On the 18th of May 2013, boxing fans were given a glimpse of their next potential superstar, Lucas Matthysse. We all know Matthysse can punch hard and can certainly take a good shot, he has never been down as a professional, but, Lamont Peterson is a very tough individual. My thinking was that he would not engage and stick to pure boxing. I knew he could take a good punch because he took the best Amir Khan had to offer and did not budge. Given Peterson's ability to box and his toughness, I thought this would last a lot longer than it did. Matthysse demonstrated exactly why he is one of the most terrifying men outside of the heavyweight division in demolishing the usually durable Lamont Peterson in just a few rounds.
The Matthysse I was used to seeing seemed to have little sense of urgency and seemed to be content taking his time, which ended up costing him two fights, both of which are disputed. Now, he is much more active, coming out from the opening bell looking to completely decapitate his opponent, and he nearly did that to Peterson. I think, as does Matthysse, that those losses helped motivate him to become something like a rabid dog, unrelenting in his attack with little that can deter him. Peterson landed some good shots, but nothing left a mark and nothing seemed to really faze Matthysse, who now seems poised to ascend and take the throne of Pacquiao as the most deadly little man in the game. The power that Matthysse possesses seems to be something as pure as Earnie Shavers had, the difference is, not only size, but that Matthysse has some very legitimate skills to back them up. His destruction of Humberto Soto, which surprised me, is evidence that Matthysse is for real.
Where does he go from here? Most likely he will be matched up against Danny Garcia, the man who stopped Amir Khan and the aging warrior Erik Morales, but looked vulnerable against the spent Zab Judah. If these two do get matched up, and there seems to be no reason they wont be, it will be a very difficult for Garcia who is not typically light on his feet. He proved he has a great chin against Khan and Judah, but they are not Matthysse. If Matthysse lands a fraction of what either fighter did in their fights against Garcia, it will be another quick and relatively easy night for Matthysse. Garcia may have a great chin, but that is entirely nullified when it meets the fists of Matthysse.
All Matthysse needs to do is land a punch, and not even a solid one at that, a grazing, glancing blow, perhaps even the wind from his punch flying by your head will be enough to convince your brain to shut down and save you the beating.
That being said, Matthysse has shown, in the past, that he can be outboxed. He claims to have corrected this by not thinking at any time that he has the fight won, but to always be looking for the knockout, to take it out of the hands of the judges. I am inclined to believe him as he has pulled of a string of very credible, and disturbing, knockouts. So, sometimes bad decisions do good things because now Matthysse is on the war path, I am just glad I am not in the way, but standing by watching as he plows through people.
Eric Shaeffer was wrong, this is not the new Manny Pacquiao, this is Lucas Matthysse, a much different fighter but perhaps just as destructive, if not more so.
