By Ian S Palmer
Junior Welterweight contender Lucas Matthysse of Argentina will be taking on John Molina Jr. of the U.S. at the StubHub Center in Carson, California on Saturday, April 26 as he attempts to earn another shot at a world title. This 12 round bout is for the vacant WBC Continental Americas light welterweight title and can be seen live in the U.S. on the Showtime network while boxing fans in Canada can pick it up on Super Channel.
Matthysse will be entering the bout with an impressive record of 34-3 with 32 Kos while Molina has a mark of 27-3 along with 22 Kos to his name. One of the most interesting aspects of this fight is that Molina is basically a lightweight while Matthysse is a junior welterweight. Matthysse is coming off of a decision loss to WBA and WBC Jr. Welterweight champion Danny Garcia last September.
Since Matthysse is taking on a lighter boxer this is a must-win bout if he hopes to remain a top-ranked contender in the junior welterweight division. There’s also a good chance he moves up seven pounds in the near future and fights in the 147 lb welterweight division. The Argentine slugger is a former WBC interim champion and he’s hoping to claim a fulltime title sometime soon.
On paper this fight looks like a mismatch and a sure thing for Matthysse and it could very well turn out that way. The Argentine has tremendous power against fighters in his own division, so in theory he should really be able to do some damage against the lighter Molina. Matthysse rarely goes the distance due to his power and even when he is forced to go to a decision he usually drops his opponents at least once along the way.
Molina is coming into the bout on a mini two-fight winning streak as he’s beaten Jorge Pimentel and Mickey Bey Jr. in his last pair of outings. However, he dropped a majority decision to Andrey Klimov last June and the year before he was stopped in the first round by Antonio DeMarco for his only stoppage loss. He also dropped a 10-round decision to Martin Honorio back in 2009.
The 31-year-old Molina of Covina, California stands just over 5-feet-10 inches tall and has a 72-inch reach while Matthysse of Buenos Aires is also 31, but comes into the bout four inches shorter and has a 69-inch reach. His other two losses were split decisions to former world champions Devon Alexander and Zab Judah in bots that many experts thought he won.
Prediction
Other than the height and reach advantage here, things certainly don’t look too bright for Molina. He’s simply not in the same class as Matthysse and wouldn’t be even in he was a full-fledged junior welterweight. Look for Matthysse to have his way in this fight. It could go a few rounds if he’s looking to get some work under his belt, but sooner or later he’s going to end it by a stoppage.
