By Steve Kim

So is Manny Pacquiao's return to the ring solidified for the spring?

"I don't want to say what I shouldn't say," said Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum, who was careful in choosing his words to BoxingScene.com.

"But we have no disagreements within the deal with Pacquiao and what we hope to do is have everything finalized by the weekend."

Pacquiao has not fought since losing this WBO welterweight title against Jeff Horn, by way of an upset twelve round unanimous decision back on July 1st at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia. A rematch was being targeted for last fall, but it never came about as there were conflicts with Pacquiao's work schedule as a senator back home in the Philippines.

Horn, who retained his title for the first time in December with a stoppage win over Gary Corcoran, is now scheduled to face his mandatory challenger, Terence Crawford, on April 14th at the Madison Square Garden in New York.

Pacquiao is expected to be a part of the Crawford-Horn show, which is going to be carried by ESPN.

The 39-year old 'Pac Man', who has a professional record of 59-7-2 (38 KO's) and captured world titles in a record eight divisions, has been rumored to be facing Mike Alvarado in this upcoming fight.

Alvarado (38-4, 26 KOs), 37-years old, is a former WBO junior welterweight champion.

Alvarado is now riding a four fight winning streak after suffering a three defeats in a row - at the hands of Ruslan Provodnikov, Juan Manuel Marquez (who was down in the ninth round) and Brandon Rios in their trilogy fight.

After losing to Rios in January 2015, Alvarado took some time off and returned to the ring in March of 2016 with a knockout of Saul Corral.

He fought twice in 2017, with a stoppage victory over Matthew Strode in May and then a knockout of Sidney Siqueira in August.

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.