Staff Picks – Garcia vs. Matthysse Predictions:
This Saturday’s Danny Garcia vs. Lucas Matthysse fight may be on the undercard of the Mayweather-Canelo clash, but ask most diehard fight fans and this is the bout they’re actually looking forward to the most. It’s a fantastic pairing of the top two fighters in their division, an undefeated champion against an explosive force.
So, will Swift be too skilled, or will the Machine be too strong? Take a look at our Garcia vs. Matthysse predictions round-up from the ProBoxing-Fans.com staff.
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Jake Emen: Danny Garcia is the type of fighter who seems to find a way to win. And it concerns me that Matthysse wasn’t able to cleanly defeat Zab Judah or Devon Alexander. While I do believe he deserved the win against Alexander, watching the Judah fight from ringside it was clear that Matthysse simply didn’t do enough until late in the bout to get the nod, even if Judah was hurt late.
Still, Matthysse has taken enormous strides since then, and has developed a much more complete and well-rounded game. Once he has connected with a few crunching shots, Garcia will be lured into a war, and it’s a war he won’t be able to win. The Machine, one of the sport’s hardest hitters, gets it done by the middle rounds.
Prediction: Matthysse by 8th Round TKO
Scott Levinson: Matthysse seems to be getting better and maybe Garcia is flattening out a bit. That might be an over-generalization and their opponents have something to do with that, too. I can picture Garcia doing his thing, but at some point, the power of Matthysse will surface. It’s not that undependable kind of power, where the stars have to line up for it to happen. The power Matthysse has is just an organic part of his game, something that manifests during the normal course of a boxing match.
Matthysse is favored, but perhaps by too much at -265. I see it more as a 55-45 proposition in Matthysse’s favor. Garcia might be more complete. In addition, perhaps I’m putting too much stock in the punching power of Matthysse–the most visible, and often overstated, trait a fighter can carry with him into the ring. I still see Matthysse getting him out of there in the late rounds.
Prediction: Matthysse by 10th Round TKO
Rich Thomas: I’m a fan of Matthysse, and think of the Argentine as a world class, technically-sound puncher. Yet I’m not blind to the fact that when Matthysse gets matched against world class boxers or boxer-punchers, he gets the short end of the stick. It’s always close, and some say “The Machine” deserved the nod, but the fact is he never got it against Zab Judah and Devon Alexander, and who knows what might have happened had Lamont Peterson gone to the cards. Matthysse is on a roll, but so is Danny Garcia, and Garcia is better than any of those guys. I see another squeaker, and I don’t see Matthysse winning it.
Prediction: Garcia by Decision
Matt Andrzejewski: Many people think that Matthysse-Garcia is a classic matchup of boxer versus puncher, and assume Matthysse is just a big puncher and will one day get exposed by a good boxer. However, Matthysse is much more than a big puncher. He is, in fact, a very good boxer. Matthysse works behind a very effective jab and sets up combinations to the head and body. He also uses subtle movement to create angles to effectively land power shots.
I don’t think Garcia is as skilled a boxer as some make him out to be and see Matthysse finding a way to land powerful combinations that eventually spell the end for Garcia. Garcia shows plenty of heart but after multiple knockdowns ends up getting stopped in the fourth.
Prediction: Matthysse by 4th Round KO
Blair Newman: I can’t remember the last time I was as excited for a fight as I am for this one. Both have looked good in recent fights and appear hungry to establish themselves as number 1 in the division. The winner here will clearly hold that position. Both seem to encounter much greater difficulty when up against slick opponents, but neither will be hiding anything in this one. What that should make for is an explosive encounter, one in which both men could potentially hit the deck. Whoever can hold up to the most punishment will emerge victorious. I fancy that to be Matthysse. The Argentine has never appeared truly fazed in the ring, like Garcia was up until the knockout punch when facing Amir Khan, or in certain stages of his fight with Zab Judah. I expect a bruised and bloodied Garcia to be saved by his corner at around the 10th.
Prediction: Matthysse by 10th Round TKO
Doug Crego: The probable outcome of the Garcia vs. Lucas fight is not one that I languished over for long. To me, there is a classic boxing advantage for Matthysse. It’s not to say that Matthysse is that much “better” than Garcia, it is simply that he is not a good matchup for him. The classic advantage that I see for Matthysse is punching angles. Very simply, Garcia will hang in the pocket a bit and his power punches are often at wider angles. Matthysse likes to time his opponents and his power shots are in-close and short or right down the pipe. Advantage, Matthysse.
As Garcia engages in front of Matthysse and throws the longer, wider hooks and crosses, he will open himself up to the Matthysse attack. Lucas is good enough defensively and patient and poised enough to handle whatever Danny throws at him early, while he builds his attack. I think Lucas takes a couple of rounds to get his timing down, but eventually gets it and tags Garcia.
Prediction: Matthysse by 6th Round KO
Final Garcia vs. Matthysse Predictions Tally:
- Garcia: 1 (By Unanimous Decision)
- Matthysse: 5 (All by stoppage)
On the whole, we’re expecting Matthysse’s machine to keep on rolling here. But you can’t count out an undefeated champion, and perhaps being the underdog is just what Garcia needed to give him that extra edge.
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