00:00As we look at the tail of the tape, Wilkins Mathieu, we've been watching him for two and a half years, he's still just 20 years old, Adagio McDonald at 29, weight, very close, experience, edge goes to Wilkins Mathieu.
00:30This is a homecoming Wilkins Mathieu, as you heard Patrick Leno mention. Born and raised here in Quebec City, grew up here until he was about 15, then moved to Montreal, basically on his own at 15 years old to focus on boxing. And you see why with that crisp one-two.
00:48He's always been very technical. Excellent sharpshooter. Very mature in poise.
00:58Sharpshooter is the word, Matt, and you're seeing it already. He's unleashing that body jab. Adagio McDonald seems to think he's going to win this fight, at least the early stages of this fight, with his physical presence.
01:09And look at this. Quick uppercut. Left hook. Turns Adagio McDonald sideways. There's another Adagio McDonald leaning forward, matching underneath with the quick uppercut.
01:22Earlier on, we're seeing a lot of the Eye of the Tiger prospects against veteran fighters with a lot more experience today, but McDonald, who's 29 years old, in terms of rounds of experience, it's very similar to Wilkins Mathieu.
01:31So, an interesting style matchup early on in Manchester's career.
01:36And Adagio McDonald, you know who he fought as an amateur. He fought Moreno-Fandero in the French National Championships 2018.
01:44Big, strong, athletic southpaw.
01:49Nicknamed the Beast, La Baite.
01:53And there's Wilkins Mathieu going to the belly of the Beast.
01:57Uppercut. Left hook. Straight to the body.
02:01Counter right hand to the jaw. Partially deflected, but I think Mathieu thinks he can land that punch all night long.
02:09And again, La Baite seems to think he can impose his physical presence on Mathieu, but I think he's also going to learn to match in stronger than he, than McDonald thinks he is.
02:21That's the other aspect of this game. It's just going to develop also naturally with age, right?
02:25That's only 20 years old in a game that physical mass muscle as he gets older, even in a very strong division, which is the super middleweight division.
02:35Yeah, and you see him land that check left hook.
02:37In terms of technique, tactics, accuracy, William Wilkins Mathieu is already topped here.
02:44There's a big left hook from the inside. See how quickly he cuts that angle, man.
02:52Excellent footwork.
02:53And it's funny part, his brother, who had a lot of nice KO victories here, Lexan Mathieu in Quebec City, elected to retire at a young age.
03:04And Wilkins Mathieu is, he wasn't as talented as Lexan, but always in love with the sport, discipline, and he's a big fan of the sport, even when he's not fighting.
03:14And Lexan Mathieu, Wilkins, with the left hook, repeatedly beating Adagio McDonald to the punch.
03:20If Lexan is more talented than this, I'm scared of Lexan, I'm just talking about it.
03:28Wilkins Mathieu already putting on a show for the hometown crowd.
03:32Wilkins Mathieu, with the right hook, he's running down on the left hook.
03:37In the right hook, bring it up on the right hook, he's running down on the left hook.
03:42He's watching him now, he's running down on the left hook.
03:47Yeah.
03:48Yeah.
03:49OK.
03:50Yeah.
03:50Do you want to do it all in charge, you don't have to do it all in charge.
03:53You don't have to do it all in charge.
03:55Yeah.
03:56OK.
03:56OK.
03:57Yeah.
03:57Yes.
03:59Connect your hand on the right hook, OK?
04:00We're going to hear the corner after first.
04:12Catch and shoot.
04:13We call this.
04:14The right to the body.
04:15Continue catching him with the right to the body.
04:17Use ankles to pivot out of shots.
04:24That's the right to the body once.
04:25An ankle afterwards to pivot out.
04:30Very good counter shots by Wilkins Mature in the first round.
04:34Wilkins Mature, he took a trip alongside Giuseppe Maupring and Chris Guerrero to Philly's next
04:42camp gym in Northeast Philly.
04:43That's where Bozi Ennis has Boots Ennis.
04:46That's where Andy Cruz trains.
04:48He's far a few rounds with a guy named Edwin Jimenez, who's also known as Edwin JĂșnior,
04:53depending on whether you know him as a Haitian or a Dominican.
04:56But he is a rising middleweight contender.
04:59He's really aggressive.
05:00And Wilkins said that, like, those sessions with Jimenez really taught him how to deal
05:04with pressure because Jimenez was just relentless and wouldn't let him breathe.
05:09And Wilkins had this sort of crossroads moment in the sparring session.
05:12Am I going to let this guy overwhelm me?
05:14Or am I going to bite down, use my tools to create some space for myself?
05:17And so he said that those sparring sessions really taught him how to deal with pressure.
05:21So he taught him what he's doing right now.
05:23Take a small ring and make it bigger with his movement and with his jab.
05:26He's really putting on a clinic early in this fight.
05:29It's also a good mental challenge to go spar in hostile territory.
