Lucas Matthysse vs. Viktor Postol set for October on HBO

Argentinean knockout machine Lucas Matthysse has already handed two promising contenders -- Roberto Ortiz and Ajose Olusegun -- their first professional loss. On Oct. 3 in the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif., he hopes to add a third to his resume when he locks horns with Ukrainian boxer-puncher Viktor Postol.

The Matthysse-Postol duel will be for the vacant WBC super lightweight championship and will anchor an HBO Boxing After Dark card, the network announced Thursday. The event will begin its telecast at 10:15 p.m. ET/7:15 p.m. PT.

Matthysse is regarded as one of the best fighters in the world regardless of weight class. Though he has yet to capture a legitimate world title, “La Maquina” has taken on a litany of world-rated opponents throughout his career. Notable wins on his ledger include Vivian Harris (TKO4), DeMarcus Corley (TKO8), Humberto Soto (TKO end 5), Lamont Peterson (TKO3), John Molina Jr. (KO11) and most recently Ruslan Provodnikov (W12). Scattered around those wins were two highly-disputed split decision losses to Zab Judah and Devon Alexander. The only convincing defeat Matthysse has suffered in his career thus far was a unanimous decision loss to unbeaten pound-for-pound entrant Danny Garcia almost two years ago, which was for the WBC and WBA 140-pound titles.

Matthysse has won three straight since the Garcia loss and will get a second chance at a world title when he climbs through the ropes to take on Postol. Matthysse (37-3, 34 KOs) said he doesn’t seem overly impressed with Postol, though he promised that he isn’t looking past him.

“Postol isn’t anything big; he boxes well but that’s it,” Matthysse said in a statement. “I saw part of his fight against Selcuk Aydin but other than that there aren’t very many videos of him on the Internet. I’m not taking him lightly though, because he’s at the top of the rankings for a reason.

“Postol is tall like John Molina, but Molina came to fight,” Matthyysse continued. “Postol, I don’t think so. He moves to his left very well, fights at a distance, seems fast on his feet and has excellent head movement. Against Aydin he got off to a slow start but then dominated and got the knockout. He’s good, but I’m confident that I’ll be the WBC world champion.”

Postol isn’t well known in the States even though he’s taken on quality foes throughout his career. Most of his fights have been in his native country, but he has wins over the likes of Corley (W12), Aydin (KO11) and Henry Lundy (W12). Postol (27-0, 11 KOs) has dominated virtually every man he’s faced and he feels as though the time has finally come for him to capture what he’s been chasing his whole life.

“I am glad that I am finally getting my chance to fight for the WBC world title after all those hurdles and delays,” said Postol. “To get to this fight I had to go through six years of hard work and dedication in the gym and in the ring. I am ready mentally and physically to win this fight and bring the world title back to the Ukraine!”

A co-feature and full undercard for the HBO event will be announced in the coming weeks. Tickets to the event will go on sale on Friday.