Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya said Saul Alvarez is already preparing for his upcoming fight against James Kirkland in May, but the Hall of Famer said that he is not losing hope on the possible fight between Canelo and Miguel Cotto.

Cotto and Alvarez were linked to a possible showdown earlier this year, but Canelo's camp opted to back out of the negotiation and look for other options after not getting an answer from the reigning World Boxing Council middleweight champion before the deadline that they set.

But despite failing to make the Cotto-Canelo fight happen, De La Hoya is still convinced that the two boxing superstars will eventually collide, especially if both of them will win in their upcoming fights.

"We felt that Cotto had other plans," De La Hoya said when asked why they pulled out of the negotiation for the Cotto-Canelo bout. "Will that fight eventually happen? Absolutely, but right now, we're not looking for it whatsoever. Canelo has his own career to make. Canelo is selling just as many if not more pay-per-views than Cotto."

Earlier this week, De La Hoya also expressed interest in negotiating with Cotto's camp again later this year. The former world champion believes the Cotto-Alvarez fight is the second best possible showdown in boxing -- next to the long-awaited bout between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

"It's the kind of fight that the fans want to see, a fight where you do not know who will win and you also know with their styles there will be a lot of emotions," De La Hoya told BoxingScene, referring to the Cotto-Alvarez bout. "The negotiation with Cotto was one of the toughest, but we know that we cannot stray too far."

But for now, De La Hoya said that they are focused on finalizing the upcoming fight between Alvarez and Kirkland. The fight is tentatively scheduled on Cinco de Mayo weekend, but it could be moved to May 9 if Pacquiao and Mayweather eventually agree to face each other on May 2.

De La Hoya has yet to announce a venue for the fight, but reports indicated that it will likely be staged at Alamodome in San Antonio, where Alvarez won against Austin Trout in 2013 in front of 40,000 fans.

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