By Sean McDaniel: The September 17th fight card at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, headlined by Floyd Mayweather Jr vs. Victor Ortiz, just got a lot better with the addition of Erik Morales vs. Lucas Matthysse. This is a really good fight, much, much better than the one Golden Boy Promotions had listed before with Morales facing 35-year-old Jorge Barrios.
Matthysse is one of the top fighters in the light welterweight division and is destined to be a world champion. Whether Morales still has enough left to hold him back is the big question. I like Morales a lot as a fighter and give him a lot of kudos for his losing performance against Marcos Maidana last April, but I don’t know if Morales can turn back a young warrior like Matthysse. This guy can do it all – box, slug and move. He’s got the whole package in his game.
Matthysse isn’t as fast as guys like Amir Khan, but he makes up for his lack of hand speed by having excellent power and a really good chin. He’s one of those tough Argentinian fighters in the same mold as Sergio Martinez and Marcos Maidana. Indeed, Matthysse has even sparred with Martinez and does a lot of the same things he does in the ring.
I like the Mayweather vs. Ortiz fight a lot, but I have a feeling that Mayweather is going to use a lot of movement as soon as he starts getting hit hard by Ortiz. Mayweather will turn the fight into a pure boxing match and end up winning a boring decision over the slugger Ortiz. This is where the Matthysse-Morales fight saves the card from being a big disappointment. Morales likes to stand and slug, and if you put him in with a fighter with the same kind of style, he’s happy as a clam. This is a fighting style that he thrives against. However, I don’t know if Morales has enough left in him to beat a nonstop puncher like Matthysse. I just don’t see it happening for Morales.
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