Mayweather can no longer duck Pacquiao
Unbeaten champion must stop looking for ridiculous excuses and fight the Filipino next if he is to retain any credibility and cement his legacy
Floyd Mayweather Jnr built a career - and made a fortune - by using deception to confuse and outwit his opponents.
Playing the same game outside the ring has also paid off for Money May. Mayweather has, for the most part, been able to fight who he wants, where he wants and when he wants.
He sells enough pay-per-views that he has been able to avoid a fight with Manny Pacquiao that should have taken place five years ago.
He must fight Pacquiao next, if his career is to have any legitimacy. And he must to do it on terms that reflect he won't be the only superstar in the ring
But the game has got old, even if Mayweather's many yes men haven't had the courage to let him know.
His latest attempt to twist the story line about a possible fight next year with Pacquiao was so dated and absurd that even the sycophants in his sizeable entourage had to be rolling their eyes.
The wizard of defence has finally been boxed into a corner. The charade is over, whether Mayweather realises it or not.
He must fight Pacquiao next, if his career is to have any legitimacy. And he must to do it on terms that reflect he won't be the only superstar in the ring.