Co-feature on Ortiz vs Lopez fight card has Humberto Soto going for his 60th win
“More important than win #60, is regaining one of these shiny World Championship belts” so says 32 year-old Humberto Soto who resides across the border in Tijuana, B. C., Mexico.
Former three-time World Champion Humberto “La Zorrita” (The Crafty Little Fox) Soto is out to join a rare breed when he goes for win number 60 against the ever dangerous and hard-hitting Lucas Martin Matthysse in a battle of world-ranked super lightweights in the co-feature, Saturday, June 23 live on Showtime Championship Boxing (9 p.m. ET/PT) from Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA.
Soto (59-7-2, 34 KO’s) of Tijuana, B. C. by way of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, will be battling Matthysse (30-2-0, 28 KOs) of Junín, Buenos Aires, Argentina, for the vacant WBC Continental Americas super lightweight title and look to extend his current 15-fight winning streak. He’ll also look to push himself higher in the world ratings where he is already rated number two by the WBC, number three by the WBA and number seven by the WBO.
Matthysse, who scored nine knockdowns in his fight against former World Champion DeMarcus Corley, has won his last two fights and will be making his fifth start in the United States. His only losses came via controversial split decision losses to former World Champions Devon Alexander and Zab Judah in a pair of fights that many observers felt Matthysse won. A native of Trelew , Argentina, Matthysse is rated number four in the world by the WBC, number six by the WBA and number eleven by the WBO.
If triumphant, Soto at 32 years of age, will join a handful of active fighters with 60 or more wins, including James Toney, Jorge Arce, Jose Luis Castillo, Luis Ramon “Yori Boy” Campos and Pongsaklek Wonjongkam.
Their 12-round fight will immediately precede what should be an exciting 12-round main event between former World Champion, Kansas native Victor Ortiz (29-3-2, 22 KO’s) who now resides in Ventura, CA, and another local hero Josesito Lopez (29-4, 17 KO’s) of Riverside, CA.
“Winning 60 fights would be great, but winning another world title is what I really want,’’ said Soto who turned professional at 17 years old in September of 1997. “I’ve always worked very hard in training trying to learn different things. I’ve been dedicated in the gym. Matthysse is a great fighter with a very respectful power punch. I’m going to fight an intelligent fight, follow my corner’s instructions and go in there to outbox him and be the smarter fighter.”
A terrific counter-puncher with exceptional overall skills and movement, this crowd-pleasing 5-foot-7½-inch dynamo has fought excellent opposition throughout his career, including former World Champions David Diaz, Jesus Chavez, Joan Guzman, Jorge Solis and Kevin Kelley.
Soto captured the WBC super featherweight title in December 2008 and made three successful defenses. He then captured the WBC Lightweight title in March 2010 and successfully defended this title four times.
One of his most memorable title defenses came in a close, unanimous 12-round decision win over the determined Urbano Antillon in a spectacular, fast-paced, give-and-take slugfest on Dec. 4, 2010 in Anaheim, CA.
“Without a doubt that was the toughest fight of my career,’’ said Soto. “There were a lot of rough tactics used by him. But I expected that, which is why I never became frustrated.”
The mention of rough tactics is an understatement. Antillon threw Soto to the canvas three times and had a point deducted for low blows in round five.
Four of Soto’s defeats and both of his draws came during his first three years as a professional. His last loss came via a controversial fourth-round disqualification in June 2008. In round four, Soto, well ahead on the scorecards, dropped Francisco Lorenzo twice. However, just after the second knockdown, Soto clipped Lorenzo after he took a knee. With blood streaming from his face, Lorenzo stayed put on the deck. The referee, Joe Cortez, spent several minutes consulting with other officials before deciding to disqualify Soto.
Soto is now coming off of an unanimous 10-round decision over Claudinei Lacerda on April 7th in Cancun, Mexico.
Lucas Matthysee is a heavy-hitter with power in both hands.
Matthysse, a solid amateur before turning pro in June 2004, is looking to turn what Soto hopes will be a boxing match into a brawl. The Argentine, who is well known for his thudding power, would be undefeated if only he’d received the benefit of the doubt in two very controversial and questionable points losses to Judah and Alexander in which he knocked both of them down.
The younger brother of retired welterweight world title challenger Walter Matthysse, Lucas is coming off two knockout wins in his native Argentina. In his lone outing this year, he scored a dominant sixth-round technical knockout win over Angel Martinez on Feb. 10. Prior to that, the 5-foot-9, 29-year-old knocked out Sergio Priotti in the fourth round on December 9, 2011.
Before that, Matthysse fought three left-handed former world champions in a row – Judah on November 6, 2010, Corley on January 21, 2011 and Alexander on June 25, 2011.
This two-fisted slugger tends to start slowly. He spotted Alexander an early lead and then rallied to drop him with a right hand in the fourth. He rocked Alexander in the seventh, eighth and tenth rounds, but it wasn’t enough as he lost by a point on one of the scorecards (95-94), by three on another (96-93) while winning by three (96-93) on the third card.
The aggressive Matthysse obliterated Corley in a fight in Argentina, flooring him twice in the fifth round, once in the sixth, three times in the seventh and three times in the eighth. The referee finally halted the slaughter at 2:00 of the eighth.
Against Judah, Matthysse also overcame an early deficit before coming on strong in the late rounds to register a knockdown in the 10th round and dominating the 11th and 12th stanzas. However, he came up on the wrong end of a split decision by the scores of 114-113 twice and 113-114.
Regarding his upcoming assignment against Soto, Matthysse, a tattoo artist in his spare time, said, “It’s very simple, I need to go to war. I need to put a lot of pressure on him and I need to work hard and win every round. That’s the game plan – go to war. I’m going to leave it all in the ring.”
Tickets are priced at $250, $150, $100 and $50 and are available online at www.staplescenter.com, www.ticketmaster.com, via Ticketmaster charge-by-phone lines at (800) 745-3000 or at the Staples Center box office.
