By Eric Thomas: Light welterweight contender Lucas Matthysse (29-2, 27 KO’s) will be facing replacement opponent Angel Martinez (15-1-1, 12 KO’s) this Friday night for the vacant World Boxing Council (WBC) Latino light welterweight title at the Gimnasio Municpal N 1, Trelew, Chubut, Argentina.

Martinez, 20, is a replacement opponent for Ivan Valle, according to Fightnews.com. Valle couldn’t get medical clearance for the fight. Martinez has struggled in his last two fights, losing to Ricardo Dominguez by a 3rd round TKO in July of last year, and the fighting to an eight round draw with Geronimo Hernandez last October.

Matthysse, #5 WBC, #6 WBO, #11 IBF, has lost two out of his last four fights, losing to Zab Judah and Devon Alexander in their home towns. Matthysse appeared to win both fights but made the mistake of agreeing to fight these guys in places where they rarely lose decisions. Matthysse did win his last fight, albeit against an unknown fighter by the name of Sergio Omar Priotti.

This Friday will be the second consecutive fight for Matthysse at home in Argentina and it almost seems as if he’s jaded by the negative experiences he went through in the Alexander and Judah losses. He hasn’t fought in the U.S since the Alexandr fight and you have wonder how much longer before he’ll fight in the U.S again

Victor Cayo vs. Nate Campbell March 24th

Light welterweight contender Victor Cayo (27-2, 19 KO’s) will be back in the ring in a fight against former lightweight champion Nate Campbell (34-9-1, 25 KO’s) on March 24th at the Palacio de Los Deportes in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Campbell, 39, was at one time in his career the WBA/WBO/IBF lightweight champion. However, age seems to have caught up with Campbell and eroded his once impressive skills to the point where he’s now lost four out of his last five fights. It’s hard to imagine how badly his career has gone when you remembered how impressive he was not long ago. Campbell hasn’t been the same fighter since moving up in weight to the light welterweight division. He’s just not the same fighter he was at lightweight.

Cayo, #5 IBF, has lost two out of his last five fights to Marcos Maidana and Lamont Peterson. He won his last fight against Nelson Sanchez and needs to keep winning for a while to get a title shot. He got worn down by Peterson and taken out in the 12th round. In the Maidana fight, Cayo simply wasn’t strong enough to compete.