Former world title holders Amir Khan and Juan Manuel Marquez are joined by current rulers Timothy Bradley, Terence Crawford and Kell Brook on the five-man shortlist confirmed to WBN by Top Rank’s Carl Moretti on Thursday.
Both Bradley and Marquez have both met Pacquiao on more than once occasion before, with mixed results, whilst Brook, Khan and Crawford are hoping to be thrust further into the spotlight against one of the biggest pay-per-view names around.
Congressman Pacquiao is said to be eyeing up one more Las Vegas bout in the spring of 2016 before concentrating on his run for Senator in the upcoming Philippines elections.
At 36, time is fast running out for multiple world champion Pacquiao to make another major impact in the sport, although the ‘Pacman’ is intent on making sure his defeat to Floyd Mayweather won’t be the way he goes out.
Pacquiao lost a unanimous decision to Mayweather in May of this year and has since been recovering from a shoulder injury suffered during the record-breaking encounter.
Unless something drastic happens, one of the above five will be in the opposite corner to the Filipino in the spring of next year, although Moretti did add that no timeframe or date had been set for the possible Pacquiao swansong.
