Matthysse eyes Mayweather, sense Garcia's camp is worried

As Lucas Matthysse prepares for the biggest fight of his career, two things are evident; The Argentine means business and has his eyes set on a potential showdown with Floyd Mayweather.

Before Mayweather takes on Saul Alvarez on Saturday, The Machine is set to take on undefeated Danny Garcia in the co-main event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

"The One" is expected to surpass two million pay-per-view buys and will showcase Matthysse on the biggest stage of his career.

"After finally getting this fight with Danny I have become more recognized," Matthysse said thorugh his translator. "This fight will be for me, but it will also be for my team and for Argentina. I feel real good, I feel strong, we've been working really hard."

Matthysse is on the cusp of becoming a houshold name, he has a style that pleases the crowd, not to mention he rarely loses. Matthysse (34-2, 32 knockouts) last tasted defeat in a split decision loss to Devon Alexander two years ago. The only other blemish on the 30-year-old's record is a split decision loss to Zab Judah. Both decisions are controversial, but Matthysse said he has taken those defeats as learning experiences.

Matthysse has been training at the Boys and Girls Club of Coachella Valley, the same gym that produced WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley. Matthysse said he decided to come to California's desert in order to adjust to the climate.

The two fighters, currently under rival promotion banners, recently sparred in preperation for their upcomming bouts .

"It was good sparring with Bradley, it was real good," Matthysse said. "Sparring with Bradley has helped me, but it was mutual, we both helped each other."

Matthysse praised Bradley's speed and experience and feels he's helped him prepare for his October showdown with Juan Manuel Marquez. Bradley's trainer Joell Diaz agreed with the Argentine, and said they were both out to help each other and not out to hurt each other.

A win against Garcia (26-0, 16 KOs) will not just help the Matthysse brand, but will also set him up for a potential clash with Mayweather.

"I look to move up to 147. I would like to fight (Mayweather), I feel I match up pretty good against him," Matthysse said.

Although he would like to face the pound-for-pound king, Matthysse said he is certainly not looking passed Garcia. Matthysse looks to stick to his plan to defeat Garcia and will not pay much attention to Angel Garcia's crazy antics. Matthysse feels all the talking from the Garcia camp shows that they are worried.

- Jose

The Emergence of Canelo Alvarez

It's been awhile. I know my last blog I promised to continue to say active. Well, things have changed drastically for me since my "All-Star Selection" post. I'm a full-time reporter for the Daily Press now but it has nothing to do with writing about sports, but I'm not stopping until I am a sports writer one day.

Let's cut the crap and get into what's been on my mind for weeks. I wanted to write about this last week but  didn't have the time. Here I am with an hour to spare so I can write and let the world know just how badass Saul "Canelo" Alvarez really is.

Alvarez is coming off a dominating and easy win over Austin Trout on April 20. Heading into the fight I expected it to be slugfest. I expected Alvarez to possibly even stop Trout. But what happened was a more technical fight with Alvarez not allowing Trout to fight as the "taller" fighter. Trout was kept in check after the first round when Alvarez was getting a feel for what Trout was doing. Trout was dictating the fight in the first round by staying active and keeping his distance with the jab. 

After the first round I anticipated a Trout victory just as he was successful against Miguel Angel Cotto back in December. I didn't expect Alvarez to adjust and become a more sound fighter that night. He was brawling but he was smart about it this time. He may have got tagged by a few of Trout's punches, but Alvarez has a chin that can withstand the blow of a sledgehammer from Triple H.

Alvarez showed his ability to counter Trout and surprisingly beat him to the punch throughout the fight. He was landing solid and effective 1-2 combinations. None better than the left-right combo that floored Trout in the opening seconds of the seventh round.

The right looked as if it was shot out of a Colt-45 landing making Trout do the hammerdance, similar to what Kostya Tszyu made Zab Judah do back in 2001. Trout got up valiantly and came back and won the round in my opinion. I'm not sure what the judges scored the round because frankly, I don't give a shit about any judge's scorecards. I can make a whole blog entry on what the sport of Boxing can do to improve the scoring system. Judges should come with an expiration date. There should be a new wave of judges every so often. But like I said, I can write a complete blog about that, but ain't nobody got time fo dat.

