Viktor Postol Knocks Out Lucas Matthysse – Three Blind Mice Judges Give Antonio Orozco a Unanimous Decision

Article and photos by Anthony “Stacks” Saldaña (At Ringside)

Saturday night at the Stubhub Center in Carson, California, Lucas “The Machine” Matthysse 37-4, 31 KO’s battled the undefeated Ukrainian, Viktor “The Iceman” Postol, 28-0, 12 KO’s, for the vacant WBC Super Lightweight title. The Stubhub Center was electric with fighters such as Vasyl Lomachenko, Gabriel Rosado, Ruslan Provodnikov, and the USA Boxing team all in attendance. Matthysse who came into the fight in search of his first championship was frustrated by Postol the entire night. In the early rounds Viktor clinched Lucas everytime Lucas got inside.

Viktor was eventually warned sternly by referee Jack Reiss for clinching. In the 6th and 7th round Matthysse seemed to begin to take control of the action hurting Postol with a couple of big overhand rights. Then in the 8th round Viktor took the advice of his trainer Freddie Roach, utilizing his jabs and short hooks. Viktor continued to use his ring generalship and in the 10th round caught Matthysse in the eye with a short right hand sending “The Machine” to the canvas. Lucas took the 10 count on a knee, sending a shockwave throughout the Stubhub Center. During the post fight press conference Matthysse said “you win some you lose some” and when asked about being knocked out Matthysse said “He never hurt me, he hit me and I went blind, I wasn’t hurt, I was blind and that was my cause of concern”.

Lucas went on to say “I was frustrated really frustrated and I lost it”. For Postol “bringing the WBC title to the Ukraine is a dream come true”. When asked if there was one fighter he could choose to fight Postol answered “I was told there’s a big star out there Terence Crawford I’m ready to fight him the question is he ready to fight me?” During the 10th round Freddie Roach told Max Kellerman that “Lucas would quit” and 30 seconds later he did making Postol the new WBC Super Lightweight Champion.

In the Co-main event Antonio “Relentless” Orozco 23-0, 15 KO’s took on battle tested veteran Humberto “La Zorrita” Soto, 65-9-2, 35 KO’s in 10 round bout. Both Orozco and Soto went back and forth hitting each other with heavy body shots and combinations, This was truly a closely contested fight, which easily could have been a draw. Instead the judges handed Orozco a wide margin unanimous decision with the scores of 98-92, 98-92, and 99-91 keeping the young Orozco’s undefeated record intact.

After the fight Orozco stated “tonight I was in there with a former 3x world champion, he’s seen it all, he’s been through it all, my job was to go in there and win and that’s what I did. Antonio plans on fighting again in the early spring and will use the time off to spend with his family and to take his children Disneyland’s California Adventure. Soto did not attend the post fight press conference and was not available to interview.

Undercard results

Super Featherweights
Alejandro Ochoa, 7-10-2, 1 KO defeats Kevin River, 12-1, 9 KO’s (MD)

Light Heavyweights
D’Mitrius Ballard, 10-0, 7 KO’s defeats Eddie Hunter, 10-14-2, 3 KO’s (UD)

Super Lightweights

Marcelino Lopez, 32-1-1, 17 KO’s defeats David Rodela, 17-11-4, 7 KO’s (KO 3)

Lightweights

Mercito Gesta, 29-1-2, 16 KO’s defeats Miguel Mendoza, 22-7-2, 21 KO’s (UD)

Super Featherweights
Nick Arce, 5-0, 5 KO’s defeats Juan Hernandez, 3-1 (KO 3)

Featherweights
Julian Ramirez, 14-0, 8 KO’s defeats Hugo Partida, 20-6-2, 15 KO’s (UD)

 

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