This Saturday night it will be the first time in quite some time that we will have competing telecasts by the two biggest boxing platforms in the United States. HBO will feature the super lightweight title fight between Lucas “The Machine” Matthysse of Argentina against Viktor Postol for the vacant WBC 140 pound championship. The title was recently held by Danny “Swift” Garcia but he left it ownerless when he moved up in weight to the welterweight division. Across the street at Showtime, Adrien “The Problem” Broner will face once defeated Khabib Allakhverdiev for the also vacant WBA light welterweight title. That title was also once strapped around Garcia’s waist. Back then it was called the “super” world title while Jessie Vargas held the regular version. For which one is Broner and Allakhverdiev are actually fighting for? Only the WBA knows that.
All of these men got to their respective corners in very different ways.
Matthysse has been chipping at a world title for quite some time. After going on a hot streak of six consecutive impressive wins including stoppages over Humberto Soto, Ajose Olusegun, Mike Dallas Jr and Lamont Peterson, Matthysse got his first crack at a full-fledged title after holding the interim WBC strap. It came against the aforementioned Garcia who in a competitive fight defeated the “Machine” via a unanimous decision on the undercard of Mayweather Jr vs “Canelo” Alvarez in late 2013. Since then the quiet warrior has racked up three more wins against fairly competitive opposition in John Molina Jr in a fight of the year candidate, Roberto “Massa” Ortiz and a majority decision over Ruslan Provodnikov.
Postol from Kiev, Ukraine and trained by the heralded Freddie Roach is undefeated. His biggest win has been over Selcuk Aydin and the fight on Saturday night marks only the third time he battles on U.S. soil. In his last fight he defeated virtual unknown Jake Giuriceo in an eight rounder. His biggest claim to fame? Roach has named him his new favorite fighter but that just might be Roach-speak hoping to drum up some interest in his fighter and the fight.
The Matthysse vs Postol fight takes place at the Stub Hub Center in Carson, California.
The three-divisional champ Adrien “The Problem” Broner is actually 3-2 in his last five fights. His first professional loss came at the fists of Marcos Maidana, a different Argentinean, back in December of 2013. Broner was sent to the canvas twice in that fight and was pretty much exposed to not be the next Floyd Mayweather Jr, in skill or discipline. Wins over Carlos Molina, Emmanuel Taylor and John Molina Jr followed before his last fight and second loss. Expected to beat an elite fighter and former champion Shawn Porter, instead Broner dropped a unanimous decision last June despite sending Porter down in the last round. So why does Broner get the title shot and not Porter?
Ask Al Haymon.
His opponent is not an unknown. With a record of 19-1, 9KO, Allakhverdiev is known as a tough out for anybody. In his last fight, his only loss as a pro, he gave Jessie Vargas all he could handle but was still seen as the loser. Allakhverdiev has dotted his record with wins over Souleymane M’Baye, Joan Guzman and Nate Campbell among others. So why does Allakhverdiev get the title shot coming off a loss?
Ask Al Haymon.
