It's not often that the perceived "B" fight on a card looks more interesting than the "A" fight but this weekend's "B" side on "The One" card looks significantly better than the main fight as the unbeaten Danny Garcia (26-0, 16) defends his WBC and WBA world title against the destructive Lucas Martin Matthysse (34-2, 32).
Although Garcia enters the bout as an unbeaten double champion he also enters as the under-dog and in the eyes of many he is merely a lamb to the slaughter. Despite the general view of Garcia heading to the slaughter he's actually a fighter who appears to be getting very over-looked. He's proven to be tough, skilled, and despite being rather predictable, he has looked like he's got very solid basic skills. His left hook, especially as a counter, is a devastating punch, he's confident and is riding a high that many though his career would have.
Garcia of course isn't an under-dog for the first time in his career and he's repeatedly proven that th under-dog tag doesn't really offend him. In fact against Amir Khan, Garcia was so over-looked that many seemed to think Khan was going to ease past Garcia before becoming Floyd Mayweather's next opponent. One thing that Garcia actually seems to like is being the under-dog, it takes the pressure off his shoulders and allows him to fight his natural fight which is that of an intelligent counter puncher.
Sadly for Garcia he was made to look very predictable last time out. Sure he beat Zab Judah, though for the final 4 rounds he really struggled to look anything more than 1 paced and very easy to read. The lack of a plan B is likely to fall straight in to Matthysse's hands with the Argentinian only really needing to be aware of the champion's hook.
Matthysse is generally viewed as not only the favourite but also "the man" of the Light Welterweight division. His two losses have both been highly controversial with many viewing both losses as complete robberies and in fact if anything those losses seem to have made the hard hitting Argentinian even more determined to leave his opponents void of their senses.
The "new Matthysse" was seen in full flow last time out as he destroyed the generally tough Lamont Peterson. The destruction of Peterson may have been "expected" but it showed that Matthysse was no longer willing to just box world level opponents, instead he was willing to destroy them from the opening bell. Had he used the same mentality against Zab Judah and Devon Alexander it's fair to say he'd have stopped both.
Although not the most technically skilled or the the fastest Matthysse is an intelligent fighter. He may just be seen as a destructive puncher but he's also a clever fighter. He knows when to go downstairs and break opponents in the midsection, he knows how to bang upstairs and most worryingly of all every shot he throws is hurtful and spiteful.
Sadly whilst Garcia is tough it's unlikely that anyone at 140lbs is tough enough to see out the distance with Matthysse. If Garcia's left hook cannot shake Matthysse then this could well end up being a genuine beat down. Sadly for Garcia his toughness could end up being more of a curse than a blessing and Matthysse, whilst not likely to put him to sleep with a single shot, will beat the fight out of him.
We've seen Olusegun Ajose fighting once since Matthysse beat him, in Ajose's bout, a loss to Hank Lundy, he looked like a fighter who was pretty much done, I imagine Garcia could end up looking the same way following this one.
Prediction-Matthyse TKO8
Showing posts with label WBA Super Light Welterweight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WBA Super Light Welterweight. Show all posts
Friday, 13 September 2013
Thursday, 18 October 2012
Danny Garcia v Erik Morales II
Earlier this year Danny Garcia (24-0, 15) announced himself on to the world stage by defeating the then WBC Light Welterweight champion Erik Morales (52-8, 36). Since then Garcia has also added the WBA "Super" Light Welterweight title to his collection of belts by stopping Englishman Amir Khan. Garcia will make the first defense of his unified titles this coming weekend as he goes head-to-head with Morales for a second time in 7 months.
At just 24 years old Garcia seems to be one of the forgotten men of world boxing. His victory over Khan has been dismissed by many as a fluke, his quiet and likable personality sees him over-looked and if it were not for his rather brash and loud father it may well be difficult to remember just who Danny Garcia is. Despite this however he's proven over the last 12 months that he's a credible fighter who deserves to be amongst the top fighters at 140lbs.
Since debuting back in 2007 Garcia's rise has been a swift one and has already seen him scoring notable victories over the likes of Nate Campbell, Kendall Holt and of course Khan and Morales. Despite this however Garcia has had his detractors, most notably in 2010 after struggling to defeat Englishman Ashley Theophane.
In terms of his style Garcia does nothing excellently. He's not fast, he's not a big puncher and he doesn't have a huge work rate, however he is very well schooled and he hits hard enough to hurt fighters, as he showed against Khan. He has good timing and a solid defence but again nothing really stands out as amazing about him.
