Lucas Matthysse Interview

Host: Your dad was a boxer, your brother was a boxer, your sister is a boxer, and your mom was a boxer (1-0). Lucas: Yeah my mom fought once, won state champion, and retired. Now there's my nephew, who's 14 and has 3-4 fights. I have nieces, Soledad's daughters, who go to the gym, they're like 10-12 years old, so in a little while, there will be talk about them too (chuckles). It's cool, the life of a boxer is pretty cool. And your sister married with a member of well known boxing family. Lucas: Yeah my sister's with Mario, Omar Narvaez's brother. When Maravilla fought Chavez, we were all at Omar's house, Matthysses and Narvaez, and it was a tought night, for us and for all of Argentina. We always talk about boxing, when I go to Trelew, to the gym. I'm always at my sister's house, and we're always together, very united family. It's hard to see you in Buenos Aires, where there are lot of people that want to meet you. You arrive at the airport, and then come straight to Junin. Why? Lucas: Because Im like that. I like that. I like being with my dog, the people from the gym. I don't have friends. I don't have friends that I go out with. I have gym buddies, that I might go out with them to festivals or maybe to go out and eat. But I don't have a loyal friend (holy **** this is depressing, sorry to get carried away), only my dog. And why are you like that? Lucas: I don't know, I'm like that But the people love you! Lucas: The people love me a lot, yeah. Do you feel invaded by the lights and the noise when you go to the capital city? Lucas:No, I don't really go to Buenos Aires at all. My team is here, and I work here. I don't go to B.A. I feel well here, it's very quiet. What do you like about it here? Lucas: It's very quiet. I like being well, being with my daughter, I enjoy the gym, I enjoy being here. What do your loved ones say? (about fights and career wise) Lucas: Mario Arano (his promoter) takes care of me, like Cuty (his trainer), Colo (his assistant), El Profe (training coach) they take care of me because they know I'm a loner, and they're always advising me. My family, they're proud. Do you realize what you've accomplished in America? (talking about the Peterson fight) Lucas: Little by little, I'm starting to realize, yeah. Like Lamont Peterson, who had come with important victories, did you know it was a crucial fight for your future? Lucas: Yeah, I thought Peterson, in my opinion, was the best 140 lbs, I knew it was going to be a tough fight, I thought it was going to go the distance (all 12 rounds). For the people that don't know much about boxing, they might now about the victory against Peterson, but you also fought Judah and Alexander, resulting in controversial decisions. And you came back to Argentina with nothing. Did you change your strategy after those fights with Cuty Barrera, your trainer? Lucas: Yeah, Judah and Alexander they were both tough fights, I lost, but I gained a lot of experience. I learned a lot. Those two, and the next ones that followed, were all tough fights. They let me open more and more (meaning I let my hands go more each time as I get a new fight). Were you always calm, or after those fights you thought: It'll be difficult to become a champion? Lucas: I was feeling really really down after those fights. In the Judah, because I had lost my unbeaten record, because I thought I had won the fight and they didn't give me the W, and it slowed me down in my career. I felt so down, I was going to retire. Who convinced you to keep going? Lucas: My daughter. Even though she was 7 years old, she told me, she realized how important it was to me. so i kept going. The next year, same thing happened with Alexander, and at that fight I was like: Oh god, not again. And I thought I'm 30 already, and I dont' want to anymore. Because you have to start all over again, you know? Then I had the Humberto Soto fight, which was another tough fight, I knew if i lost that one, I was done, I would have to wait way more. Luckily that wasn't the case, and from there, I had a lot of victories following. And now, how does Golden Boy and ODLH look at you? What does Oscar say to you? Lucas: There, when I arrived, they were very iffy about it. And it always happens, every time an Argentinean fighter goes there, we're guests in foreign land, and they were really in the middle about me (meaning indecisive, didn't know if he was going to have a future). The one who was victorious (between him and Peterson) was going to keep on going, so I had a winning mentality, like I try to have always, and they were all happy afterwards because none thought I was going to beat him that easily. You just said "It's tougher when you're from Argentina". Like Maravilla, like Maidana, is it very hard to make it there? Lucas: Yeah of course, because over there, it's all about them. They do the promoting, the events, you have to go and fight in their soil, and it's like if they win it's so much better, because the market for boxing is there. So maybe yeah it is tougher being a visitor and Argentinean. I think Argentines are giving them a lot of headaches (smiles). What does it mean now, to go into a top notch hotel, fight in big cities in America, do you think about all you had to go through to get to this moment? Lucas: Yeah, all the things I went through, I always fought in Argentina, and I always went where they told me. Now i'm lucky I fight in the US, Atlantic City, Vegas, New York, they're hotels that wow, you don't see them every day. But it doesn't matter what hotel they provide me, it doesn't change anything to me. Commodities don't change me, I don't care if they come pick me up in a limo, fighting in the US is what's really important. It doesn't get to me (luxury). What really matters is that they are interested in me, that's enough for me. It's a translation of this video (below).