Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Victor Ortiz HBO PPV undercard at the MGM Grand in Paradise, Nevada, citing a viral infection that had kept him from training. Lucas fought Mexican Martín Ángel Martínez on 10 February 2012 for the vacant WBA Inter-Continental light welterweight title at the Gimnasio Municipal, Chubut, Argentina in a scheduled 12 round bout. The Mexican retired after the 5th round. The stay-busy victory over the 20-year-old Mexican fighter set up a Showtime televised showdown between Matthysse and former 130-pound and lightweight beltholder Humberto Soto on 23 June 2012. Both fighters traded big shots in the opening rounds but the Matthysse was able to land consistent big body shots and came through this fight with another fifth round TKO. Matthysse then faced undefeated Nigerian-born British professional boxer Ajose Olusegun on 8 September 2012. Olusegun had been declared the mandatory challenger for the WBC light welterweight title going into the fight. The first few rounds were good exchanges for the two brawlers. However, on the tenth round the hard punches from the Argentinian proved too much for the unbeaten Nigerian and therefore the referee stopped the fight via 10th round TKO. Matthysse vs. Peterson On 18 May 2013 Matthysse faced Lamont Peterson in a non title match in Atlantic City, New Jersey. At the end of the second round Matthysse landed a hard right hand to the body followed of a left hook to the head, that knocked Peterson down. In the third round Matthysse kept the pressure on Peterson, knocking him down twice in that round. At 46 seconds of round 3 referee Steve Smoger stopped the fight after the second Peterson knock down. The winner via TKO was Matthysse. After the fight, Golden Boy Promotions CEO, Richard Schaefer, declared Matthysse the next Manny Pacquiao. The victory was considered the biggest of Matthysse's career, and his first step in the door to super stardom. He then faced unified 140 lb champion Danny García on 14 September 2013 as part of the undercard to the Floyd Mayweather vs. Saul Alvarez main event. Matthysse vs. García Going into his fight on 14 September against García, Matthysse was a heavy favorite despite being the challenger. Nevertheless, García stood firm and fought a mature fight, trading rounds early with Matthysse. In the middle rounds, Matthysse developed an injury to his right eye from García's flinched right hand, which the young champ exploited.