First Manny Pacquiao dominated Joshua Clottey, then threw out a challenge to Floyd Mayweather Jr.

The Filipino superstar, widely regarded as the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter, easily handled challenger Clottey in their WBO world welterweight title fight Saturday before a crowd of 50,994 at Cowboys Stadium.

Pacquiao won every round on judge Duane Ford’s scorecard and won all but the third in the view of judges Nelson Vasquez and Levi Martinez in the one-sided affair.

Pacquiao fired an astronomical 1,231 punches at Clottey. Clottey kept his hands high in front of his face and rarely took a chance, fighting cautiously to avoid a knockout.

He attacked Clottey’s body and dug hard hooks into his rib cage, occasionally making Clottey wince in pain.

“Part of the game plan was to go hard to the body and bring those hands down,” trainer Freddie Roach said.

Clottey wasn’t much of a challenge to Pacquiao, who was better in every phase of the game. Looming large over Pacquiao’s future, however, is the specter of the unbeaten Mayweather.

A Pacquiao-Mayweather bout would be a legitimate fight for the ages, a rare match that would be as even and compelling as any made in more than a quarter of a century.

Mayweather, who fights Shane Mosley May 1 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, could have and should have been Pacquiao’s opponent Saturday instead of Clottey.

Due to the dispute over drug-testing, however, what would have been the most lucrative fight in boxing history fizzled and failed to be made. Mayweather demanded random, Olympic-style blood and urine testing, which Mosley, an admitted steroids user, agreed to do. Pacquiao, though, declined to do it unless ordered by a state athletic commission and the dream fight fell apart.

If Mayweather holds up his end of the bargain, though, and wins against Mosley, neither Mayweather nor Pacquiao may have any other option but to fight each other. And that bout would pit a defensive genius with uncanny instincts and blazing-fast hands against an offensive savant who adds nuance to his game each time out.

It would have been ludicrous to compare Mayweather and Pacquiao circa 2005 because Mayweather would have won hands down.

Five years later, however, Pacquiao has more than closed the gap. He is at the very least Mayweather’s equal at this stage, and he’s as good defensively now as he is offensively. He has a complete arsenal of punches and has proven in wins over Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto and Clottey that he’s at no disadvantage when facing naturally bigger and, supposedly, stronger men.

Promoter Bob Arum signed Mayweather off the 1996 U.S. Olympic team and tried to develop him into the next Sugar Ray Leonard. Mayweather became every bit the fighter that Arum thought he would be, but the relationship between the two became incredibly bitter and the two now despise each other.

Don’t underestimate the significance that the hard feelings between the two will have on getting a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight being made. Arum, who called his willingness to negotiate the drug-testing terms in December a mistake, suggested that Pacquiao would be able to solve Mayweather’s defense.

“Manny will break down any defense because he throws a million punches,” Arum said. “He threw 1,200 tonight. If Mayweather doesn’t break out of the [defensive] shell, Manny would just pile up the points.

“Manny’s a buzzsaw. And when you’re in with a buzzsaw, it’s very, very difficult to do anything. Manny could always prevent Clottey from throwing his own. And he throws from so many different angles and with both hands, these unbelievable combinations, that you’re just defending yourself from getting knocked out.”

Mayweather is a far different, and far better, defensive fighter than Clottey. Clottey used the tortoise-shell defense Saturday, where he held his arms in front of his chest and shoulders with his gloves protecting his face.

However, he was always straight in front of Pacquiao, who simply whipped hard hooks into his midsection, at one point making Clottey wince in agony and stumble back into the corner.

It won’t be so easy to get at Mayweather’s body, and not simply because Mayweather has a jab that he uses expertly to keep opponents at bay.

Mayweather is an expert at angles and blocks a lot of punches by using the shoulder roll, or using his shoulder to guard the vulnerable areas of his body.

“If we get that fight, I have no doubt in my mind that Manny would break through that defense by just pounding on his shoulder until it breaks,” Roach said.

Mayweather’s weakness has been against pressure fighters. The closest fight of his career was his first against Jose Luis Castillo in 2002. Castillo, who announced his retirement Saturday after a loss to Alfonso S. Gomez on the undercard, got in Mayweather’s face by pressuring him and forcing him back.

Pacquiao is an efficient pressure fighter and has the kind of sting on his punches that would bother Mayweather, should he land them.

“Manny Pacquiao is fast,” Clottey said. “He’s extremely fast. That’s the best thing about him, his speed.”

Mayweather has said he wants the fight and Saturday, Pacquiao reiterated his desire to face Mayweather.

Pacquiao, though, made it clear Saturday that he wants to stand across from Mayweather the next time out.

“I want that fight, but it’s up to him,” Pacquiao said. “I’m ready to fight any time. Maybe if Mosley wins, I’ll fight him. Floyd’s style isn’t that difficult, though.”