According to Manny Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach "Life goes on without Mayweather. He wouldn't agree to (a limit of) 14 days before the fight. We did our best to appease him but he wouldn't go along with it." The failed talks denied boxing fans a long-awaited showdown between the sport's pound-for-pound kings that could have been a 40 million-dollar payday for each.

So instead Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao heeds Ghana's Joshua Clottey's notice that he intends to be more than simply a fill-in fighter destined to fall to the Philippines powerhouse. The matchup will headline the first fight card at 1.2 billion-dollar Cowboys Stadium, home of the famed American football squad from Dallas on March 13.

I must say that beyond the controversies, Manny Paquiao as a boxer never fails to charm us all.

"It's going to be a good fight," Pacquiao said. "Clottey, he is a good fighter, a top fighter, and he is bigger than me. I have to prepare hard for this fight and train hard and focus."

"This is going to be a hell of a fight," Clottey said. "I love Manny Pacquiao. If you throw (punches) at him, he will throw back at you. I know what I'm going to face."