High-risk, high-reward

The dream lives on.

Manny Pacquiao is not letting go of becoming a world champion once again.

By the time he gets to fight again, he’d be 47.

Sean Gibbons, who heads the Pacquiao-owned MP Promotions, told DAILY TRIBUNE that if a deal is struck, the eight-division legend’s ring return will be in January.

And the choice of opponent remains the same: Rolly Romero.

“It’s the only fight that matters to him,” Gibbons said.

The rugged Romero holds the World Boxing Association welterweight crown and the Las Vegas native sports a 17-2-0 win-loss-draw card with 13 knockouts. His two losses came against topnotch opposition: Gervonta Davis and Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz.

Last July, Pacquiao nearly knocked the World Boxing Council welterweight crown off Mario Barrios’ head at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, leaving ringsiders convinced that the Hall of Famer still has a lot of juice left in the tank.

The fight was ruled a majority draw as Tim Cheatham and Steve Weisfeld had it 114-114 and Max DeLuca saw it 115-113 for Barrios.

In his most recent public appearance, Pacquiao confirmed that talks are under way for his next fight possibly against Romero, whose fighting style is said to be tailor-made for the Filipino southpaw.

“We are (still) negotiating and finalizing,” he told the media during the formal presentation of the 50th anniversary celebration of the Thrilla in Manila on Wednesday.

Gibbons is moving heaven and earth to get a deal in place for Pacquiao.

In fact, Gibbons has been in the country the last month or so tailing Pacquiao and working almost round-the-clock to be on the same page with his US contacts.

Romero, 29, seems to be on board with the idea of crossing swords with Pacquiao.

“Who wants to say no to a Manny Pacquiao opportunity?” Romero told fighthype a few days ago.

Meanwhile, the excitement is building up.

Romero is a come-forward brawler who should give Pacquiao clear looks for his power shots.

An announcement could be made any time soon if everything falls into place.