Will Pacquiao and Mayweather Finally Fight? Up To Floyd Now After Pacman Demolishes Algieri

The ball is now in Floyd's court.

Immediately after demolishing Chris Algieri in Macau, China, on Sunday morning, Manny Pacquiao hurled the challenge to Floyd Mayweather Jr. to fight him next.

This time around, there is no more excuses for Mayweather to dodge him, the Pacman said.

The Pacquiao vs. Mayweather suspense thriller – undoubtedly the most awaited, biggest and richest fight in the history of boxing – has been talked about for the past five years but has never seen any actual sign of realization. Despite the overwhelming public clamor for such a fight to be held, personal grudges between the two boxing camps and Mayweather's penchant for making various demands (drug testing, division of the purse money, etc.) have prevented the dream fight from happening even as both fighters continue to age.

Mayweather is turning 38 next year while Pacquiao will be 36 next month. Although Mayweather is still considered as the pound-for-pound king of boxing, he doesn't look as invincible as he once was. During his two fights with Marcos Maidana this year, Mayweather was hit hard and had to use every weapon in his boxing arsenal to defeat his foe.

Likewise, Pacquiao appears to have lost some of his explosiveness and punching power. He hasn't scored a knockout since 2009, when he floored Miguel Cotto, though he appeared to be on the verge of putting Algieri to sleep on Sunday.

With Pacquiao winning a lopsided match against Algieri, flooring the young American boxer six times in their 12-round bout, with the Pacquiao camp having agreed to nearly all of Mayweather's demands, with the boxing fans, promoters and their financial backers all clamoring for the fight to happen – boxing pundits say it would be absolutely ridiculous and foolhardy of Mayweather to continue evading the inevitable.

"There is no more excuses" for Mayweather, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said. "I will sit next to my phone starting tomorrow and wait for a call that will change the course of boxing history. We're all ready. There's no reason not to get it done."

Pacquiao agreed with Arum. "The people deserve that fight. The fans deserve that fight," the eight-division world champion said at the post-fight news conference.

"It's time to make that fight happen. It's been a long time. I want that fight. They're always denying the fight. I think the fight has to happen," Pacquiao said with firm conviction.

Last year when Pacquiao also demolished Brandon Rios in the same Macau arena, he appeared reluctant to call out Mayweather. But on Sunday, he showed no hesitation at all to challenge Floyd.

Pacquiao even repeated the lines from his Foot Locker commercial, "He is going to fight me? Yes!" drawing laughs from the crowd in Macau.

All eyes are now on Mayweather. In the days before the Pacquiao-Algieri fight, Mayweather appeared to have softened his stance on finally agreeing to exchange real blows, not just verbal, with Pacquiao. He said for this to happen, Pacquiao had to stop Algieri first. That's history now. And Floyd indeed has no more excuses.