Posted: Friday, July 19, 2013, 3:01 AM
Danny Garcia's stiffest test yet will come on boxing's brightest stage of the year.
It was announced Thursday afternoon that the Juniata Park native will defend his unified light-welterweight world titles against Lucas Matthysse on Sept. 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
The fight will highlight the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather and Canelo Alvarez pay-per-view main event.
Leonard Ellerbe, the CEO of Mayweather Promotions, said this bout "has fight of the year written all over it."
Matthysse is "running everyone out the ring. Nobody wants to fight him," said Ellerbe. "But, Danny Garcia stepped up and said I want to be the one who beats this guy."
The 25-year-old Garcia (26-0, 16 KOs) scored a unanimous decision in April against Zab Judah. Garcia's last fight in Vegas was last July, when he stunned Amir Khan with a fourth-round knockout to post the signature win of his career.
A win against Matthysse could line up Garcia to meet Mayweather next spring.
Two months ago, Garcia sat in the front row at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall and watched Matthysse dismantle Lamont Peterson en route to a third-round TKO. The 30-year-old Matthysse (34-2, 32 KOs) has won six-straight by stoppage after dropping a split-decision to Devon Alexander in June of 2011.
Contact Matt Breen at mbreen@phillynews.com and follow @matt_breen on Twitter.
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