Matthysse / Postol Analysis: What's Next?
Boxing fans, meet Viktor "Iceman" Postol (28-0, 12 KOs) a new juggernaut in the 140 pound weight division.
After his convincing win against Lucas Matthysse (37-4, 34 KOs), who was expected to win, Postol was supposed to be a stepping stone for bigger pay days with the likes of Manny Pacquioa, Tim Bradley, or Terence Crawford.
I watched the fight three times it was that entertaining. Matthysse's power had fans on the edge of their seat. There was a calm anxious feeling in the crowd. Postol started off slow and even heard boos from the crowd who thought he was excessively holding and clenching.
In the 5th round however, Postol was severely warned about the excessive holding. This forced Postol to exchange in the middle of the ring with the dangerous Matthysse, who already had the advantage at this point.
Stubb Hub fans were finally getting their monies worth as Matthysse was landing big shots. The fifth round was a lop sided round in favor of the Argentine fighter. HBO kept focusing to Postol's wife, who appeared nervous and on the verge of leaving ringside.
The momentum for Matthysse was short lived however.
In the sixth round, Matthysse landed his best shot of the night. A wobbled Postol looked hurt, and tried to clench to hang on. In an effort to knock out his opponent, Matthysse swang wildly and was the ricipient of a nasty head butt putting an end to this flurry. Matthysse immediately grabbed his eye and appeared to get the worse of the clash.
As Matthysse tried to recover, the extended break only benefitted Postol the rest of the fight.
Instead of methodically stalking his opponent, Matthysse began to lunge and swing for the fences, which was a bad idea when fighting someone much longer and rangier and with strong boxing fudanmentals. Postol knew this and capitalized on his opportunity.
By the 10th round, Matthysse appeared to be defeated both mentally and physically. Postol's counters were dominating. He landed one perfectly on the side of Matthysse's temple and eye (what appeared to be the same damaged eye from earlier). Matthysse in pain took a knee and decided to no get back up. The "Iceman" had the Stubb Hubb audience in silence as he defeated "The Machine" Matthysse by KO.
Lucas Matthysse received a lot of criticism for not getting back up. Although I was also disapointed I suspect Matthysse's eye bothered him more than he led on. Eye injuries to a fighter in the heat of the moment almost always are disastrous. If Matthysse taking a knee means we get to see many more of his fights going forward, I am ok with the kneel down. Just ask Antonio Margarito about career ending eye injuries.
Unfortunately for Matthysse, this loss will largely define a legacy of losing the "championship" fights. It started when he lost to the likes of Zab Judah in 2010, and Danny Garcia in 2013. These boxers exploited Matthysse in the later rounds but not as convincing as Postol on this night.
Look for Matthysse to take a long break from boxing. I just hope he doesn't follow in the footsteps of his countryman, Marcos Maidana, who has taken what seems like a permenant break from boxing. After Maidana was paid handsomly for his two wars against Floyd Mayweather, it appears he is in no rush to come back and eating the good life in Argentina.
It would be a tragedy for boxing to lose a guy like Matthysse, and Maidana, both in the same year.
Matthysse, unlike Maidana, has not received a mega pay day. This should fuel the end of his boxing career. It might benefit Matthysse to come back with a new corner. They never seem to have the strategy or in fight adjustments that carry their guy to victory.
As for Postol, I doubt he gets a big title fight early in 2016. Postol will probably fight a lesser opponent, a Mauricio Herrera or Brandon Rios type. His camp says he's ready to fight the likes of Terrance Crawford, Tim Bradley, Manny Pacquioa, and after his convincing win tonight, they might be right. However, Top Rank doesn't have the same business philosophy of Golden Boy Promotions does. I wouldn 't be surprised if Matthysse and Postol rematch before some of the other big name fighters step in the ring with Postol.
