Manny Pacquiao is set to return to the boxing ring next year, once he fully recovers from a shoulder injury he suffered in May against the now retired boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. Pacquiao’s opponent is yet to be known but a handful of fighters are already in the list of Top Rank Promotions boss Bob Arum.

Last month, Arum devised a five-man list of potential opponents for Pacquiao, which includes Amir Khan, Terence Crawford, Kell Brook, Lucas Matthysse and Juan Manuel Marquez. Arum then confirmed that Khan was the leading candidate to land a fight with Pacquiao, with the British fighter revealing earlier this week that his team has been in talks with Top Rank Promotions and contracts are being negotiated.

However, Arum has now revealed that former Interim World Boxing Council Lightweight Champion Lucas “La Maquina” Matthysse is the front-runner to challenge Pacquiao, when the Filipino boxing icon returns into the boxing ring. "There's certainly been discussions with him [Khan] but I wouldn't say he's the front-runner," Arum said, reports Sky Sports . "He's [Matthysse] an exciting guy and he's gotten a lot of exposure and he would assure everybody that it would be a very exciting match.”

Matthysse (37-4, 34 KOs) will face Ukraine’s undefeated fighter Viktor Postol (27-0, 11 KOs) on Oct. 3 at the StubHub Centre in California for the vacant WBC junior welterweight title. The Argentine international has been on a hot-streak after victories over John Molina, Roberto Ortiz and Ruslan Provodnikov.

Golden Boy Promotions chief executive Oscar De La Hoya also believes his fighter, Matthysse, is in line to be Pacquiao’s comeback opponent. De La Hoya said that winning against Postol would get the Argentine slugger a bout with the former eight-division titlist next year. “Winning this fight would mean that next year Lucas Matthysse could be in line to have the best challenges against fighters like Manny Pacquiao,” De La Hoya told Boxing News Online .

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