Floyd Mayweather Sr. at the Mayweather Boxing Club (Photo: Chris Robinson – www.HustleBoss.com)
By Chris Robinson
In the wake of his 3rd round TKO over Lamont Peterson this past weekend, Lucas Matthysse’s stock is as high as ever.
The WBC interim champion in the junior welterweight division, Matthysse overwhelmed Peterson, the IBF belt holder, with his power. The rugged Argentinean would score three knockdowns in as many rounds, forcing referee Steve Smoger to wave off the contest inside of the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
Matthysse has been linked to a possible fight in September with WBA/WBC champion Danny Garcia, yet there are some who are curious how he would do against the sport’s premier fighter, Floyd Mayweather.
On May 4th, Mayweather would successfully defend his WBC welterweight title against Robert Guerrero inside of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Showing tremendous movement with his feet and impeccable timing, Mayweather was as sterling as ever, winning a commanding unanimous decision over twelve rounds.
With the intrigue of a Mayweather-Matthysse fight slowly growing, I felt the need to ask Mayweather’s father and trainer Floyd Sr. for his breakdown of such a fight.
Starting off, Mayweather Sr. weighed in on Matthysse’s blitzing of Peterson.
“I saw the fight,” Mayweather Sr. said, speaking from the Mayweather Boxing Club. “He’s a guy that just throws hard punches. He’s not a skillful fighter. He’s a banger and I didn’t see nothing that impressed me about him but his power. He does have power.”
If anything, Mayweather Sr. hinted that Matthysse’s victory has as much to do with how Peterson fought as anything else.
“I would have had him using his left hand a lot more,” Mayweather Sr. stated of the D.C. fighter. “He should have been using his jab. With the kind of height that he got, you know, the kind of leverage he got to shoot down on person; I think that I would have been using my jab a lot. There’s so many things I would have been doing with that guy, with the height that he had.”
With his son’s excellent performance against Guerrero still fresh in his mind, Mayweather is completely confident of his chances with a guy like Matthysse.
“I think it’s a good look for Floyd,” Mayweather Sr. said, assessing the matchup. “I think that Floyd would take a lot of things away from him then deliver what he had to deliver. There’s a lot of different things. He can jab at Floyd and Floyd can brush it off; right hand right down the middle. Lil Floyd can pull-counter over the top. Floyd can pick, stick.”
Getting back to his original statement of Matthysse, Mayweather Sr. confirmed that he doesn’t hold him in the highest regard.
“He’s not an elite fighter,” said Floyd Joy. “If you want to call him an elite fighter because of his power, you call him elite fighter than. As far as his skills? No.”
PLEASE CHECK BELOW for the full interview with Floyd Sr. and more updates from the boxing world
Mayweather Sr. claims that Lucas Matthysse isn’t an elite fighter; reveals why Floyd would beat him
A day in camp with welterweight prospect Jeremiah Wiggins (2-0)
Arash Usmanee (20-1, 10 KO’s) sparring Rocco Santomauro (9-0) at the Mayweather Boxing Club
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rePemh2FHZ0
‘Weight don’t win fights, skills do’ – Roger Mayweather talks Floyd vs. Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez
‘Floyd’s just a badass’ – Brandon Rios praises Mayweather following his victory over Guerrero
Chris Robinson can be reached at Trimond@aol.com