Lucas Matthysse, the WBC’s interim Junior Welterweight Champion is on pace to go down as one of the most devastating knockout artists in boxing history. The 30-year-old boxer from Argentina scored his 10th first-round knockout on Jan. 26 when he stopped American Mike Dallas Jr. after just 146 seconds. Matthysse now has 33 victories on his record against two losses. Incredibly, 31 of his wins have come by KO and he also dropped both of his opponents in his two losses. This means he’s sent at least 33 of his 35 opponents to the canvas. Dallas’ record fell to 19-3-1 with 8 Kos after the bout.
Matthysse, who’s often been called a slow starter even though he has numerous first-round knockouts, definitely lacked the speed of Dallas, but more than made up for it with his power. He nailed Dallas with a short, sharp right hand to the side of the jaw towards the end of the first round that sent his young opponent face first to the mat. Referee Robert Byrd started the 10 count but waved it off quickly after he realized Dallas was out cold.
The 26-year-old Dallas can count himself lucky that two follow by punches by the champion didn’t land cleanly or he could have been seriously injured. The official time of the stoppage was 2:26.
Matthysse wants to meet the winner of the upcoming Zab Judah vs Danny Garcia title fight in Brooklyn, New York on Feb. 9. Garcia is currently the WBC and WBA Welterweight Champion and Matthysse wants a crack at him. He’s already fought Judah and this was one of his two controversial split decision losses. Matthysse also lost to Devon Alexander by split decision. However, if he can’t get a fight with either Judah or Garcia, the Argentine said he’ll take on any top fighter in the 140 lb. weight class, such as fellow countryman Marcos
Maidana, Mike Alvarado, Juan Manuel Marquez, and Amir Khan.
There was some controversy before the Matthysse vs Dallas showdown as Dallas’ trainer Virgil Hunter spotted the champion swallow a pill in his dressing room before entering the ring. Matthysse claimed he was just taking vitamins like he does before every fight and he’s not worried about the post-fight drug test. Hunter was grabbing at straws when alerting the athletic commissioner about the pills Matthysse took since no fighter is stupid enough to take anything illegal just before entering the ring in front oh an opponent’s trainer.
The bout took place at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada and on the undercard Jesus Soto-Karass of Mexico beat Selcuk Aydin of Turkey in an exciting 10-round junior middleweight contest by a majority decision. The scores were 95-95, 97-93, and 97-93. With the win, Soto-Karass upped his record to 27-8-3, with 17 Kos while Aydin lost his second straight fight and fell to 23-2, with 17 Kos.
Also, Jermell Charlo kept his unbeaten streak going as he stopped Harry Joe Yorgey in the eighth round of their junior middleweight bout. Charlo’s record goes to 20-0 with 10 Kos while Yorgey drops to 25-2-1 with 12 Kos. Charlo sent Yorgey to the canvas twice in the second round and once again in the eighth before it was called off at the 1:09 mark by referee Kenny Bayless.
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