Junior welterweight contender Lucas Matthysse, one of boxing's most fearsome punchers, signed a five-year contract extension Thursday with Golden Boy Promotions, president Oscar De La Hoya told ESPN.com.

"Lucas Matthysse is extremely happy with Golden Boy Promotions, and he wants to retire with us," De La Hoya said. "I'm extremely happy that he's a loyal fighter and person who understands the value of having a promoter on a long-term contract in order for us to keep building him and get him the fights he deserves."

Matthysse is one of the few fighters Golden Boy has under contract who is also with adviser Al Haymon. Two weeks ago, as part of a $50 million arbitration settlement with former Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, De La Hoya cut ties with numerous Haymon fighters the company had been promoting despite not having promotional agreements with them.

Many had been under promotional agreements that expired, and De La Hoya blamed Schaefer for not re-signing them.

Many figured that once the Golden Boy contracts with the remaining Haymon fighters expired, they would not be re-signed as part of the housecleaning, including Matthysse, junior featherweight titlist Leo Santa Cruz and welterweight contender Amir Khan.

However, De La Hoya pulled a surprise by re-signing Matthysse. He said he made the deal with Mario Arano, Matthysse's manager and promoter in Matthysse's native Argentina, rather than Haymon.

"Mario Arano is his manager, and we did a deal with his manager," De La Hoya said. "Al Haymon is an adviser to Mario and Lucas. We went directly to his manager, and his manager and Lucas are loyal to us. We built Lucas Matthysse and got him the fights that have put him in this position, therefore he re-signed with us because he wants to continue on this path to the end of his career."

Said Matthysse: "I am excited to continue to work with Oscar and Golden Boy Promotion. They are my family. They have supported me and built my career from the beginning and I'm loyal to them as they have been to me. I'm looking forward to my future and what 2015 has to offer."

De La Hoya said he is working on a fight for the 32-year-old Matthysse (36-3, 34 KOs), who will return in March. One possible opponent De La Hoya mentioned is former junior welterweight titlist and big puncher Ruslan Provodnikov of Russia. That is a potentially explosive match that ranks as one of the surefire action fights that could be made in the sport.

"Lucas Matthysse will have a few more fights at 140 pounds and then he wants to go up to 147," De La Hoya said. "We'll continue to bring him the best fights possible. He is willing to fight anybody, unlike a lot of fighters."

De La Hoya said he would talk to both HBO and Showtime -- which both have televised Matthysse's bouts -- about his next fight.

"It all depends on who he fights. For instance, maybe we make a deal with Ruslan Provodnikov's promoter (Banner Promotions) to do a fight," De La Hoya said. "My understanding is Provodnikov has a first/last (contract position) with HBO. But we also have to keep in mind that Stephen Espinoza at Showtime has been showcasing Lucas Matthysse on his network, so it's a very delicate situation. We'll explore all options, but he's definitely going to fight in March."

In 2012 and 2013, Matthysse roared through a four-fight stretch in which he annihilated good opponents and won an interim title to become one of the most feared fighters in boxing.

He knocked out former two-division titleholder Humberto Soto in the fifth round, stopped Olusegun Ajose (who had never been knocked out) in the 10th round to win an interim belt, blitzed Michael Dallas Jr. in the first round and blew away titleholder Lamont Peterson in the third round of a nontitle fight.

He was the favorite when he challenged unified titleholder Danny Garcia in September 2013 but lost a unanimous decision. Since then, Matthysse has won two fights in a row, including a stirring 11th-round knockout of John Molina last April in a strong fight of the year candidate.