By Keith Idec

Tewa Kiram seemed more than big enough Friday afternoon to win his welterweight title fight against Lucas Matthysse.

We’ll have to wait one more day, though, to find out if the untested Thai contender is good enough to beat the best fighter he will have encountered during his 10-year pro career. Kiram was, however, noticeably taller than Argentina’s Matthysse as they stood face-to-face following the official weigh-in for their scheduled 12-round fight for the WBA world welterweight title in Inglewood, California.

The 35-year-old Matthysse (38-4, 35 KOs, 1 NC) met the welterweight limit of 147 pounds exactly when he got on the California State Athletic Commission’s scale. The 25-year-old Kiram (38-0, 28 KOs) officially weighed 146¼ pounds.

HBO will televise the Matthysse-Kiram match Saturday night from The Forum as the main event of its “Boxing After Dark” doubleheader. They’ll fight for a version of the WBA’s 147-pound championship, but Keith Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs, 1 NC) is recognized as the true WBA welterweight champion.

Kiram will fight outside of Thailand for the first time since making his pro debut in January 2008.

Before Matthysse and Kiram made weight, Jorge Linares, 32, and Mercito Gesta, 30, met their contractual obligations by weighing in at 135 pounds or less for their fight for Linares’ WBA lightweight title.

The Venezuelan-born, London-based Linares (43-3, 27 KOs) stepped on the California State Athletic Commission scale right at the lightweight limit of 135 pounds. Gesta (31-1-2, 17 KOs), of San Clemente, California, officially weighed in at 134½ pounds.

The scheduled 12-round bout between the heavily favored Linares and Gesta will open HBO’s “Boxing After Dark” doubleheader at 10:30 p.m. ET.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.