Manny Pacquiao has officially retired but boxing fans continue to defy that belief, especially after seeing his performance against Timothy Bradley Jr. last week.

Pacquiao won that one convincingly, and for a moment, it seemed the Filipino boxer had no signs that he was hanging it all up.

The official word though is that the eight-division champion has hung up his gloves as he now starts his new road to the world of politics. Pacquiao is vying for a senatorial seat in the coming Philippine national elections on May 9.

If he wins, Pacquiao may find it impossible to find time to consider future fights with a busy schedule expected once he joins the senatorial body.

Just the same, Freddie Roach and Bob Arum are leaving the door open for a potential return and one fighter that could be in line is Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.

Alvarez is set to face Amir Khan on May 7 in a voluntary fight before a possible showdown with Gennady Golovkin. Triple G is set to take his own voluntary bout with Dominic Wade on April 23.

As far as the Alvarez vs. Khan match is concerned, Pacquiao's camp will be among the curious watchers. Though there is a big size mismatch if Pacquiao ends up facing Alvarez, the real gauge seems to be Khan.

Khan moved up two weight classes to take on Alvarez so it will be interesting to see how he performs. Khan is a heavy underdog but the British southpaw is unfazed by the odds as he is confident of pulling out a surprise.

Though he has been known to overlook his chances, Khan will have to box his talk in May. A win is considered a major upset if Khan is successful and likely gets the challenger back on track.

A loss could leave dire consequences on Khan while Alvarez continues his rise among the ranks. Golovkin is lined up next but how about Pacquiao as well?