By Rick Reeno

Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya is moving forward with his plans to stage Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (44-1-1, 31KOs) vs. James Kirkland (32-1, 28KOs) on the lucrative Cinco De Mayo date of May 2nd. The fight will be televised on HBO.

Although Canelo-Kirkland was finalized on January 23rd - De La Hoya, like everyone else in boxing, has been waiting for a deal to get reached between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao - which is targeted for May 2nd at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

However, the negotiations for Mayweather-Pacquiao are dragging out and significant issues are still unresolved between both sides.

De La Hoya, who needs to begin the promotion of his event, is not going to wait any longer.

"Look, I'm going full steam ahead with May 2nd. We're going full steam ahead with May 2nd. We're going to announce the ticket [details] shortly. Canelo-Kirkland, May 2nd, from Texas. The only way we're moving is if Pacquiao-Mayweather happens. That's the only fight that's going to move us," De La Hoya told BoxingScene.com.

The venue is in the process of being finalized, and the Alamodome in San Antonio is a frontrunner. Canelo drew 40,000 fans to the venue for his 2013 decision win over Austin Trout. If the fight with Kirkland ends up in San Antonio, De La Hoya is confident his boxer will pack in a sellout crowd of 65,000.

In the event that Mayweather-Pacquiao is agreed upon, De La Hoya will move Canelo-Kirkland by one week and he already has May 9th on hold with HBO. Otherwise, if Mayweather fights Miguel Cotto or Amir Khan on May 2 - then Canelo-Kirkland will go head to head with Showtime's Pay-Per-View.