MENU
With Marcos Maidana still on the sidelines, Lucas Matthysse hopes to step out of his countryman’s shadow as he faces Viktor Postol for the WBC Light Welterweight title on October 3rd at the Stub Hub Center in Carson, California.
Out of the Shadows
Maidana is the first name that comes to mind when we talk about Argentina and knockouts. That’s because El Chino has made a name for himself as one of the best KO artists of this generation. But with Maidana sitting out the entire 2015 after two fights with Floyd Mayweather Jr. last year, the “other” Argentinian slugger hopes to finally step out of his shadow on Saturday night. Lucas Matthysse was Maidana’s amateur rival, losing thrice and drawing once to El Chino. But since turning pro, the careers of these two Argentinian knockout artists have taken a different path. Maidana moved up to 147 in 2012, searching for the big fights. He landed twice last year and although he lost, he’s still enjoying his spoils. On the other hand, Matthysse chose to remain at 140 but unlike Maidana but hasn’t won any world titles yet. He however holds big wins over former champions Vivian Harris, DeMarcus Corley, Humberto Soto, Lamont Peterson and Ruslan Provodnikov. He hopes to change that on October 3rd.
Roach’s Unbeaten Prospect
Ukrainian Postol is one of Freddie Roach’s outstanding pupils and one of the division’s top prospects. He is undefeated in 27 fights and has 11 KOs. Like Matthysse, he is looking for his first world title. The 31-year old Postol earned the right to this title shot with an 11th round TKO win over former welterweight contender Selcuk Aydin in May of 2014. But with Danny Garcia vacating the title to move up to welterweight, Postol now faces the hard hitting Matthysse, the WBC’s #2 ranked 140-pound fighter. Postol also holds notable wins over DeMarcus Corley and Henry Lundy.
Who Takes This?
Viktor Postol has a sizable height and reach advantage of 5 and 3 inches respectively over Lucas Matthysse, the Argentinian slugger is the favorite here at -225 while Postol the underdog at +187. Postol works a very good jab and works the entire ring very well. But Matthysse has excellent power in both hands and knows how to cut-off the ring and catch his opponents backing up. Like Postol, Matthysse works the body very well and if he starts landing on Postol’s body, he will slow him down. Unfortunately, Postol doesn’t have the power to make Matthysse think twice. He will try to use his slick boxing skills to win this on points but that is easier said than done against Matthysse. Experts are picking Matthysse to break down Postol early and finish him in the championship rounds.
