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By: William Holmes
Lucas Matthysse vs. Michael Dallas Jr., 12 rounds, for Matthysse’s WBC interim junior welterweight title; Selcuk Aydin vs. Jesus Soto Karass, 10 rounds, welterweights;
Showtime will be broadcasting a WBC Junior Welterweight title bout on Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nevada between the hard hitting Argentinean Lucas Matthysse and Michael Dallas Jr., as well as a welterweight bout between Selcuk Aydin and Jesus Soto Karass.
The victor of Saturday’s main event may face the victor of the upcoming Danny Garcia and Zab Judah clash. The bout between Aydin and Soto Karass is an important bout for both fighters as a loss will likely make the loser irrelevant in the welterweight division.
The following is a preview of both bouts.
Selcuk Aydin (23-1) vs. Jesus Soto Karass (26-8-3); Welterweights
Both Aydin and Soto Karass are coming off tough losses to top ranked opponents in the welterweight division and are looking for a big victory to stay relevant in the welterweight division.
Soto Karass has been boxing professionally since 2001 and has bounced between the junior middleweight division and the welterweight division during his career. He’s been in a bit of a funk in his most recent matches and has lost four of his last six bouts. Granted, his losses came against Marcos Maidana, Gabriel Rosado, and Mike Jones (x2) and he always puts on a good show for his fans, but there is little reason to believe that he will suddenly become a legitimate title contender over night.
His last two losses have come by stoppage and he has boxed over 261 rounds as a professional. It is likely that we have seen the best of Soto Karass. He has 17 KO/TKO’s on his record, but he has only had one stoppage victory since 2009.
His opponent Selcuk Aydin is coming off a tough decision loss to Robert Guerrero in July of 2012 for the WBC Welterweight title. It was his first defeat of his professional career and only his second bout in the United States.
He’ll be shorter and will have a smaller reach than Soto Karass, so it will be best for Aydin to avoid the jab and try to get in close to Soto Karass and unleash his power shots. 17 of his 23 victories have come by way of stoppage and 3 of his last 5 victories were stoppage victories.
Aydin does not have an impressive list of well known defeated opponents on his resume, the only solid opponents he has defeated are Ionut Dan Ion and Said Ouali. Aydin however looked decent against Guerrero in his last bout and will be looking to get back on the winning track after the only defeat of his career.
Aydin should be the victor on Saturday, but anything less than a stoppage victory over Soto Karass will not impress the American boxing audience.
Lucas Matthysse (32-2) vs. Michael Dallas Jr. (19-2-1); WBC Junior Welterweight Title
There are two things about Matthysse that most boxing fans love: he’s powerful and he’s active. This is an era of boxing where most champions only fight twice a year but Matthysse has fought three times in 2012 and three times in 2011 and opens up 2013 with a bout in January.
Matthysse has won four bouts in a row including a 10th round TKO over Aljose Olusegun to win the interim WBC Light Welterweight title. He does have two losses on his record, but many fans and boxing experts feel that he deserved the decision over Devon Alexander and Zab Judah.
Matthysse’s last five victories have ended in a stoppage. In fact, he hasn’t had a decision victory since 2008. He has an unbelievable knockout ratio of 30 KO/TKO’s in 32 bouts. He is clearly one of the best boxers in the junior welterweight division, and his opponent Michael Dallas Jr. will be a big underdog in Saturday’s main event.
However, Michael Dallas Jr. is not a pushover. He has a deep amateur background and had an amateur record of 115-12. He’s sparred with some of the best in the world including Manny Pacquiao.
He’s a technically sound boxer and he will also have a height advantage over Matthysse on Saturday night.
However, he will be at a big disadvantage in the power department. Only 8 of his 19 victories have come by stoppage. 2011 was a disappointing year of Dallas as he lost to Josesito Lopez by a 7th round KO and he lost a majority decision to Mauricio Herrera.
He’s won his last two fights over Miguel Gonzalez and Javier Castro, but he is taking a big step up in competition when he faces off against Matthysse.
This will likely be Dallas’ last chance to shine on the big stage, but it’s doubtful he’ll pull off the upset. Look for Matthysse to score another knockout victory and set up a potential match with Danny Garcia or a rematch with Zab Judah in his next bout.
