The May 6 all-Mexican clash between big stars Saul Canelo Alvarez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is a huge fight all by itself, ensuring millions of viewers at home as well as a big, big live audience in Las Vegas. But the card just got even better, with the announcement – courtesy of Dan Rafael of ESPN.com – that Argentine monster puncher Lucas Matthysse will make his ring return on the bill.
The former light-welterweight titlist (interim) will return from the 19 month layoff that followed his tough loss at the hands of Victor Postol (a loss that saw Matthysse suffer a nasty eye injury; one so bad, Matthysse thought he’d gone blind) and the 34-year-old will now box at welterweight. Matthysse’s May opponent remains TBA at present (“we’re looking for opponents now,” Eric Gomez of Golden Boy told Rafael) but the return fight will be both an exciting addition to the main event and Matthysse’s move up to 147 will also add further intrigue to the talent-rich and deep welterweight division.
How much has Matthysse got left? Back in his pomp, Matthysse thrilled fans with great and exciting wins over the likes of Lamont Peterson (a brutal and swift stoppage win), John Molina Junior and Ruslan Provodnikov (two excellent slugfests). But then, in October of 2015, Matthysse was badly beaten by Postol. This loss came two years after the fan-friendly Argentine warrior had lost heavily to Danny Garcia – although he bounced back from the UD defeat to “Swift” – and today we have no idea if Matthysse can reach the heights again.
But it sure could be fun finding out. Matthysse is rarely in a dull fight and his addition to the Canelo-Chavez card looks like a good thing. Just imagine future welterweight match-ups involving Matthysse and top names like Adrien Broner, Amir Khan, Peterson in a rematch and Shawn Porter!
If Matthysse’s eye is okay and he still harbours serious ambition, he could feature in a few further standout fights before he’s done. It will be interesting to see who Matthysse, 37-4(37) is matched with in May.