Back to Alvarez, he was a bit disappointing as he couldn't KO Trout. But to Alvarez' credit Trout is no slouch nor is he not a walk in to the park. He certainly lacks power but his unorthodox approach to a fight will keep Trout around for a long time. Not to mention he has a size advantage over most Junior Middleweights/Super Welterweights.

Alvarez was impressive in the ninth round when he seemed to tire down. He dropped his hands and bobbed and weave everything but the kitchen sink that Trout threw in the final 24 seconds of the round. Alvarez toyed with Trout then threw another successful combo that made the pugilist laugh after connecting on his foe.

The open scoring system that the Texas state commission uses, took away from the drama of the "championship rounds". Trout knew he needed to score a knockdown to win, and Alvarez knew he just had to finish the fight on his feet. Would we have had a different outcome if the fight took place on it's original May 4 date on the Floyd Mayweather/Robert Guerrero undercard  If the fight took place in Nevada would Alvarez have turned on the burners in the "championship rounds" and stopped Trout via knockout? We don't know!

All the hell I know is, I'm tired of seeing fights take place in Texas. If it's not one thing with them, it's another. The most notable occurrence was back in 09 when Paulie Malignaggi went into the Juan Diaz' hometown and outclassed him only to be screwed the judges who gave the victory to Diaz. Malignaggi would have the last laugh when the rematch took place in Chicago and Maligaggi breezed to a W.

I'm sick of seeing prizefights in Texas, If there is a fight that will take place on Texas, make sure it's a fight that will end up on ESPN Friday Night Fights or Fox Sports Net. Prizefights should be held in Nevada, New York or California. Connecticut has become a nice spot for fights recently, as Atlantic City seems to have become an obsolete destination for prizefights these days.

We saw some more hometown judging in Argentina ;last weekend, when Sergio Martinez successfully defended his Middleweight crown against Martin Murray via unanimous decision. The fight was immensely boring. Martinez looks like a shell of what he used to be and has drastically lost a step. Martinez wasn't effective, Murray started connecting shot after shot as Martinez fought with his hands down, in typical Martinez fashion. Martinez was dropped and if Murray had a bit more of a true Middleweight's power, he would have probably upset the hometown favorite. He suffered a broken hand in the fight and will be out of action for the rest of the year. An anticipated rematch with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is put on the shelf for now as we wait and see what the future has in store for Maravilla.

Amir Khan made a return to the UK against Julio Diaz and just like the hometown Martinez, was dropped in the middle rounds of the fight. Khan was clearly the better man but Diaz was tagging khan all night even wobbling Khan a few other times. Khan was in trouble but managed to withstand Diaz' punishment. Khan still looked lightning fast and solid with his combos, but the man has a chin made of china. Khan's hopes of jumping up to 147 pounds will be short lived as I don't see him withstanding the power of a Welterweight. Golden Boy could have had an easy route to a 147 title for Khan if they would have matched him up with Malignaggi, who currently holds the Welterweight WBA strap. But Malignaggi has his eyes set on Adrien Broner in June.

Judah made his hometown return to Brooklyn also Saturday night against Danny Garcia. The build up to the fight was superb, it had the bad blood we saw with Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis or Oscar De La Hoya and Fernando Vargas. These guys hated each other. Mostly it was Danny's father Angel who was the recipient of Judah's verbal lashes. Their initial press conference resulted in a brawl after the outspoken Angel insulted Judah. The fight was postponed after Garcia suffered an injury and was rescheduled for April. During a meet and greet, Judah bombarded the Garcia's event and caused a huge scene. The verbal exchanges led to the Garcia camp being escorted to the back of the store as Judah's camp taunted them chanting "Brooklyn, Brooklyn". The press conference was split, as Judah's camp was forced to sit "in the basement" waiting for Garcia to wrap up his media session. Judah apparently left the building in displeasure on to return and bad mouth Golden Boy Promotions, most notably De La Hoya. The tension was so high, a split weigh in was "necessary" to ensure the fighters would settle all their differences in the ring.

