Matthysse bombs may prove impossible to defuse for Danny Garcia
Published:Danny Garcia may boast an unbeaten record and some big names on his list of vanquished victims, but it’s Argentinean challenger Lucas Matthysse who’s 4/7 favourite for their clash at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand.
Garcia has every right to be aggrieved, having taken Erik Morales’ WBC world light-welterweight strap, before adding Amir Khan’s version of the title to his CV in recent bouts.
More recently still he put Morale’s to bed in round four of their rematch, before outpointing a resurgent – former undisputed light-welterweight king – Zab Judah in a fight of the year contender last time.
The same ‘Super’ Judah had been the beneficiary of a questionable split decision vote over Matthysse back in 2010, one of the two defeats sustained in such a fashion which are the only blemishes on the current WBC light welterweight boss’ ledger.
However Matthysse – known as ‘La Maquina’ or ‘the Machine’ – possesses something which Amir Khan and even Floyd Mayweather cannot conjure up and that is power virtually unparalleled in top level pugilism.
Only perhaps IBO and WBA middleweight boss Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin could lay claim to greater KO force in the fight game at present, with 32 of Matthysse’s 34 victories coming inside the distance.
Garcia wore some heavy shots from an inspired Judah in his last outing, but has surely never had a chin inspection like the one he will be subjected to by the Argentinean, who has issued stoppage defeats to previously unbeaten 30 and 29-fight veterans Lamont Peterson and Olusegun Ajose inside his last three outings, the former lasting a mere three rounds.
The American’s punch power is open to question by comparison, with his stoppage wins at world level coming against the aging Morales and the occasionally head-in-the-clouds Khan.
Usually the question of stamina hangs over the heads of knockout artists, but Matthysse has shown in his loss against Judah – in which he started slowly before bossing the closing four stanzas – that the twilight rounds see no lustre lost from his game, an impression that was only enhanced by his 10th round stoppage of the durable Ajose.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
