Alexander vs. Matthysse in important clash on 6/25

By Boxing News - 05/30/2011 - Comments

Image: Alexander vs. Matthysse in important clash on 6/25By Dan Ambrose: Former IBF/WBC light welterweight champion Devon Alexander (21-1, 13 KO’s) will be making his first appearance since his loss to Timothy Bradley when he faces light welterweight contender Lucas Matthysse (28-1, 26 KO’s) next month on June 25th at the Family Arena in Saint Charles, Missouri. Alexander, 24, will be fighting in front of a home audience in Saint Louis, so if the fight goes to the cards, Alexander will have a good chance of winning.

However, this is going to be a much more dangerous fight for Alexander than the Bradley fight because Matthysse is a bigger puncher and can put the heat on Alexander a lot more than Bradley did. Alexander won’t have to worry about getting hit with headbutts in this fight, because Matthysse doesn’t come forward head first the way that Bradley typically does. Alexander, ranked #1 WBC, #10 IBF and #3 WBO, seemed to fold under the pressure that Bradley put on him last January and had problems dealing with the constant forward attacks by Bradley.

The bad news for Alexander is that things won’t get any better against Matthysse, because he recognizes that he’s going to have to attack Alexander hard from the very beginning if he wants to win the fight. Matthysse, ranked #2 WBO and #8 IBF, was beaten by Zab Judah in a questionable 12 round split decision loss in November 2010, despite controlling the fight from the 5th round on and knocking Judah down in the 10th.

The mistake that Matthysse made in the fight is that he gave Judah the first four rounds and this ended putting Matthysse in too much of a hole for him to climb out of. Matthysse can’t make the same mistake of giving too much respect to Alexander early in the fight because if he allowed Alexander to win the early rounds while fighting at home then the fight will be as good as lost for Matthysse.

The undercard has some good sights with Guillermo Jones vs. Ryan Coyne, Bermane Stiverne vs. Ray Austin, Tavoris Cloud vs. Yusaf Mack and Cornelius Budrage vs. Sechew Powell.



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