I will be covering the Devon Alexander vs. Lucas Matthysse here in my hometown of Saint Louis, Mo on June 25th. Big fight for Alexander as he tries to get back on the national radar after an awful performance against Timothy Bradley earlier this year.
A win here and he is back in the mix of a loaded Junior Welterweight division, but a loss and I don’t think HBO will be coming back to STL any time soon.
Don King is promoting the fight and any time Don is in town it is a big event. Here are some quotes from King and Alexander.
Have you gotten over the disappointment of the loss to Bradley?
DEVON ALEXANDER: No one likes to lose. I was upset for about a couple weeks but my coach was talking to me and it wasn’t like it was the end of the world. It’s not like Bradley dominated the fight. It was something I didn’t do. I didn’t follow the game plan. There were things I was supposed to be doing in the ring to come out with the victory and Bradley didn’t do anything that we didn’t prepare for in camp. It was all me and I definitely learned from that. Now I am back and ready to rock and roll. I just put it behind me and now I am 110%.
DON KING: We have the biggest show that has ever been in Missouri with four world title fights plus Devon Alexander “The Great” and Lucas Matthysse so we need to make certain the people get what they pay for and get what we promise. This event means a lot to me because I am a promoter of the people for the people and this is an example of that and that’s why I am appreciative of Kevin Cunningham who has been working with me and in the St. Louis area in the great state of Missouri. I have been in touch with the Mayors of St. Charles and St. Louis and the President of the St. Louis Board of Alderman to make this a real happening. It is going to take people like Devon Alexander, Kevin Cunningham as well as Eric Gomez and Lucas Matthysse to make this happen. And we have one of St. Charles’ own in Ryan Coyne challenging Guillermo Jones for the cruiserweight championship of the world, along with the guy that beat Cory Spinks, Cornelius Bundrage—they call him K-9—who is taking on Sechew Powell defending his title for the first time. We have a super hero who fought there before in Tavoris Cloud, the Thunder Cloud who is going to be defending his title against Yusaf Mack. And we put Cory Spinks back on who is looking for redemption from the loss to K-9. I will be arriving in St. Louis tonight (Tuesday, June 14) to work throughout the night of the fight. It means a lot to me to be turning 80 and have a birthday present and you bring these young men together to give them an opportunity to get them into the eyes of the world and it makes me feel good and not do it with knives or guns but with physical prowess and with understanding and love in their heart. They are going to go after it and do each other in. It is a great feeling for me and God bless America and it’s the greatest country in the world.
Is Matthysse’s knockout power a concern?
DEVON ALEXANDER: Of course I will be concerned about whatever the other person’s strong trait is. We are prepared for that and ready to go 12 hard rounds. We know what we have in front of us and I am confident in my team that we have a strong game plan.
KEVIN CUNNINGHAM: I call him Lucas ‘The Beast’ Matthysse. I think he’s a beast and he’s got the highest knockout percentage in the division and that makes him the biggest puncher in the division. We know exactly the challenge we have in front of us and this is exactly what we want. This fight is a lot more dangerous than the Tim Bradley fight. Devon has to be on his game. He is prepared and he has to be focused. These are the type of fights that if you want to claim you are the best in your division these are the types of fights you need to take on. A lot of guys think Maidana is the toughest guy in the division and I think it is Matthysse. He has a better punching style and better boxing skills. He is the most dangerous guy in the division and that’s what we are going to be dealing with n the 25th.