after their talks broke down in 2010. That included a knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012, a result many thought was the end of the Pacquiao-Mayweather talk.

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But Pacquiao has rallied and shown that his legendary 57-5-2 record is an indication of how dangerous he can be. 

Pacquiao's entire camp is taking the offensive, per the New York Post's George Willis:

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"I think that anybody, whoever reads about Mayweather or Manny, will say, 'Why didn't these guys fight each other?'" [Freddie] Roach said. "It’ll always be a question mark. Let’s face it: The best should fight the best. They've been the best guys out there for over three years. Usually, the best does fight the best somewhere along the line. This is something that will haunt them forever."

[Bob] Arum added: "If boxing is to be considered a major sport, the fight has to happen. All the nonsense has to cease. Everybody should be working together to make that fight. There are no excuses anymore. None. I’ll be at the phone. Manny will be at his phone. We’re ready."

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Arum's points seem to mirror the thoughts of the average fan but not Mayweather, who is primarily focused on maintaining his unbeaten record. And Showtime still has him under contract for a handful of fights.

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He can go up against a few more up-and-comers who hardly belong in the same ring and continue to make tens of millions of dollars per fight. 

But unfortunately for Mayweather, in the eyes of many, that route will have him go down in history as the undefeated legend who always found ways to duck his biggest nemesis.

That's how ESPN's Skip Bayless sees it going down:

The rumblings about a Mayweather-Pacquiao bout have been deafening in recent days. USA Today's Martin Rogers reported that Pacquiao and Roach are preparing like Mayweather is next, and he added that CBS/Showtime and Arum have already talked about breaking the television-rights barrier:

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Around four months ago, Roach was a central figure in setting up a meeting between Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum and CBS chief executive Leslie Moonves, who controls the Showtime network, with whom Mayweather is four fights into a six-bout deal worth $250 million.

Since then, Arum and Moonves, who had had previously frosty relations for several years, have held advanced discussions about Pacquiao and Mayweather squaring off.

Asked if he trusted Mayweather, Arum replied, "No", before adding "but I trust Les Moonves. For the head of CBS to spend that much time on something would be counter-productive if it was (nonsense)."

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All of that talk is great, but until Mayweather himself is sitting in on those conversations, they may as well not be happening.

When it comes down to it, the self-proclaimed pound-for-pound champion will decide who he fights next. Perhaps the ridiculous purse will be enough to prompt him to make it happen, but his inexplicable lack of interest has practically everyone tempering his or her expectations.

It is obvious, though, that after crushing Algieri and explicitly calling out Mayweather, Pacquiao can't be blamed.