Lucas Matthysse vs John Molina - 10 year anniversary

He took a lot of shots in all of those fights. He also had other though fights.
And the losses to Judah and Alexander were mentally draining too. I think he got the fight beaten out of him mentally more so than physically. I actually think he was physically just fine. He had slowed down slightly because he was no longer in his 20s but he still had the pop and could take Provodnikovs punches.

Matthysse arguably got robbed by Judah. Then he gets robbed by Alexander. OK, he regroups and goes on a tear. Now he is at the peak of his division and fights on the years biggest card. He is the favorite to beat Garcia. Biggest fight of his career and he is just inches shy of becoming a world champion. This is the moment he dreamt of.
And it all goes to ****. He starts strong but then gets his eye closed. Ends up being knocked down and looses the fight.

7 months later he is back. Molina is supposed to be just a stepping stone towards rebuilding himself. Nope, it´s a fight of the year contender. Molina stuns him several times and even scores two knockdowns. You can be damn certain Matthysse felt it the day after.
Now it´s on to Provodnikov. Matthysse is no longer the seek and destroy guy he had been all his career. He is boxing and trying to use his jab as much as possible. In fact, he looks uneasy every time Provodnikov lands something big or even attempts to.

 

Wow. Time flies.

 

One of my all time favorite fights! Very competitive but Lucas made his level show and rightfully took Molina out.

Props to John for putting up a great fight, but I remember laughing at the final knock down where Johns head touches the ground, there looks like there’s actual chunks of blood on the mat but John still complains about the fight being stopped.

The whole card was fire! HEAVY HITTERS!

 

Lucas was a favorite of mine. I was crushed when Danny beat him. The Molina fight was the beginning of a downhill slide for Lucas. A great fight that had me on the edge of my couch, and I won great respect for Molina.

 

Provo gets overrated. He was outboxed by John Molina.

 

Lucas was fighting Garcia and the ref that night while being blinded in one eye. Still made it a thrilling and competitive affair. Definitely a very hard done by fighter.

 

It was the only time he was clearly beaten and by a stretch. Every other loss was a razor close one and some were debatable. And then he retired. Because he was physically spent.

Dude went from one war to another, so it´s no wonder it caught up with him. Hell, he was even aware of it himself.