Eric Gomez, matchmaker for Golden Boy Promotions, is typically a happy-go-lucky guy. But he was bummed out Tuesday night hours after his childhood friend and boss – Golden Boy president Oscar De La Hoya – had for the second time checked himself into a rehabilitation clinic because of substance abuse.

De La Hoya will not be on hand Saturday when his fighter – Saul “Canelo” Alvarez – takes on Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a junior middleweight championship mega fight at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on Showtime pay-per-view.)

“It’s a little hard, it’s a little tough,” Gomez said via telephone from Las Vegas. “It was something that was very important that, you know, there’s nobody that would want to be here more than him. And for him to do this, at this time, it was serious. And all we can do is support him and love him and give him all our support.”

De La Hoya previously checked himself into a rehabilitation clinic in 2011.