De La Hoya on Canelo-Kirkland Details, Mayweather

By Rick Reeno

Several top names are waiting for Floyd Mayweather Jr. to reveal his next move. Mayweather plans to return on May 2nd at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, but the opponent remains a mystery.

Negotiations are still ongoing for Mayweather to face Manny Pacquiao. Most insiders and industry players are not confident the match happens.

Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya is among the many who believe Mayweather is going to face WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto in a rematch.

"I think that's the fight that's going to happen, the rematch between Mayweather and Cotto," De La Hoya told BoxingScene.com.

For several weeks, De La Hoya was attempting to finalize a fight between Cotto and Golden Boy star fighter Saul "Canelo" Alvarez. In the end, the two sides were unable to agree on the terms.

Last week, De La Hoya closed a deal for Canelo (44-1-1, 31KOs) to face James Kirkland (32-1, 28KOs) in an HBO televised headliner. Canelo-Kirkland is targeted for May 2nd, and taking place at either the Alamodome in San Antonio or the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

The date and venue for Canelo-Kirkland has yet to be finalized because those plans could obviously change if a deal is struck for Mayweather-Pacquiao. If that mega-fight gets made, then Canelo-Kirkland will move to the following week. If Mayweather reveals he's fighting anyone not named Pacquiao on May 2, then Canelo-Kirkland will go head to head with his pay-per-view.

"That's the thing, we have to see if Mayweather-Pacquiao will happen. If it does happen, then Canelo will move to the week after out of respect to the fans. If that fight doesn't happen with Pacquiao, obviously [Mayweather] will go with Cotto. Most likely Mayweather-Cotto will happen at the MGM, so we'll have to go at the Thomas & Mack," De La Hoya said.

De La Hoya believes the situation with the date/venue should be ironed out by the end of the week.

"A lot is going to happen this week. Once we talk with our partners at HBO, once everything plays out, there are a lot of moving parts right now - we'll have something tied down by the end of the week - whether it's going to be Vegas or San Antonio. Those are the two sites," De La Hoya said.