Manny Pacquiao’s comeback plan is slowly but surely gaining ground that the lead trainer of a potential opponent is welcoming a clash with the Filipino legend.

“We welcome that,” Bob Santos, who trains newly-crowned World Boxing Council (WBC) welterweight champion Mario Barrios, told boxingscene.

“Mario, the one thing about him, I said it many, many times, is he takes on all challenges. He has never taken the easy route. He’s never turned down a fight since we’ve been with him.”

At 45, Pacquiao, boxing’s one and only eight-division title holder, is seriously targeting a return to the fight game in October or November in Las Vegas.

In fact, he is in training mode in General Santos City after kicking off his buildup last week in Manila.

A three-round exhibition match with a Japanese-Peruvian MMA and kickboxing expert on 28 July in Tokyo forms part of his preparation for the proposed shot at Barrios’ WBC 147-lb strap.

“Manny’s a legend. He’s earned the right to do what he wants to do and he can walk to the beat of his own drummer. If that’s the fight that he really wants, obviously, we welcome the challenge. We’ll see how that plays out. Devin Haney, we welcome that, too,” Santos added.

Pacquiao retired after dropping a decision to Cuban Yordenis Ugas almost three years ago in Las Vegas.

Barrios beat Ugas in his last fight to become the interim WBC champion, a feat that earned the native of San Antonio, Texas the right to be proclaimed as titlist after regular champion Terence Crawford decided to campaign at super-welter.

A holder of a 29-2 win-loss record with 18 knockouts, Barrios is 29 years old and is a game and gutsy puncher whose two losses were dealt by A-listers Gervonta Davis and Keith Thurman.