Lucas Matthysse has one very good reason to dominate Viktor Postol
With his first major world title at stake Saturday night, Lucas Matthysse has all the inspiration he needs to put on one of his patented power displays against undefeated Viktor Postol at the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif., on HBO's Boxing After Dark (10:15 p.m. ET).
That's a big deal for Matthysse (37-3, 34 KOs), who has dreamed of wearing a title belt, he says, since he was a young boy in Argentina.
But an even bigger prize might be looming if Matthysse can hand the lanky Ukrainian his first loss and look good doing it, preferably via stoppage.
The prize? A fight against Manny Pacquiao.
The Filipino superstar's promoter, Bob Arum, and Matthysse's promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, have been discussing such a matchup when Pacquiao returns from rotator cuff surgery next year. Arum has said he likes Matthysse as a frontrunner to face Pacquiao over Amir Khan, undoubtedly because Khan now fights for Al Haymon's Premier Boxing Champions, and both Arum and De La Hoya have multi-million dollar lawsuits against Haymon, and no use for the powerful manager, who has taken plenty of talent from both promoters.
De La Hoya says that Matthysse wants to be involved in a mega-fight, and Pacquiao certainly fits that bill.
VIDEO: Breaking down Matthysse vs. Postol
"Saturday's fight is very important for Lucas to capture that (vacant WBC super lightweight) world title," De La Hoya told Paste BN Sports Wednesday. "But most importantly, he has to look impressive, he has to go out there and take care of business because he's in line to possibly face Pacquiao early next year. That would be an unbelievable fight.
"Lucas wants to be involved in a mega-fight. And he's willing to move up to 147 (pounds) to face the top challengers. Now that Bob Arum mentioned Matthysse as a possible opponent for Pacquiao (though likely at a catchweight somewhere south of 147), Matthysse is looking to impress and make sure he gets a shot at Pacquiao."
It won't be easy. Postol, 31, has never lost, has never been knocked down and although not anywhere near as big a puncher as Matthysse, his height, length and sometimes awkward style could give "La Maquina" trouble. Postol is nearly five inches taller than Matthysse, a heavy-handed knockout artist who has not exactly dominated taller fighters. Matthysse was knocked down twice by John Molina Jr. in April 2014 - that year's top fight - though he came back to stop Molina in the 11th round.
"It definitely concerns me because of the style that Postol possesses," said De La Hoya. "He's long, lanky, and he's being trained by Freddie Roach, who will have him in tip-top shape. Obviously we believe that Lucas can adjust to any style and will come out victorious. But it's not going to be an easy fight at all."
Roach, the seven-time trainer of the year, has turned some of his fighters' careers around, such as middleweight champion Miguel Cotto. Though Postol (27-0, 11 KOs) is reputed to be a light hitter, as his low knockout rate suggests, the "Iceman" did show some power in stopping Turkey's Selcuk Aydin in May 2014, boxing him masterfully for 10 rounds before rocking Aydin with a hard right in the 11th. Postol closed the show with a vicious uppercut.
Postol is highly unlikely to provide a stationary target for the heavy-handed Matthysse, so the Argentine will have to box some of the time, which he proved he was more than capable of doing in defeating Ruslan Provodnikov in April. But Matthysse will have to press the action.
"It's going to be interesting to see what style Lucas is going to use on Saturday," De La Hoya said. "One thing for sure is that he's going to have to be aggressive against Postol because Postol might try to box him.
"After the third or fourth round, I can see it being a brawl. I can see Matthysse chasing down Postol and doing some damage. When have you ever seen a boring Lucas Matthysse fight?"
De La Hoya says he's concerned that Matthysse has been in a number of brutal fights against top-notch opponents the last several years, but knows "The Machine" wouldn't want it any other way.
"I asked Lucas if he enjoys being in these types of fights and he absolutely loves it," De La Hoya said. "One thing about Lucas is, he's in this game to please his fans."
And, yes, to impress Bob Arum and Manny Pacquiao.