Bad Left Hook

Humberto Soto says the deal is done for him to face Lucas Matthysse on May 19 in the HBO co-feature on the Lamont Peterson vs Amir Khan II card.

Soto vs Matthysse was strongly rumored last night to be the other televised bout on the card, with Richard Schaefer saying it was close. Today, Soto's team says they've received confirmation from Golden Boy that the fight is official.

Here's what Soto had to say about the fight:

"[Matthysse] is a fighter with name, who punches and has a great heart, but I have no doubt that we will win the fight and that people in the arena of Las Vegas will leave very happy that night. I'm coming with a lot of confidence and the vision of having a performance that everyone will remember and place the name of Mexico in a very high position ... it will be my night."

Matthysse (29-2, 27 KO) fights tonight in Argentina in a stay-busy bout, facing Angel Martinez (13-1-1, 9 KO).

Like I said last night, I've been highly critical of Soto's careful matchmaking and often terrible mismatches the last few years, but there's zero problem with this fight, and it will be the best fight he's taken at least since his 2010 Fight of the Year contender against Urbano Antillon, and arguably since his 2007 loss to Joan Guzman.

Matthysse will be a serious test at 140 pounds for Soto (57-7-2, 34 KO), who has had trouble with physical lightweights like Antillon and even David Diaz. He beat both of them, and deserved the wins, but they were able to wear on Soto, a guy who's really a natural featherweight with a pretty slight, thin build. Matthysse is a full-fledged junior welter who can punch and is pretty physically strong. This is a true risk for Soto.

Hats off to Soto and his team for taking this level of fight finally, and to Golden Boy for getting it done. Soto hasn't been with GBP long (he signed in September) and this is a good sign that they plan to have him take challenges instead of coasting.