By Radio Rahim
Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach is very proud of his new star, newly crowned WBC junior welterweight champion Viktor Postol (28-0, 12KOs), who on Saturday night at the StubHub Center in Carson, California, scored a shocking upset with a tenth-round stoppage of Lucas Matthysse to capture the vacant title.
And now what's next?
Postol would like a unification against WBO champion Terence Crawford (26-0, 18KOs), who on October 24th will make an HBO televised hometown defense against Dierry Jean of Canada.
Roach likes his fighter to beat Crawford, but the veteran trainer admits that a lot more will be needed to win that fight.
Postol took a few good shots from a feared puncher like Matthysse and that made Roach feel a lot better about his fighter's ability to take a good puncher from other future opponents, including Crawford.
Should Crawford win in a few weeks, the stage could be set for a high stakes showdown with Postol in 2016.
That potential fight could be upset if Crawford is selected to face Manny Pacquiao. Crawford and Matthysse were both in the running (among other names) to face the eight division champion early next year. Matthysse is now out of the running and Postol shares the same trainer with Pacquiao.
"I have more confidence in his chin now. If we do fight a guy like Terence Crawford, I think against Terence Crawford we have to fight a better fight and little bit more of a smarter fight. And we're going to have to box a lot more and use that jab more effectively. So I have a lot of homework for [Postol] to do," Roach told BoxingScene.com.