Lucas “La Machina” Matthysse is one of boxing’s most exciting fighters, even if he is no longer considered one of the pound-for-pound best. Golden Boy has announced Matthysse is planning a comeback at welterweight, and that it could happen on the undercard of Canelo Alvarez vs. Amir Khan.
That would be a major boost to that fight card, because many are skeptical that Khan, who is relatively new to the welterweight division, will be competitive against a middleweight champion at a 155-pound catch weight.
"Lucas started training on Jan. 1. He's coming back at 147 [pounds]. He's motivated and hungry after his loss. It made him hungrier," Golden Boy vice president Eric Gomez said (via ESPN).
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Matthysse, 33, is 37-4 with 34 knockouts. He is one of the premier power punchers in the sport, but there are doubts about whether he’s been in too many wars to remain elite. From April 2014 to April 2015 Matthysse sandwiched a second-round knockout win with two bloody slugfests against John Molina Jr. and Ruslan Provodnikov. He won both, knocking out Molina in Round 11, and going the distance with Provodnikov.
Matthysse then challenged undefeated Viktor Postol for the vacant WBC junior welterweight title, and showed wear and tear in a knockout loss. Gomez believes moving up in weight will benefit him as a power puncher because he will expend less energy in training camp cutting weight.
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"I think for him to go to 147 will make him better. He won't have to struggle to come down in weight." The two opponents in the lead to be Matthysse’s opponent are Mauricio Herrera, best known for losing a controversial split decision to Danny “Swift” Garcia, and Pablo Cesar Cano, according to Boxing Scene.
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