By Jake Donovan

Two familiar names, one with a glossy record but a thin resume; the other a former amateur standout and Olympian, but whose toiled in anonymity since turning pro three years ago.

Tonight, undefeated junior welterweights Lucas Martin Matthysse and Rock Allen will make the first of what they both hope will be many appearances on US television. The two are featured in separate bouts airing live on Telefutura’s Solo Boxeo Tecate series (Friday, 8PM ET/PT).

It could just be a coincidence, or perhaps it’s foreshadowing that their first taste of exposure comes in a venue called the Quick Trip Ballpark, located in Grand Prairie, Texas, just outside of Arlington. Whether their fights come with the same headline remains to be seen, as neither is matched particularly tough.

Matthysse faces battle-tested – and perhaps shopworn – veteran Rogelio Castaneda, Jr. in the main event; Allen meets Gilbert Vera in the televised co-feature.

The scouting report on Matthysse (22-0, 21KO) is that he is arguably the most talented member of his fighting family.

His father, Mario Matthysse campaigned as a welterweight and junior middleweight journeyman throughout the 1980’s, including a knockout loss late in his career to then-unbeaten Jorge Castro. 

There was greater hope for Lucas’ older brother, Walter Matthysse, who signed with Golden Boy (the promoter for tonight’s show) earlier this decade. Like Lucas tonight, Walter held a similarly glossy record when he made his US-televised debut, which came against a faded journeyman whom he would knock out in a round.

Walter went on to lose every time he stepped up, first suffering a knockout loss to Paul Williams on HBO in May 2006. A year later, it was Kermit Cintron’s turn to flatten the Argentinean, doing so in two rounds and in highlight reel fashion. It was the first of three straight knockout losses from Walter, who is now officially classified as cannon fodder.

Few believe Lucas to suffer a similar fate. For starters, he’s far less reckless than was his older brother, even if they share a similar disregard for defense. The deficiency hasn’t yet affected the younger Matthysse, though that can be chalked up to not yet meeting the type of opposition that would expose or even exploit such flaws.

Chances are, that won’t change tonight. In Rogelio Castaneda Jr., Matthysse is matched with a journeyman who knows his way around the ring, but is a little slower in his travels these days. The Mexican was last seen falling considerably short against Lamont Peterson, getting lit up and stretched in the ninth round, suffering the fourth loss in his past five fights.

A tell tale sign of the end being near for Castaneda was his needing two tries to get past fellow faded junior welterweight Ubaldo Hernandez. The October 2007 rematch represents the lone win among his past five bouts spanning almost two years.

Still, he gets points for level of opposition. Even if he’s falling way short when stepping up, he’s still dancing with the best; the same of which cannot be said of Matthysse.

A career spent primarily in Argentina, tonight will mark just the second stateside appearance for the unbeaten puncher, whose lone non-knockout win came via disqualification earlier in just his third pro fight. He enters tonight’s fight having knocked out 19 straight.

His US debut came last May, on the undercard of a show that offered a Hugo Cazares junior flyweight title defense and the return of Panchito Bojado. More significant than the action in the ring on this night was the event it would precede, “The World Awaits.” This meant more media coverage – and fans – than usual for such a show, which gave Matthysse the perfect opportunity to make a statement.

He did, to a degree, making quick work of Ramon Duran. The problem was, very little was known of Duran, other than that his 13-1 record appeared to be as thin as that of Matthysse, thus rendering the win irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

Four wins and 16 months later, Matthysse puts another stamp on his passport, this time hoping to leave a much greater impression among the viewing audience.

At least Matthysse can point to his being from way out of town when theorizing why he remains a mystery in most boxing circles. Rock Allen (12-0, 7KO) has no such excuse, and even less reason for his resume to bear greater resemblance to a ‘learn-as-you-earn’ fighter with no amateur experience than that of a former US Olympic boxer.

A two-time national amateur champion, Allen punches his way to the 2004 US Olympic squad after defeating the likes of Lamont Peterson and Devon Alexander in the Olympic Trials earlier in the year. Allen went on to Athens, but lost in his only ring appearance.

He had plenty of time to think about the loss, not turning pro until almost a year later.

By then, Peterson and Alexander had a running head start in establishing themselves as bona fide prospects. Alexander has emerged as one of the brightest young fighters in the game, with notable wins coming on Shobox and HBO PPV in recent years.

Unfortunately, he’s also become the latest form of proof that promoter Don King, for all of his Hall-of-Fame credentials, can no longer move a prospect.

Peterson scratched the surface for a few years before finally receiving a break when Top Rank signed him, along with younger brother Anthony, to a promotional contract. Peterson’s first bout under the agreement was the aforementioned knockout of Castaneda, which aired on Showtime’s Shobox series, his third appearance on the circuit, along with several showcases on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights. 

Tonight’s bout marks Allen’s first televised appearance. Given his level of competition, it’s not much of a surprise, though the irony in his being neglected by the cameras is that each of his 12 pro bouts to date have taken place on cards where the main portion was picked up by one network or another.

That Gilbert Vera (9-2-1, 4KO) represents an upgrade in opposition tells the tale of the slow road Allen’s traveled thus far as a pro.

The chance of an upset is unlikely, but not completely discounted. Very few gave Brian Vera, Gilbert’s older brother and of Contender fame, much of a shot at even fighting on competitive terms with Andy Lee earlier this year. The skeptics appeared to be right after Brian was dropped early in the bout, but would be left with their mouths agape after Vera rallied back to stop the Limerick boxer in seven rounds, providing one of the year’s biggest upsets.

A win tonight for the Austin native wouldn’t rank quite as high on 2008’s list of shockers, but would easily be the biggest win of his career. Both of his losses have come against undefeated fighters. He fought on competitive terms with Ramon Gatica last year, while only enjoying moments early and late against Michael Torres 3 ½ months ago in his last fight to date.

Vera enjoys no other advantage than that of ring activity, with tonight’s bout marking his 4th appearance in 2008. Allen’s yet to fight this year, his last bout coming ten months ago in Atlantic City, about an hour from his Philadelphia hometown. 

His father and head trainer Naziim Richardson, who also trains future Hall of Famer Bernard Hopkins, attempted to clear up the inactivity part, suggesting earlier this week to Bernard Fernandez of the Philadelphia Daily News that several bouts fell through, with any of them panning out giving Allen a healthier schedule than has been the case.

As far as the slow road to respectability? “It’s not a sprint; it’s a marathon,” he would say in the same article.

It is in that vain, that both Allen and Matthysse can only hope their respective bouts at the Quick Trip Ballpark will result in a long lasting relationship with televised audiences.

Jake Donovan is a voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Comments/questions can be submitted to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .