ATLANTIC CITY ? One of the more striking images that resulted from Saturday’s fight between Lucas Matthysse and Lamont Peterson wasn’t the thudding left hook that Matthysse landed repeatedly against Peterson. It was the look of utter amazement? some might even say horror ? that seemed to register on the face of Danny Garcia, the likely opponent for Matthysse in the fall after Matthysse’s third round destruction of the highly regarded Peterson at Boardwalk Hall.
Once Matthysse dispatched of Peterson at 2:14 of the third round, Garcia, who was in attendance, was shown on the overhead monitor with a subdued expression that revealed little or a lot, depending on one’s perspective and viewpoint of Garcia, a rising star in the sport with heavy hands.
Ken Goldfield/(Ken Goldfield for Ny Daily News Danny Garcia will likely be Lucas Matthysse?s next opponent.
Garcia, a junior welterweight champion from Philly, will probably meet Matthysse on Sept. 7 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., in a battle of knockout artists, according to Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, who promotes both fighters. Garcia didn’t hang around for the post-fight press conference but that didn’t stop Matthysse (34-2, 32 knockouts) from sizing up his next expected opponent.
“I’m hopeful that the fight happens in September,” Matthysse said through a translator. “But I see that he’s a slow fighter and he’s wide open and I know I’ll win that fight as well.”
Al Bello/Getty Images Manny Pacquiao loses his last two bouts, most recently to Juan Manuel Marquez (l.) in December and, before that, Timothy Bradley on June 9, 2012.
Such pretentious statements are usually met with a roll of the eyes from those in attendance but no one seemed skeptical after Matthysse said it. With Garcia absent from the presser and his usually active Twitter account quiet in the hours after the fight, Schaefer spoke up for Garcia, who narrowly got by Zab Judah on April 27. Matthysse lost a split decision to Judah in 2010.
“You can’t underestimate Danny Garcia,” Schaefer said. “That’s the fight that I want to do and I’m going to work very hard to make sure it happens and that’s the kind of event that we want to put on and I know Lucas is ready.”
Al Bello/Getty Images Lucas Matthysse sends Lamont Peterson to the canvas in the third round.
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Schaefer said he will sit down with the ubiquitous Al Haymon, who manages both Matthysse and Garcia, next week to finalize the details of the bout, which could have taken place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn if not for the venue being booked on that date, he said.
Al Bello/Getty Images Lucas Matthysse lands a right hand against Lamont Peterson in the third round in a welterweight bought at Boardwalk Hall Arena Saturday night.
Matthysse’s performance against Peterson in a non-title fight at 141 pounds was so one-sided, it had Schaefer suggesting that a new era in boxing was upon us, one in which Matthysse with his 32 knockouts in 34 fights is a “new Pacquiao,” or a fighter who can transfix audiences with his punching power in the same manner as Pacquiao. But Matthysse had a different take on being compared to Pacquiao, who from 2008-2009 had a string of impressive stoppages against top fighters.
“I feel very happy that people are comparing me to Manny Pacquiao,” Matthysse said. “But what I really want to do is fight him.”
Moments later, Peterson entered the post-fight presser to a round of applause, Matthysse included. Peterson admitted to veering off the game plan to box Matthysse. He was knocked down three times before the bout was stopped.
“The game plan was to keep boxing,” Peterson said. “Sometime in the second round he hit me in the back of the head and I got a little upset, started getting a little more reckless, wanting to bang. I could feel the fight heating up, so you know me. I just love to fight and kind of went off the game plan a little bit and I paid for it.”
Peterson was asked if Matthysse was a good puncher and Peterson (31-2-1, 16 knockouts) said that he was. It was a question that didn’t have to be asked. Everyone who watched the fight on Saturday could see that Matthysse could bang, Danny Garcia included.
