Argentine slugger Lucas Matthysse, whose injured left eye is still giving him problems, has bowed out his planned return fight, Golden Boy Promotions vice president Eric Gomez told ESPN.com on Wednesday.

Matthysse was scheduled to return on May 7 to fight in the HBO PPV co-feature of the Canelo Alvarez-Amir Khan middleweight championship bout at the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. A deal was in the works for a welterweight fight with Mauricio Herrera (22-5, 7 KOs), who was also going to move up in weight.

But Matthysse is not physically ready to return, said Gomez, who has been meeting with Mario Arano, Matthysse's co-promoter from Argentina, this week in Los Angeles.

Lucas Matthysse has bowed out of his planned return fight, still dealing with an injured left eye. Tom Hogan/Hoganphotos/Golden Boy Promotions

"He was training and getting ready for the fight, but he felt some discomfort in his eye and he wants more rest," Gomez said of the longtime junior welterweight contender and one of the best pure punchers in boxing.

In his last fight, on Oct. 3 at the StubHub Center in Carson, California, Matthysse challenged Viktor Postol for a vacant junior welterweight world title. In an upset, Postol knocked out Matthysse (37-4, 34 KOs) in the 10th round with a shot to the left eye that fractured his orbital bone.

Matthysse went into that fight coming off one of his biggest victories, a majority decision win against former junior welterweight titlist Ruslan Provodnikov in April -- a top fight of the year contender.

Gomez tamped down rumors that the 33-year-old Matthysse is retiring.

"He's not going to fight on May 7. He is going to rest more but he is not retiring," Gomez said. "Mario talked to him about it. What Lucas is going to do is rest, take some more time for his eye to heal and see how it is. In a few months we'll see how he's doing and go from there."

Gomez said he and Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya will begin looking at other possible fights for the Alvarez-Khan co-feature.