REIGNING World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight champion Rolly Romero looms as boxing icon Manny Pacquiao’s next opponent.

The 46-year-old Pacquiao is looking for one more fight before the year ends, for his second ring stint after a four-year retirement, which he ended by fighting World Boxing Council (WBC) titlist Mario Barrios to a draw last July.

Pacquiao’s adviser Sean Gibbons said the 29-year-old Romero is ideal as Pacquiao’s next opponent in a report by DAZN, which cited gambling online dot net as the firsthand source.

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“He wants to break his own records and make history, just like when he won the world title at 40 years old,” he said.

Romero, who fights under the Premier Boxing Champions group and a slugger like Pacquiao, makes him the leading candidate for the Filipino’s next opponent.

Gibbons said that gives Romero an edge over other candidates like Barrios and Ryan Garcia, whom Romero defeated via unanimous decision to wrest the WBA Regular belt, which was later upgraded to Super status after Jaron Ennis vacated the title to move up to the super welterweight class.

WBO champ looms as Pacquiao’s next opponent

Barrios isn’t a slugger like Pacquiao, while Garcia is a willing brawler but not easy to deal with when it comes to fight proposals, Gibbons said.

WBO champ looms as Pacquiao’s next opponent

“Both Manny and Rolly are with PBC. We’ll make some decisions and evaluate what’s ahead for the rest of 2025 and into 2026,” said Gibbons.