Judah: Matthysse punches harder than Danny Garcia

By Boxing News - 04/28/2013 - Comments

garcia3By Allan Fox: Now having fought both Lucas Matthysse (33-2, 31 KO’s) and Danny Garcia (26-0, 16 KO’s), Zab Judah (42-8, 29 KO’s) says that Matthysse is the harder puncher of the two. Judah points out that Matthysse can punch hard with both hands, not just his left hand like Danny Garcia. Judah lost to Garcia last night by a 12 round unanimous decision by the scores of 116-111, 114-112 and 115-112 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

After the fight, Judah said “Danny punches nothing like Lucas. He punches hard with either hand. It’s crazy I beat him.”

Judah beat Matthysse by a controversial 12 round split decision three years ago in a fight where Matthysse got off to a really slow start by just looking to land occasional big shots. By the time that Mattysse finally got his offense in gear in the 5th round, Judah had a 4 rounds to 0 lead, and that made it difficult for Matthysse to come back.

I had Matthysse winning the last 8 rounds of the fight to win comfortably, but the judges gave Judah a 12 round split decision. There’s probably not a soul in boxing that believes Judah would have a chance against Matthysse in a rematch. Matthysse has dramatically improved since then, and he doesn’t start off slow against anyone now. He brings it from the 1st round and it’s difficult to handle his power because it’s gotten better as well.

Matthysse and Lamont Peterson (31-1-1, 16 KO’s) will be facing each other next month on May 18th at the Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA. The fight will take place with a catch-weight of 141 pounds, so Peterson’s IBF light welterweight title won’t be at stake for the fight.

This fight is going to be a real test for both fighters because Peterson hasn’t faced a big puncher like Matthysse since his fight with Victor Ortiz three years ago. Peterson had problems with Ortiz’s power early in the fight and was knocked down twice in the 3rd round. Ortiz stopped slugging with Peterson after knocking him down and let him back in the fight. Matthysse likely won’t back off the way that Ortiz did, so we could see a knockout in this fight by Matthysse.



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