The sport of boxing seems to be unquestionably on the upswing as a whole, especially as hype surrounding Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez clashing picks up. 

For years boxing eat, slept and breathed Floyd Mayweather, and the sport is only now starting to emerge from his shadow. That's because talents like Canelo, GGG and more have continued to rise and finally have 

Oscar De La Hoya is at the heart of boxing's fight to get back to being a prominent sport. His role in the sport is massive, as Golden Boy Promotions is one of the leading boxing houses in the sport. De La Hoya thinks the sport is on the upswing because new stars are rising to lead it.

De La Hoya was at a charity fight supporting diabetes research and found himself in front of the cameras as usual. The former boxing megastar was asked if he thinks boxing is on the upswing and sounded optimistic in his response,

"With the heavyweight division being back with Anthony Joshua, you know with the Keith Thurman fight that was viewed by what, more than five million people on prime time TV, with Canelo-Chavez selling over a million homes — we’re expecting close to three million homes with Golovkin and Canelo in September," De La Hoya told Fight Hub TV.

"These are the types of fights that bring boxing back, and that’s exactly my mission - is to bring boxing back. Bring back that excitement that people used to live for when watching boxing. So little by little we’re chipping that block and hopefully making that happen," De La Hoya said. 

De La Hoya mentions something important but subtle. The heavyweight division was, and in ways still is, the division in boxing. It where so many of the greats like Muhammad Ali, George Foreman and Mike Tyson - to name a few - created their legendary careers. 

Joshua's superfight against Vladimir Klitschko was a smashing success, with the young up-and-comer proving himself on a huge stage against one of the most decorated heavyweights in recent history. It was the kind of fight you'd use to close out a Rocky movie. 

AJ has absolutely reignited the flames of boxing fans and invited newcomers to enjoy the sport, and the stars at the top of the fight game are doing their part right now. Superfights are lining up, interest is on the rise and there's reason to be optimistic about the future of boxing once again.