Despite taking the fight on three days’ notice, Luis seemed to outwork Matthews in most rounds and would probably be wearing a championship belt today, had the fight been contested on neutral ground. Unfortunately, the European judges saw it another way, scoring it 114-112 (Jean Legland, FRA), 115-112 (Dave Parris, UK) and 114-112 (Stefano Carozza, ITA), all for Matthews.
Despite his disappointment in the scoring, Luis and promoter Greg Cohen say taking the fight was still a good career choice. Cohen of Greg Cohen Promotions, says he’s pleased with his fighter’s strong performance and will immediately go to work for the 27-year-old.
“Tony looked sensational on Saturday,” said Cohen. “Taking the fight on such short notice, you’d think fatigue would play a role, but he was a machine in there. That shows you how hard he works in the gym. Of course we’re disappointed in the scoring, but looking at the big picture, we now know we have a championship-caliber fighter in Tony. He responded perfectly to the pressure of a world championship fight. I will be petitioning the sanctioning bodies to keep Tony high up in the ratings and give him another title shot very soon. This time on neutral ground.”
Luis will be returning to action quickly, he is set to fight for a regional title against an opponent TBA on June 26 at the Seneca Niagara Event Center in Niagara Falls, New York, and live on CBS Sports Network.
In addition, Cohen added this to World Boxing News:
“I thought the fight was close, but I definitely had Tony winning. He was the effective aggressor, coming forward the entire fight and I’m sure he threw several hundred more punches than Matthews and landed several dozen more than Derry. Tony’s stock did not go down at all and I actually believe it went up, as the people of Europe got to witness first hand how exciting his style is. I can’t wait for him to get back in the ring June 26th and we will do all we can to secure another title shot shortly thereafter.”
