Oscar De La Hoya trying to make Lucas Matthysse-Ruslan Provodnikov fight

Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya is struggling to finalize a middleweight title bout between Canelo Alvarez and WBC champion Miguel Cotto. So while he bides his time, he's turned his attention to a near-slam dunk Fight of the Year candidate.

De La Hoya said Wednesday he's on board with the fight and will try to work out a deal.

If he does, it would pit two of boxing's hardest hitters and best brawlers in a mouth-watering match.

Matthysse is 34-3 with 30 knockouts and has been in a series of sensational fights. His bout with John Molina on Showtime last year was one of 2014's best bouts.

Provodnikov is 24-3 with 17 knockouts. His 2013 bout with Timothy Bradley was that year's Fight of the Year.

"When I tell you I want to make the best fights, this is the kind of fight I'm talking about," De La Hoya said. "This is what I am committed to do at Golden Boy. This is a 50-50 fight. Either guy could win. But it's a fight that could be the Fight of the Year times three."

De La Hoya posted a tweet that seemed to indicate that the long-discussed Alvarez-Cotto fight was in jeopardy.

But he said he was expressing frustration.

"I'm a fan before anything else," De La Hoya said. "And that was the fan in me coming out. I got inpatient. I want this fight to happen because I know how good it would be for boxing. And so I put that out, it was my frustration as a fan that it hasn't been finished. But we're going to keep working to make it happen."