Garcia won the fight, but not without the resiliency of Judah. It was a beating up until the ninth round when Judah stepped on the gas and put forth a heroic finish. Garcia floored Judah and had him in trouble, but Judah managed to stay on his feet. Judah stunned and caught Garcia with power shots that wobbled him. It looked to be snooze fest of a fight but the drama in the final rounds tied in the the drama leading to the fight made it the most entertaining fight of the night. In a show of respect the fighters embraced one another and all the differences were out behind them as the post fight interviews took place. Garcia's future is bright, but I feel if he takes on the winner of the Lamont Peterson/Lucas Matthysse fight, he will be exposed as he was in the final rounds against Judah. I'm not sure what the future has in store for Judah, possibly more undercard bouts at the Barclays as he is an attraction and easy name to sell in his hometown.

- Jose

2013 NBA All Star Reserves

The 2012-2013 NBA All Star reserves will be announced today, since we here at the SoCalSportsGuys haven't blogged about anything since Juan Manuel Marquez' brutal knockout victory over arch nemesis Manny Pacquiao, I will make a case for whom I think should make the cut. Let's get to the nitty gritty.

Western Conference

Russell Westbrook - I haven't been much of a fan of WestBRICK as a point guard, but this season he has been as good a facilitator than he has ever been. Alot of it has to do with the fact he has Kevin Durant nailing nearly every shot he attempts this season. Kidding aside, Westbrook is the most physical PG in the game because of his size advantage and cut throat approach to the game. Westbrook is averaging 22.7 points per game, 8.1 assists and 5.3 rebounds. Westbrook is a sure lock to make the cut, but I needed to say something about him.

Tony Parker - The suave but gritty Frenchman is doing nothing out of the ordinary, just posting a typical Tony Parker season. He still gets to the basket with, almost seemingly scoring at ease in Coach Pops' system. TP averages just under 20 PPG at 19.8, 7.4 AST and 2.9 REB in just under 33 minutes per game. Another sure lock for the ASG, Parker will have fun competing in the Skills Challenge and possibly lobbing up a few passes for Blake Griffin.

Stephen Curry - Steph Curry has been a warrior (no pun intended) from beyond the arc all season long shooting a lights out 46 percent. Coming off a game where he bested his counterpart and ASG lock Westbrook, Curry further justified his bid to make the team with 31 pts, 7 ast, 4 steals and 3 boards. Curry is averaging 20.9 ppg, 6.6 ast, 4.1 reb and a whooping 3.2 three pointers made per game. If Curry is snubbed from a trip to Houston, David Lee better represent the Golden State.



James Harden - Another fill in, don't believe me check his stat line. 25.8 ppg, 5.4 ast, 4.5 reb and 1.9 steals. Need I say more? Thanks.

David Lee - D.Lee has been my favorite player to watch for some odd reason since his days in New York playing along Danilo Galinari another favorite player of mine to watch. I have driven my Facebook friends and Twitter followers crazy with my banter of Lee being a top-3 power forward, and the big fella has done nothing but back up every statement I have made of him. A few weeks ago, he was the only player in the league averaging over 20 ppg and 10 boards a night. His scoring has dropped to 19.6 ppg but he still grabs 10.8 boards a night. Add that along with a finesse you only see in European players, a soft touch makes him a triple double waiting to happen every night, averaging 3.7 ast a game. Lee's play is one of the biggest reasons the Warriors are in second place in the Pacific Division. They don't have the best record in the league, but they have three statement wins over the Clippers, a season tempo win over the Thunder and a victory of the defending champions, the Heat. Lee may get snubbed this season for the likes of a Zach Randolph or LaMarcus Aldridge and if that happens, I'm boycotting the all star game. I promise.

Tim Duncan - Old Faithful! Duncan is still amazing posting some of the best numbers of his career at the age of 36. He still has the sweetest touch, still has flawless footwork, still kisses the ball off the glass prettier than anyone I've ever seen do it. 17.5 ppg, 9.8 reb, 2.8 ast and 2.7 blocks per game. The old man can't run up and down the court like he used to but he will still block the living day light out of the ball if you drive the lane on him and your name isn't Blake Griffin. Duncan should be the starting center alone based of his numbers, but unfortunately this is just a popularity contest, just ask Jeremy Lin.

I glance at my clock and I realize it is 4 p.m. and the reserves are minutes away from being announced, I wish I had time to get into why I think Marc Gasol should make the squad and the Eastern Conference, but time wasn't on my side this time. I will try to write my reaction to the rosters in the coming days, but until then, be easy y'all.

- Jose