So the big news over the weekend involved pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao moving on from all the drama of his aborted mega-fight with Floyd Mayweather. After Pacquiao rejected a proposed bout against junior middleweight champion Yuri Foreman, his promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank announced that the boxer will instead face tough welterweight contender Joshua Clottey.

Clottey last outing was a razor-thin split decision against Miguel Cotto, a bout Clottey dominated in the latter rounds. The Ghanaian is renowned for his toughness, having never been knocked down in his career never been seriously hurt in his career (he was actually knocked down in the Cotto fight), and would certainly present a unique challenge for Pacquiao.

Scott Christ of Bad Left Hook is already salivating over the prospect of the bout: “Clottey is a rock-solid welterweight who has never been stopped, and I don't even recall off the top of my head ever thinking he seemed particularly hurt. He's faced a lot of different styles and done pretty well against them all, from the tall and powerful Antonio Margario to the cunning and savvy Miguel Cotto to fast southpaw Zab Judah. None of those guys are Manny Pacquiao, but Manny Pacquiao's never faced a guy quite like Clottey, either, whose defense can be impenetrable at times. Not exactly the loose counter-punching of Juan Manuel Marquez or the bull-forward style of Ricky Hatton.” At least one blogger thinks that this will be Pacquiao’s biggest challenge yet.

Arum, meanwhile, scored another coup after coming to terms with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to hold the fight in the $1.2-billion state-of-the-art Cowboy Stadium, a possibility nixed by Mayweather’s camp. Arum was schmoozing with Jones on the same night that VIPs such as George W. Bush were hanging out at the owner’s luxury suite during the Cowboys’ playoff victory over the Philadelphia Eagles this weekend. The new facility will also be playing host to the NBA All-Star Weekend in February.

(By the way, Arum says Dubya is a big Pacquiao fan. Pacquiao’s Nacionalista Party colleagues Satur Ocampo and Liza Maza must be thrilled. First Bongbong Marcos, now this. Who’s next, Hitler?)

Not to be left out, Mayweather’s promoter, Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy, also made noises about moving on as well. According to him, “Pretty Boy Floyd” is looking at a May date with Shane Mosley, to “shut up all those who are saying he's a coward.” This, of course, would still depend on a Mosley victory in his January 30 bout against Andre Berto, which is hardly a given.

These are fighting words from Mayweather’s promoter, and it remains to be seen if Mayweather will come through. The boxer has frustrated fans of the sport for ducking the best competition at the welterweight level over the last few years, skipping bouts against the likes of Mosley, Cotto, Clottey, and Margarito, to preserve his undefeated record. Will Floyd really put his record on the line against a dangerous opponent, or will he take on a scrub like Matthew Hatton or Paulie Malignaggi?

It should be noted that a late spring bout for Mayweather would still leave a fall bout between him and Pacquiao open, should the two parties opt to revisit the mega-fight. But with potentially dangerous opponents (definitely for Pacquiao), neither boxer could really afford to look that far ahead.

UPDATE: Dan Rafael of ESPN reports that it looks like Mayweather will keep the March 13 date too, to go head-to-head with Pacquiao. Bad Left Hook details why this is an awful idea, because of the lack of quality opposition for Mayweather if he does not fight the winner of Mosely-Berto.