Manny Pacquiao believes the favourite to be his next opponent is Mikey Garcia, but maintains there is still a chance he could face current WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford.
The former eight-weight world champion is expected to fight once or twice more this year before hanging up the gloves for good to focus entirely on his position as a senator in his native Philippines.
Current lightweight prospect Ryan Garcia was linked with an exhibition bout against Pacquiao for a while, but "King Ry" recently admitted it isn't likely to be finalised.
Meanwhile, namesake Mikey has reigned as world champion in four weight classes, competes regularly at Manny's preferred class of welterweight and is looking to end a similarly-long absence from the ring as the legend, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re leaning towards Mikey Garcia, but we’re also talking to Crawford,” Pacquiao told Dyan Castillejo of ABS-CBN, transcribed by Boxing Scene, who report a date in May could be feasible.
“It depends on who I get to face, what’s important is I’m ready.
“We never really got complacent, we’ve always continuously worked out. We keep on playing basketball aside from boxing. Actually, right after my fight the last time with [Keith] Thurman, I didn’t work out boxing, but I kept playing basketball."
While Crawford is one of the division's elite and the more intriguing clash for Pacquiao if it were to happen, Garcia would be no mismatch.
The 33-year-old from California is 40-1 with 30 knockouts to his name, and the only fighter to get the better of him as a professional thus far is Errol Spence Jr, who like Crawford is an unbeaten welterweight world champion.
In his time away from the ring, Pacquiao has been focusing on helping his nation get through the pandemic.
He continued: “We will keep on giving, we will continue to help as much as we can, even if it's just in small ways. I would love to be able to help everyone out, but our resources are limited, so we’ll do the best that we can, no problem. The only thing that I can assure the people of, is that as long as I can help, I will help, to the best of my abilities."