Canelo Álvarez Vs Manny Pacquiao? Golden Boy Promotions Prez Oscar De La Hoya Pushing For Late 2014 Showdown

Hoping to put an end to a long period of animosity, Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya and Top Rank Promotions boss Bob Arum have discussed the possibility of a bout featuring Mexican superstar Canelo Álvarez and Filipino sensation Manny Pacquiao. Despite stepping away from his everyday role with Golden Boy due to issues with drug abuse, De La Hoya -- who won 10 world titles in six different weight classes during his highly-decorated fighting career -- is optimistic that he and his former promoter will be able to come together in order to set a date for a fight that would feature two of the most popular fighters in the professional boxing.

“Anything’s possible,” he said of a Pacquiao v. Canelo showdown. “That’s one of the reasons I was extending the olive branch. The fans want to see these kinds of fights. I was dealing with personal issues, but I’m back. Golden Boy is my baby. Boxing is my passion, boxing is my life. I have nothing against Bob and I feel making fights with Bob is beneficial to the fans and the market. Bob, what he did for my career was amazing and I appreciate it, am so grateful. I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t extend an olive branch, end the cold war and make fights together. I will be making calls in the near future and we’ll make an event together very soon.”

Canelo Álvarez -- who already has a July 12 bout scheduled with Erislandy Lara -- currently owns a career record of 43-1-1, with his only defeat coming to undefeated champion Floyd Mayweather Junior. With both fighters looking to add one more contest to their calendars before 2014 comes to a close, Canelo and Manny Pacquiao -- who recently took down Timothy Bradley to claim the WBO Welterweight title -- could grow interested in this match-up since each appear to be in top form. Open to the idea of pursuing this battle, Bob Arum said recently that he’s eager to speak with Oscar in order to show that the ‘Cold War’ of disagreements never really concerned the two production heads.

“I’d be happy to talk to Oscar about any subject in boxing he wishes to talk to me about,” Arum said. “All this baloney about a cold war has never really applied to Oscar and myself. We can talk about any subject in boxing rationally. We might disagree on a particular point, but we can talk. I hope we’ll get together and have some significant meetings in the near future. I’ve always had a good relationship with Oscar except when other people interfered," Arum said. "Oscar and I got along famously and I think we will continue to in the future. We had a long and successful, very profitable relationship. It was a very happy time in both of our lives. To revisit that and to renew the relationship is something I look forward to.”

While Canelo Álvarez continues to prepare for his meeting with Lara, Manny Pacquiao remains set on fighting in Las Vegas once more before the year closes. Despite the growing rumors that these two will eventually meet, Floyd Mayweather Junior said recently that he doesn’t believe this showdown will occur, but if it does, he’ll place his odds on the talented Mexican.

“I don’t think Pacquiao and Canelo are going to fight,” he said. “Me personally, I don’t think the fight will happen. If it does, I pick Canelo to win. But I don't think it will happen."