WBA "regular" welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (60-7-2, 39 KOs) is not looking to retire any time soon.

This past weekend in Malaysia, Pacquiao made his long awaited return to the ring at the age of 39.

In a performance that made many see shades of his younger self, Pacquiao dominated and dropped Lucas Matthysse three times for a stoppage win in seven rounds.

The victory was Pacquiao's first stoppage win since 2009, and his first bout since July 2017 - when Pacquiao lost a twelve round unanimous decision to Jeff Horn in Brisbane, Australia.

Pacquiao turns 40-years-old before the year is over, and there are many who close to him who believe the eight division world champion should retire.

He wants to fight at least two to three more times before calling it a day.

"My next fight, I want to defend my belt," Pacquiao said.

"If boxing is not my passion, I would not fight again. It's like I'm addicted to boxing and I really love to fight and bring honour to my country. That's my heart's desire."

Some of the potential options include, three division world champion Terence Crawford, who currently holds the WBO welterweight title. And WBA lightweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko, who also won world titles at 130 and 126.

To fight Crawford, there would be no issues with the weight. But for Lomachenko there would have to be a catch-weight - and Loma's team is requesting the lightweight limit of 135, where Pacquiao has not fought since 2008. Pacquiao is willing to do that fight at the junior welterweight limit of 140, which Lomachenko's team rejected.

Pacquiao, who is currently very busy with his political career as a senator in the Philippines, is not looking to slow down what many Filipinos view as a future path to being the president of the country.

"There's going to be a lot of work in the office," Pacquiao said.