Matthysse-Postol: Judging Could Be Key in The Fight

By Steve Kim

Lucas Matthysse and Victor Postol do battle on Saturday night at the StubHub Center for the vacant WBC super lightweight title. In a fight of such magnitude judging will be key. The last time Vadim Kornilov - who manages Postol - was involved in a major fight at this venue, his other client Ruslan Provodnikov was losing a close and debated decision to Tim Bradley in 2013.

The three arbiters for this fight are Rick Crocker, Steve Morrow and Raul Caiz Sr, all from the United States. The lead promoter for this event is Golden Boy Promotions. Postol is represented by Top Rank. Kornilov understands the dynamic in play as they face the fan favorite, Matthysse.

"With our fighters from the Soviet Union, every time there's a risk of not getting the decision. We do everything we can, we have Top Rank by our side. Hopefully the WBC is reasonable and understanding and that any fighter can be a successful fighter and it should be just an even playing field. We did everything we can with the judges. I hope the judges are reasonable and fair. That's what it's all about."

Postol (27-0,11 KO's) figures to box against the hard-charging Matthysse (37-3, 34 KO's) and you could easily see a scenario with many close rounds and a fight that is difficult to score. And if Postol doesn't get a fair shake on Saturday night?

"We will let the fans be the judges," said Kornilov. "It's not the first time we got the wrong decision in our fights. So we'll let the fans be the judges. If Viktor wins the fight, the people will know."

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.