After Golovkin at the Garden last weekend Las Vegas looks
to continue where New York left off, as another devastating puncher is in
action this Saturday, this time in Sin City.
Hard-hitting Argentine Lucas Matthysse comes to town to
defend his WBC interim light welterweight strap against Mike Dallas Jr, in what
could prove to be an interesting match-up of styles pitting the exciting
pressure fighter against a slick boxer.
In the eyes of many observers, the 30-year-old Matthysse (32-2, 30KOs) should still be
undefeated. Both losses on his record were highly contentious, each a
split-decision verdict in his opponents backyard against Zab Judah and Devon
Alexander. His impressive performances in those encounters raised his profile
however, and he's now on a run of four consecutive stoppage victories.
Matthysse's last outing was a tenth round knockout of the formerly undefeated
brawler Ajose Olusegun, to win his interim title at the Hard Rock Hotel and
Casino in September of last year.
He steps into that same arena on Saturday night knowing that
a successful defence could not only land him a shot at the full title, but
potentially give him a chance to avenge one of his 'defeats'. Judah challenges
Danny Garcia for his unified 140lb titles in February, though fans will be
hoping Garcia can emerge victorious from that one with a battle between
Matthysse and the Philadelphia native currently one of the most sought-after
fights in boxing.
Dallas Jr (19-2-1, 8
KOs) comes into the bout as a replacement for Matthysse's original opponent
Hank Lundy, who was pulled out of the fight by his manager Ivan Cohen on the
basis that Cohen was "never informed of or had seen a contract for this
fight" and it being "a horrible fight for Lundy, one that he will
lose for sure." There's no doubt that facing Matthysse must be an
imperious task, but lets hope Dallas's team have a little more confidence in
their man than Lundy's handlers did.
In Dallas's corner on the night will be 2011 trainer of the
year Virgil Hunter and the pair have been working on a gameplan that they
believe can exploit the flaws in the Argentine puncher's style. The 26-year-old
'Silent Assassin' from Bakersfield in California is coming off a sixth-round
stoppage of Javier Castro last June, but this is by far his toughest assignment
to date and a big step up in class.
Dallas has been stopped before, in the seventh round of his
bout with Josesito Lopez two years ago and has not been in with anyone at that
level since. He was however unlucky to lose a majority decision to Mauricio
Herrera, in his comeback fight from the Lopez defeat.
Aside from it being his biggest test, it's also going to be
an emotional night for Dallas. He's dedicating the bout to his late father, who
lost his battle with leukaemia last November.
Dallas is a skilful boxer and a good mover. The gameplan
that he and Hunter have been working on will likely involve utilising his
movement to keep the fight at distance, using the jab to set up angles and land
combinations before getting back out of range. An accurate puncher possessing
faster hands than Matthysse, he can look to score first and try to box his way
to a decision on the outside. If he does get trapped on the inside, Dallas will
need to tie up quickly.
Pressuring opponents into fighting at close range is one of
the things Matthysse does best though and he's relentless, very active and
usually lands with a high success rate. How long will it be before Dallas is
forced to trade? Likely when and not if he does, there's only going to be one
winner.
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