Dela Hoya says looming Pacquiao-Matthyse bout ‘fight of year candidate’

If Oscar De La Hoya is to be believed, the upcoming fight between Manny Pacquiao and Lucas Matthyse could be one of the best boxing matches of 2018.

De La Hoya, the founder of Golden Boy Promotions, tweeted Saturday that “Manny Pacquiao vs. Lucas Matthyse would be a fight of the year candidate.”

This after Pacquiao (59-7-2) said that he would challenge Matthyse (39-4) for the Argentinian’s WBA World welterweight title in Malaysia and is scheduled tentatively in June.

And Golden Boy is someone who knows both Pacquiao and Matthyse well.

Pacquiao signed with Golden Boy Promotions in 2006 and he was the one who forced De La Hoya into retirement when the Filipino bludgeoned the former Olympic gold medallist for eight rounds in 2008.

Matthyse, meanwhile, is under De La Hoya’s company and is one of Golden Boy Promotions’ seven World champions.

Pacquiao’s tenure under Golden Boy Promotions, however, ended after less than two years as he signed with Bob Arum’s Top Rank in 2008.

De La Hoya’s remark would mean Pacquiao’s fight would compete with another one of Golden Boy’s major projects this 2018.

Saul Alvarez (49-1-2), the Ring Magazine and lineal world middleweight champion, is De La Hoya’s biggest fighter and Canelo is scheduled for a rematch against Gennady Golovkin (37-0-1) on May 5.

Alvarez will look to snap Golovkin’s unbeaten streak and will challenge for the IBO, IBF, WBA, and WBC World middleweight titles after the two first fought in a draw in 2017.