Whilst Garcia stands out in no way at all, the challenger, Mexican legend Erik Morales is, well, legendary. He has had a truly tremendous career and is a nailed on Hall of Famer. Since debuting way back in 1993 Morales has faced a genuine who's who of top fighters and holds a number of notable high profile victories over the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Marco Antonio Barrera, Daniel Zaragoza, Paulie Ayala and Jesus Chavez. In total Morales has not only fought some of the best fighters in the world but he has also claimed world titles in 4 separate weight divisions, starting as low as Super Bantamweight and going as high as Light Welterweight.
At 36 years old Morales' career is certainly on it's last legs however his love of a good tear up seems to be as strong as it ever has been and it's his war mongering that has helped to make him such a huge fan favourite over the years. Sadly however his tenacity for a blood and guts battle has taken it's toll on his body and he now marks up and bruises very easily and whilst he's certainly not a chinny fighter he is a fighter who has taken a huge accumulation of damage over the years. It seems this damage has taken it's toll on his punch resistance and last time out against Garcia, Morales looked almost ready to be stopped.
At his best Morales was a phenom. He could, if he wanted to, box with the best of them, he could go to war, he could bang, in fact in all honesty Morales at his very best was one of the top fighters in recent years and he was always willing to fight the top fighters. However the current version of Morales is a much lesser fighter than he once was, however he still has the ability to shine in spurts, he's no longer able to keep up the intensity of brilliance for 12 rounds.
After watching the final few rounds of their first bout, I can't help but think this will be a very painful night for Morales who I think will be stopped late here. Had Garcia not spent 5 or 6 rounds over-respecting Morales in their first bout Morales would have been stopped. He was almost gone in rounds 11 and 12 and this time I think Garcia will look to make a point and retire Morales.
Prediction-Garcia TKO9
At just 24 years old Garcia seems to be one of the forgotten men of world boxing. His victory over Khan has been dismissed by many as a fluke, his quiet and likable personality sees him over-looked and if it were not for his rather brash and loud father it may well be difficult to remember just who Danny Garcia is. Despite this however he's proven over the last 12 months that he's a credible fighter who deserves to be amongst the top fighters at 140lbs.
Since debuting back in 2007 Garcia's rise has been a swift one and has already seen him scoring notable victories over the likes of Nate Campbell, Kendall Holt and of course Khan and Morales. Despite this however Garcia has had his detractors, most notably in 2010 after struggling to defeat Englishman Ashley Theophane.
In terms of his style Garcia does nothing excellently. He's not fast, he's not a big puncher and he doesn't have a huge work rate, however he is very well schooled and he hits hard enough to hurt fighters, as he showed against Khan. He has good timing and a solid defence but again nothing really stands out as amazing about him.
Whilst Garcia stands out in no way at all, the challenger, Mexican legend Erik Morales is, well, legendary. He has had a truly tremendous career and is a nailed on Hall of Famer. Since debuting way back in 1993 Morales has faced a genuine who's who of top fighters and holds a number of notable high profile victories over the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Marco Antonio Barrera, Daniel Zaragoza, Paulie Ayala and Jesus Chavez. In total Morales has not only fought some of the best fighters in the world but he has also claimed world titles in 4 separate weight divisions, starting as low as Super Bantamweight and going as high as Light Welterweight.
At 36 years old Morales' career is certainly on it's last legs however his love of a good tear up seems to be as strong as it ever has been and it's his war mongering that has helped to make him such a huge fan favourite over the years. Sadly however his tenacity for a blood and guts battle has taken it's toll on his body and he now marks up and bruises very easily and whilst he's certainly not a chinny fighter he is a fighter who has taken a huge accumulation of damage over the years. It seems this damage has taken it's toll on his punch resistance and last time out against Garcia, Morales looked almost ready to be stopped.
At his best Morales was a phenom. He could, if he wanted to, box with the best of them, he could go to war, he could bang, in fact in all honesty Morales at his very best was one of the top fighters in recent years and he was always willing to fight the top fighters. However the current version of Morales is a much lesser fighter than he once was, however he still has the ability to shine in spurts, he's no longer able to keep up the intensity of brilliance for 12 rounds.
After watching the final few rounds of their first bout, I can't help but think this will be a very painful night for Morales who I think will be stopped late here. Had Garcia not spent 5 or 6 rounds over-respecting Morales in their first bout Morales would have been stopped. He was almost gone in rounds 11 and 12 and this time I think Garcia will look to make a point and retire Morales.
Prediction-Garcia TKO9
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