Hall-of-Fame trainer Freddie Roach, who mans the helm of the famous Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, California, says his prized ward, eight-division world champion Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KO's), will be back in 2016 against an opponent to be named.
"It could be a while. I'm looking at three to six months from now," said Roach, in an interview with RingTV's Michael Woods.
Roach was referring to when Pacquiao would be able to resume training and not when he'll be back in competition.
Pacquiao was last seen in the ring against rival Floyd "Money" Mayweather, Jr. in at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas last May 2, in a welterweight bout that turned out to be the richest in the sport's history, drawing an unheard of 4.4-million pay-per-view buys while shattering any and all of boxing's financial records.
Mayweather defeated Pacquiao via a 12-round lopsided decision. Pacquiao, who had long been considered to be the biggest threat to Mayweather's unblemished record, put in a lackluster performance and was outworked by boxing's pound-for-pound king.
After the fight, Pacquiao complained of a torn rotator cuff he allegedly injured during the build of to the fight. He is currently recuperating back in his native Philippines.
Yet later on this year, Pacquiao is expected to begin to work out for his much awaited comeback of sorts in 2016. No opponents have been finalized yet but early front runners are England's Amir "King" Khan, who is a former sparring partner of Pacquiao's, or the undefeated Danny "Swift" Garcia.
"[Danny Garcia] would be a good opponent," Roach said, clearly favoring the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania former junior welterweight champion.
Mayweather on the other hand is expected to end his career following his upcoming September 12 bout against the unheralded Andre Berto.
Many observers however believe a Pacquiao-Mayweather rematch is still possible sometime next year, should both sides once again decide to give the fight another go.
Pacquiao, though turning 37 this December, has previously stated he feels okay physically to continue boxing despite being on the tail-end of a career which spans nearly two decades.
Despite losing three of his last six fights, Pacquiao still has plenty of options left for compelling matchups with opponents between 135 and 147 pounds.
His time as an elite fighter however, is most likely done.