Matthysse's Coach: Postol Fragile, Not Strong Like Ruslan

By Ben Jacobs

Luis 'Cuty' Barrera, head trainer for Lucas Matthysse is happy with what he saw from his man in training camp, preparing for Viktor Postol.  Just two days before flying out to the United States, BoxingScene.com caught up with Barrera via telephone from their base in Junín, Argentina.

"He's had various sparring partners including ones from Mexico, Puerto Rico and Brazil as well as Argentine sparring like Martin Ríos and Marcelino López," Barrera revealed. 

"The idea has been to spar against big, tall fighters to prepare for Postol.  Lucas is looking strong.

"If Lucas fights a tall guy like Postol the way he has been dealing with his tall sparring partners then the height difference won't be a factor.  One way to deal with a tall fighter is to work the body well and then go for the head.  I hope this is what we see in the fight."

As always, 'Cuty' has prepared his fighter diligently, that includes studying footage of the opponent during training camp.

"I saw his (Postol) fight when he was hurt against Aydin.  I see him as being fragile in the sense that he's not a strong guy the way Provodnikov is.  I feel that when Lucas connects on him he's going to hurt him. 

"Lucas has fought the best and Postol doesn't have that experience.  He's fought Judah, Alexander and García and he learned from those experiences.  It helped him to fight more intelligently and from what I see he's happy and content with his boxing."