Lucas Matthysse wants to train with Canelo Alvarez

By Boxing News - 01/23/2016 - Comments

matthysse567676By Dan Ambrose: Former world title challenger Lucas Matthysse (37-4, 34 KOs) reportedly is interested in training with WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez to get help for his next fight.

Matthysse, 33, was stopped in the 10th round in his last fight against Viktor Postol in a failed attempt to win the vacant WBC light welterweight title. Matthysse suffered an eye injury in the 10th, which caused him to hit the deck and stay there as the referee counted him out.

The Argentinian Matthysse would need to transfer his place of training to relocate to Mexico if he wants to train with the 25-year-old Canelo.

I’m not sure that it’s going to help Matthysse any being with Canelo, because the issues that Matthysse has had in the ring aren’t likely going to be helped in this union. Canelo is a fighter who has used his superior size to win many of his fights.

Matthysse, 5’6 ½”, isn’t the type of fighter who rehydrates a lot for his fights in the 140lb division. Matthysse can’t rehydrate 20 pounds to squash the 140lb contenders with his size. Further, Matthysse is reportedly thinking of moving up to the welterweight division to look for big fights in that weight class. This means that Matthysse will likely be one of the smaller contenders in the welterweight division.

“The fact that I raised that to Mariano Arano (his promoter). I think I’m coming … not the end of my career, but I want to keep learning things continue superándome,” Matthysse said to Univision.com. “Having new challenges, new goals. And there If I told you that, I’d go for this fight coming to a concentration with the team ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. Well, I said Arano that can be done and am awaiting a response. And by the time I’m training here.”

Matthysse plans on fighting in April against an opponent still to be determined. If he does move up to welterweight, I don’t see where he can succeed. If Matthysse couldn’t even beat guys like Danny Garcia and Viktor Postol in the light welterweight division, then how is he supposed to compete with bigger, stronger fighters at welterweight. Postol is a good fighter, but he would likely fall apart completely if he were in the ring with a strong welterweight like Errol Spence Jr. and Shawn Porter. Matthysse will have a lot of problems in the 147lb division if he chooses to fight in that weight class.

If Matthysse is serious about wanting to train with Canelo, then he should melt down to 135 and fight in the lightweight division. I think that would be a situation where Matthysse would be able to have a big weight advantage over his opponents, and he could succeed like Canelo. The most important thing for Matthysse to do while training with Canelo is to pick his brain to find out how he’s able to cut so much weight to fight at 155lbs, and then rehydrate to the 170s without being weight drained. If Matthysse could learn how to melt down in weight like Canelo, I think Matthysse would be a terror at lightweight.



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