Losing to Pacquiao is no crime, as 59 of his victims can attest. The crime is the contempt some have for yesterday?s heroes?
?If there?s a good loser in boxing, I?d love to fight him every week.??Gene Fullmer
In his first defense of the WBA ?regular? welterweight title last week, Lucas Matthysse (39-5, 36 KOs), the heavy-handed battler from Trelew, Chubut, Argentina, was stopped by a resurgent Manny Pacquiao in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Praise for Pacquiao has been vociferous and deservedly so. By contrast Matthysse, who was tailor-made for the Pac Man, was dragged over the coals, not just for his limitations as a fighter, not just because he lost a big fight to a world-class fighter, but because, according to some, he quit in the midst of a vicious beating.
The fight was over long before he declined to climb off the canvas a third time. But he was a beaten man by the time the seventh round rolled around and everyone knew it at the time. But a quitter is a quitter and the cult of masculinity disavows quitters, even though those giving him the hardest time have never climbed through the ropes nor considered questioning the counterfactual narratives ballooning in their skulls.
Matthysse returned to Argentina bruised and battered but with his pride intact, which made the criticism he received, even from some of his countrymen, all the more disturbing.
?They say I [quit] and a lot of bullshit, nonsense,? said Matthysse according to BoxingScene. ?I know everything I did, and I know what kind of effort I made. But things did not work out.?
Matthysse hopes to be understood, but if he wants compassion he needs to find another sport.
?[The critics] are going to kill me,? he said. ?That?s how we Argentines are. You have to put up with everything people say, but I?m very proud of where I came from and I got the most out of what an Argentine boxer can aspire to achieve.?
Matthysse has had a great career. He?s been fighting pro for 14 years and came into the Pacquiao fight with only four losses, two of which were by split decision, and only one which came by knockout. Losing to Pacquiao is no crime, as 59 of his victims can attest. The crime is the contempt some have for yesterday?s heroes.
?You win some and you lose some,? Matthysse added. ?They give you criticism, but we Argentines are like that, what are you going to do? Right now I have to rest. I was away from home for a long time. I want to be with my daughter and my family, who are the ones who always welcome me with a hug.?
