After Viktor Postol stopped Lucas Matthysse in the 10th round in Carson last night to claim the WBC 140 lb trinket, appearing to make the Argentine fighter quit on his knees, the Ukrainian’s trainer Freddie Roach has said to fighthubtv that he saw it coming right before it did.
Postol was excellent in using his superior height and reach to maximum advantage, emerging the stronger and more successful for much of the fight, appearing to frustrate the far smaller Matthysse, who took a knee when caught with a right hand up close shortly after the start of the 10th round.
Despite not appearing to be seriously hurt, Matthysse refused to meet the count of referee Jack Reiss, claiming after hand that he felt his eye socket damage and his vision fail momentarily.
It’s not necessarily something Roach totally agrees with, suggesting perhaps that it was frustration and an inability to be effective that led Matthysse to decide not to meet the count, rather than any injury.
“When [Viktor] came back to his corner [after 9], I told him ‘this guy’s about to quit’ and he said ‘when?’ – I went ‘right now,” Roach said to fighthubtv.
“The combinations [Postol] was landing, I just saw [Matthysse] fading and getting weaker and weaker and weaker and less aggressive and he was showing all the signs of somebody that don’t wanna be in there anymore – he was very tired I think,” Roach continued.
Immediately following the win, attention turned to a fight between Postol and WBO champion, Terence Crawford, who fights Dierry Jean later this month in Nebraska.
“Terence Crawford is a very good boxer also, he switches it and he’s a great fighter,” Roach said. [vs Postol] it’s a great fight but [Viktor] won’t be worried about that – he’s from Ukraine!
“I think it’s a good fight, I’d like to see it – I’d like to maybe see a couple of fights before that but right now I’m just happy about this win!”
Twitter @Undilutedpoison