Lucas Matthysse on The Hunt For Welterweight Belt, Says Gomez

By Elisinio Castillo

Healthy, refreshed and ready to fight, Argentine puncher Lucas Matthysse will return from a 19-month on May 6th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

As BoxingScene.com previously reported, Matthysse will appear in a featured fight as part of the HBO pay-per-view undercard to the all-Mexican clash between Saul "Canelo" Alvarez vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

Matthysse is 34 years old and has a career record of 37 wins, 34 by knockout and four defeats. The last time he was in the ring was on October 3, 2015 - when he suffered an eye injury and was stopped in the tenth round by Ukrainian Viktor Postol.

At one point Matthysse was one of the most feared boxers in the sport with stoppage wins over Humberto "The Zorrita" Soto, Olusegun Ajose, Michael Dallas Jr. and Lamont Peterson.

He hit a wall after losing a unanimous decision defeat to then-unified junior welterweight world champion Danny Garcia in 2013. Matthysse then won his next three fights in a row, including a 11th round knockout of John Molina Jr. in a war, and then won another war against Ruslan Provodnikov before losing to Postol.

Matthysse's eye is fully recovered and is now looking for a title in the welterweight division. The number one target on his list is Garcia, who holds the WBC title. Garcia will take part in a high stakes unification on March 4th, when he takes on WBA champion Keith Thurman.

"His eye needed improvement. He had the fracture, but they approved his return. He looks good, feels good and has been training. He is anxious to fight again," said Golden Boy Promotions President Eric Gomez.

"We're looking at Matthysse's opponents now. He has had the rest he needed and now he is excited to return. He wants to go after a welterweight world title and fight some of the big names. It is a strong division. He wants to win a world title and this is the beginning."