Hindi si eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao ang napilitan kundi si WBC at WBA welterweight titlist Floyd Mayweather Jr. para labanan ang Pilipino sa $200 milyong unification bout dahil sa kantiyaw na inabot nito sa mga apisyonado ng boksing.

Ito ang reaksiyon ni “First Take” host Skip Bayless sa programa niya sa ESPN sa United States hinggil sa matagal nang paghahamon ni Pacquiao kay Mayweather.

“Finally, after Manny Pacquiao campaigned for this fight for five long years. After Manny offered every compromise on Earth for five long years,” sabi ni Bayless sa kanyang programa. “After Manny publicly dared and dared and dared Floyd may or may not eeather to take this fight. Floyd Mayweather Jr. finally quit running because he was shamed into taking this fight.”

Kabilang si Bayless sa maraming boxing broadcasters  sa iba’t ibang bahagi ng mundo na humihikayat kay Mayweather para tanggapin ang hamon ni Pacquiao.

“I want to thank you for helping me shame Floyd may or may not weather into taking this fight because in the end he had no choice. You finally came around over the last month or so, couple of months, and you finally started saying, ‘Floyd is looking worse and worse.’ Obviously his credibility and his legacy were beginning to teeter,” diin ni Bayless.

“So, in the end Floyd Mayweather, he was going to be damned if he did or damned if he didn’t. He was facing a couple more easy fights finishing 49-0 and retiring with a big, bad asterisk on his record because he ran and ran and ran from Manny Pacquiao,” dagdag ni Bayless sa kanyang programa. “Or he could go ahead, put it up, and fight the fighter that he clearly is still afraid of, to me. He could fight Manny and face 47-1, which is what he’s about to experience.”

“He is still afraid of Manny Pacquiao, and I can tell you via a source in Manny’s camp, Manny is still extremely extremely confident he cannot just beat Floyd Mayweather; he can knock him out,” saad ni Bayless. “So in the end, Floyd knows in his heart of hearts what’s coming, but Floyd had no choice. He had to fight him or risk tarnishing forever his legacy.”