Everything about Matthews screamed “future contender,” but while his size, athleticism, and acumen on the canvas remained impressive for someone so young, that same youthful exuberance and relative inexperience cost him in critical matchups against future contenders James Vick and Kevin Lee. A split decision loss to Andrew Holbrook turned out to be his final appearance in the 155-pound ranks, and it is only since moving to welterweight that the maturation process has really started to show returns.
Not only has Matthews grown into his body, adding muscle and strength to the athleticism he exhibited at the outset of his career, but he’s starting to fight like someone who has figured out the best way to maximize his skills and reduce his risks inside the cage. After being a willing brawler, occasionally to his own detriment, for much of his career, Matthews took a more tactical, more measured approach to things against Akman last time out, coming away with a clean sweep of the scorecards and the opportunity to go out and celebrate following the event.
“That was very hard for me to do,” he said of dialing it back and letting the fight come to him against Akman. “You can probably hear my coaches telling me to pull back and calm down when I start getting a bit too excited.
“At the end of the day, I got the win, plus I didn’t have to go to the hospital, which was a good thing,” added Matthews. “I just got to go and celebrate with everyone.”
The shift was a conscious one, and although he admitted fighting against his natural instincts and getting comfortable with a new approach led to many frustrating days in the gym, Matthews knows it was for the best and is eager to build upon his return to the win column as he readies to kick off his 2020 campaign this weekend.
Although Meek wasn’t necessarily on his radar coming out of his victory over Akman late last year, the matchup with the popular returning Norwegian immediately appealed to Matthews.
“There is no way this fight is going to be a slow-paced, boring fight,” he said of the pairing with Meek. “As soon as I saw the name I was excited.