By Ian S. Palmer
Argentine slugger Lucas Matthysse will duke it out with Mexico’s Humberto Soto on June 23 when the two meet at the Staples Center in Los Angeles for the vacant WBC Continental Americas light welterweight title. The 32-year-old Soto, a former world champion, will be taking on his toughest opponent to date in the 140 lb. division in the 29-year-old Matthysse.
Matthysse enters the ring with a 30-2 record with 28 KOs while Soto brings a 58-7-2 record with him along with 34 KOs. Matthysse’s two losses have come in his last five fights and were split decisions against former world champions Devon Alexander and Zab Judah.
Soto is on a 15-fight winning streak and hasn’t lost since being disqualified against Francisco Lorenzo back in 2008. He lost a unanimous decision to Joan Guzman a year before that in a WBO super featherweight title bout, but his previous loss was way back in 2002.
Matthysse stands 5-foot-9 with a 69 inch reach. He hasn’t had much luck lately when it comes to winning decisions and that’s why he prefers to knock his opponents out. With 28 KOs in 30 wins it’s obvious he’s got power, but he’s also a pretty good boxer as seen in his losses to Judah and Alexander.
Soto is slightly shorter at 5-foot 7 ½, but has a small reach advantage at 72 inches. He’s a former lightweight, super featherweight, and featherweight champion. He’s probably one of the most underrated fighters in the game and most of his losses came early in his career.
However, Soto could be biting off a little more than he can chew by moving up to 140 lbs. to take on a hard hitter like Matthysse. Soto isn’t a big man to start with and his power might not go as far against a junior welterweight. He struggled a little trouble in the past against physical fighters such as David Diaz and Urbano Antillon, and Matthysse might simply be able to wear the smaller man down.
Matthysse will need to get off to a quick start and establish his power early in the fight. He sometimes has a habit of being too frugal with his punches. The longer he waits to let his hands go he could find himself down a few rounds on points. Soto prefers to throw plenty of fast combinations instead of one punch at a time and won’t mind winning a decision.
Matthysse’s best tactics will be to keep moving forward and just his power and size to advantage. He may wear Soto down by the later rounds and that could be the difference in winning and losing. Soto will have to throw punches in volume and if he has enough power he could discourage Matthysse from moving in.
This could be an excellent battle since both boxers have aggressive styles and we could see a lot of punches thrown and landed. The size difference could be the factor here. Soto began his career at 118 lbs and has grown over the years whereas Matthysse is naturally bigger and has power. Soto has been involved in some wars over the years and it may catch up to him in this bout. He’s never been stopped, so look for Matthysse to beat him by decision.
