Mathews expects to destroy Luke Campbell

By Boxing News - 10/12/2016 - Comments

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By Scott Gilfoid: 2012 Olympic gold medalist Luke Campbell (14-1, 11 KOs) could be in for a world of hurt on Saturday night when he defends his WBC Silver lightweight strap against the far more experienced Derry Mathews (38-10-2, 20 KOs) at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, UK. Mathews says that Campbell has never been inside the ring in the pro ranks with a puncher like himself, and he’s never had to take power shots like the ones he’s going to be continually bouncing off his chin on Saturday night.

Mathews feels that his power is going to put Campbell on the canvas and keep him there. Mathews, 33, points out that Campbell has already been dropped twice in his still young pro career, and that wasn’t even against big punchers. Mathews feels there’s a weakness there in Campbell’s chin that he can take advantage of on Saturday night to get the lanky 5’9” fighter out of there.

Mathews said to Matchroom Boxing:

“I punch much harder than any of the Lightweights out there. He’s been dropped in two out of his last three fights by guys who hit nowhere near as hard as I do. When I clip him with 8oz gloves on, he’s in big trouble and he’ll go down. I believe I’ll tag him badly, hurt him, then it will be all over.”

Campbell was shockingly dropped in the 2nd round in his last fight by Argenis Mendez last July. That was the weirdest fight I’ve seen next to the Dillian Whyte vs. Anthony Joshua fight. After Mendez knocked Campbell down, he stopped throwing punches entirely and spent the remainder of the fight just looking to block shots. It was the same thing with Whyte vs. Joshua. Whyte staggered Joshua, and then stopped throwing punches for the remainder of the fight pretty much. Joshua then won the fight.

If Mathews is able to expose Campbell as having poor punch resistance on Saturday night, then I see it as the beginning of the end for him. I don’t see Campbell being able to go far in the lightweight division if he can’t stand up to big punchers like Mathews. Heck, we’re not even talking about the biggest puncher in the division with Mathews. There are a lot of guys that can punch with a ridiculous amount of power like Robert Easter Jr., Mikey Garcia and Richard Commey.

This will be a good test of how far Campbell can go in the lightweight division when he gets inside the ring with Mathews. If we see Campbell hitting the floor left and right in this fight each time Mathews hits him, then it’s suffice to say that he’s not going to go far in the division. It would be good news for Campbell to find out early in his career whether he has the talent to do anything in the lightweight division rather than later.

You wouldn’t want to wait until late for Campbell to finally figure out that he doesn’t have what it takes to be a major player in the division. Campbell could then make the decision to either retire from boxing or try moving up to the 140lb division. However, if Campbell can’t handle the punching power of the strongest lightweights in the division, then I sure as heck don’t see him doing well against the best light welterweights. I’m just saying. I expect Campbell to try whatever if things don’t work out for him at lightweight.

“Everyone knows Luke was a great amateur but there are flaws in him,” said Mathews. “Anyone who knows boxing can see that. I know I’m going to go in there and break his heart. I can and I will beat him tonight. He’s never been in with anyone like me before and he will get exposed.”

We already know where Mathews’ limits are in the division, as he’s been beaten a number of times. Mathews is close to being at the top, but not quite there. He’s missing something from his game, and I don’t expect him to find it at 33. Mathews is hoping that a win over Campbell will get him another title shot. He lost to WBO lightweight champion Terry Flanagan by a 12 round unanimous decision in his last fight in March. It was a game effort from Mathews, but he didn’t have the power, boxing skills or the overall talent to get the job done against Flanagan.

I suspect that we’ll see the same thing happen with Mathews in the future if he gets another crack at a world title. Mathews has the power and the chin to make things happen in the lightweight division, but he’s up there in age right now.

The age is obviously a limiting factor. Also, there are no weak champions for Mathews to take advantage of right now. Anthony Crolla won the WBA title against a flawed WBA champion Darleys Perez. Mathews doesn’t have that advantage. If he wants to win a world title, he’ll need to earn it the hard way by going through Flanagan, Jorge Linares or Robert Easter Jr. Those are not easy outs for Mathews.