LOS ANGELES (July 18, 2013) – Mayweather Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo Promotions officially announced today that Undisputed Super Lightweight World Champion Danny “Swift” Garcia and WBC Interim Super Lightweight World Champion Lucas “The Machine” Matthysse will meet in a decisive bout which will anchor the undercard of the biggest boxing event in years, “THE ONE: Mayweather vs. Canelo” on Saturday, Sept. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, live on SHOWTIME PPV®.
If Mayweather vs. Canelo is “THE ONE” fight for boxing fans worldwide, then the highly anticipated Garcia vs. Matthysse is “THE ONE-A.” Garcia, the undefeated WBC, WBA Super and The Ring Magazine World Champion, has emerged as the division’s dominant force over the last 18 months by dismantling world champions Amir Kahn, Zab Judah and Mexican legend Erik Morales twice. Matthysse burst on to the world stage in May by seizing the scoring an electrifying knockout of highly skilled World Champion Lamont Peterson. The third-round knockout of Peterson put the world on notice that Matthysse’s power was to be feared and that The Machine was rising to the division’s top spot.
Now, the fight that has been called potentially “mind blowing” (Yahoo! Sports), could steal the show of a mega-event headlined by the world’s pound-for-pound king, Mayweather, and a young fighter who many have tapped as boxing’s next global star, Canelo.
“This is the fight I wanted and the fight that I asked for. That is why I’m so happy this fight has been made and will be a part of this huge event,” said Danny Garcia. “I’m more confident than ever in my abilities and I’m going to show it on September 14. Matthysse is a good fighter and has a big punch, but I’m a talented fighter with what it takes to be a champion and stay that way. This is an opportunity for the world to see what I can really do in the ring.”
“I’m glad I finally get a chance to fight Danny Garcia,” said Lucas Matthysse. “This is the fight that the entire boxing world (especially my country Argentina) and I wanted. I want to thank my promoters Golden Boy Promotions and Mario Arano for making this fight possible. On September 14, I will show the world that I am the best 140 pound fighter on the planet.”
“Floyd was adamant about giving fans what they wanted to see when he chose Canelo Alvarez as his opponent for his September 14 fight,” said Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions. “We’re thrilled that Garcia vs. Matthysse has been added to the card, and that fans will be getting even more boxing at its best.”
“The compelling match-up between Garcia and Matthysse could absolutely be its own main event,” said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions. “We’ve added another fight that fans have been clamoring for to an already stellar night of boxing. With the addition of this mega fight we are certain that “THE ONE” will continue to break boxing records.”
“Boxing is at its finest when the best step up to fight the best, and this is what we have with Mayweather and Canelo and now Garcia and Matthysse,” said President of Golden Boy PromotionsOscar De La Hoya. “September 14 will be one of the most memorable nights of boxing we have been treated to in a long time.”
“Garcia vs. Matthysse is a fight fan’s dream matchup,” said Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President and General Manager, SHOWTIME Sports®. “It is a main event-quality fight by itself. To add it to what is already the biggest pay-per-view main event in years, makes the September 14 event the best PPV card in recent memory.”
Garcia (26-0, 20 KO’s) is a popular and crowd-pleasing fighter in the prime of his career. In his last start, the 25-year-old boxer-puncher registered one knockdown en route to successfully defending his 140-pound titles with a clear, hard-fought unanimous decision win over former Four-Time World Champion Judah on April 27 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The victory over Judah continued Garcia’s streak of sensational performances against high-profile opposition that began a year earlier when he defeated the legendary Morales the first time via a unanimous decision to capture the WBC world title. The following July, Garcia shocked Khan and the boxing world with a stunning fourth-round technical knockout of the British superstar to add the WBA Super and Ring Magazine World Championships to his collection. On Oct. 20, 2012, Garcia knocked Morales out with a hellacious left hook in the fourth round of their rematch. A 2008 U.S. Olympic Team alternate, Garcia is a physically strong, durable and determined young fighter who is poised and patient in the ring who has fought current or past world champions in his last six fights: Judah, Khan, Morales twice, Kendall Holt and Nate Campbell.
The demand for Garcia vs. Matthysse began immediately after Matthysse brutally knocked out Peterson, dropping him three times, this past May 18 in Atlantic City, N.J.
Matthysse (34-2, 32 KO’s), who is rated No. 1 at 140 lbs. by The RING Magazine, has scored a staggering 94 percent of his wins by knockout, one of the highest KO percentages for a world champion in history. The 30-year-old hails from Trelew, Argentina and has won six fights in a row by knockout. In his last nine fights, he has fought five world champions defeating Peterson (TKO 3), Humberto Soto (TKO 5) and DeMarcus Corley (TKO 8) and losing extremely close, questionable 10-round split decisions against Devon Alexander and Judah in his opponents’ home towns. Many observers think he deserved to win both of those fights. Matthysse, who constantly pressures his opponents and wears them down, was also a solid amateur boxer in his native Argentina.
“THE ONE: MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO,” a 12-round fight for Canelo’s WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine Super Welterweight World Championships and Mayweather’s WBA Super Welterweight Super World Championship taking place Saturday, Sept. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, is promoted by Mayweather Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo Promotions and sponsored by Corona, O’Reilly Auto Parts and Valvoline. The Garcia vs. Matthysse fight is being promoted in association with Swift Promotions and Arano Box Promotions. The mega-event will be produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. The event can be heard in Spanish using secondary audio programming (SAP).
Less than 24 hours after going on sale in June, the event was sold out, but six MGM Resorts properties will host live closed circuit telecasts of “THE ONE.” Properties showcasing the event include ARIA, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage, Monte Carlo and New York-New York. General admission tickets for the closed circuit telecasts are priced at $100, not including handling fees, and are available for purchase at each individual property’s box office outlets and also are available for purchase by phone with a major credit card at 866-799-7711. Closed circuit ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. Tickets also are available through Ticketmaster by calling (800) 745-3000 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.