05:32You're not getting any brotherly love when you're entering the gym in Philadelphia.
05:35No, not at all.
05:36They're not going to give you any favors even if you're a big prospect here from Quebec.
05:39You're going to be challenged.
05:40You're going to be tested.
05:41So it's a good mental hurdle to pass.
05:43Absolutely.
05:44And what he said to me was it builds your character.
05:48It's good for you because you're not in your comfort zone.
05:50You've got to learn to be comfortable in your discomfort zone.
05:53So you see him in this ring in competition with a guy who is aggressive and maybe not as skilled as Edwin Jimenez.
05:59This is the level change, the angle change that Giuseppe Moffa was mentioning in the corner.
06:04He's very good at doing body attacks and using his feet to get out of the way.
06:08Yeah, and you see McDonald.
06:11Like, when McDonald is at his best, when he's the fighter he imagines himself to be,
06:16he's a big, strong, athletic southpaw who can do the counterpunching from long range because he's athletic and long.
06:23But against the guy who is all of those things but also is skilled and tactical as Wilkins Matthew,
06:29you see the differences in class.
06:35Here's Matthew retreating to the corner but still completely in control.
06:38At this pace, also, Wilkins Matthew sees all of McDonald's offense really coming, right?
06:42Yes.
06:43So he's able to counter him effectively, get out of the way after.
06:45Look at that pull counter right hand to start that sequence.
06:48Stunning McDonald.
06:50See, this one, McDonald inside, he has to continue to let his hands go
06:54and not let Wilkins Matthew move out of the way.
06:56Yes.
06:57Except the dilemma for McDonald is every time he lets his hands go, he creates an opening.
07:01And Wilkins Matthew exploits it.
07:02That's a great point.
07:03Cesar said and done to stay on the inside without getting countered.
07:11Because right there, he threw that jab, Wilkins Matthew leaned down,
07:14leaned back, came back with the uppercut.
07:16And, like, Wilkins Matthew, uh, he is so smart with his counters.
07:20He has so many at his disposal.
07:22When he, uh, leans back like that, away from a jab like that, he can throw the right hand over the top,
07:27or he can throw the uppercut.
07:28Double left hand.
07:30Wilkins Matthew was saying this week he envisioned a middle round stoppage.
07:33Yes.
07:34But eventually the counter shot's really paying dividends.
07:36Asking for more out of the lead right hand of the softball position.
07:43Work more, he's taking too many breaks.
07:44He's asking for more out of the lead right hand of the softball position, he's taking
08:03too many breaks.
08:04So they're really again mentioning, gotta have your hands more, throwing more combination
08:23punches for McDonnell, asking for the corner there, he's basically starting with that lead
08:27right hand.
08:28And we begin round three, scheduled for eight, Wilkins Mathieu of Quebec City with the big
08:45straight right hand, finishes with the left hook.
08:47Oh, this is what you were saying, Morgan, when you start opening up more, counter shots
08:52are available.
08:52Yeah, and poor Adagio McDonnell, all he did was follow his corner's advice, and it got
08:57him tattooed, big left hand, up in between Adagio McDonnell's gloves.
09:04And Wilkins Mathieu, always coming back to that high guard, gets back to boxing, but it's
09:11absolutely unloading on Adagio McDonnell right now.
09:13It's very accurate, very precise in the shots.
09:16McDonnell's trying to attack defense, but oh!
09:18Huge left hand.
09:20They're stopping him that way.
09:21No need to count right there.
09:24Precision, power, tactics, technique.
09:28Wilkins Mathieu puts it all to work.
09:31Adagio McDonnell has a spot on the canvas.
09:34Good stoppage.
09:35That's when listening to your corner can actually go wrong.
09:43Look, McDonnell was losing the fight.
09:45He has to do something to try to win rounds.
09:47And by opening up, Wilkins Mathieu was all ready to go.
09:51Counter shots to the head, to the body, and eventually stopping it with a big left hook.
09:57You know, Matthew, when I was talking to Wilkins Mathieu before the fight, I asked him how he
10:03sort of envisioned this fight, and here's exactly what he said to me.
10:06He said, Adagio McDonnell's going to try to knock me out, but if you try to knock me out,
10:09that's the worst thing you can do, because I'm a really good counterpuncher.
10:13He said, he's going to leave me in opening, and he's going to get knocked out cold.
10:18And so it was like he wasn't saying that to me.
10:21It was like he was saying that to a crystal ball.
10:24That's one thing about Wilkins Mathieu.
10:26He's a scientific mind.
10:28He's really looking at it from an analyst perspective when he's not fighting himself.
10:31Yes.
10:33You can tell the ring IQ is there even at 20 years old.
10:37Boom.
10:37And that's it.
10:39There's Adagio McDonnell trying to hold on.
10:43Can't make the clinch happen.
10:44Look at this big left hook over the top.
10:47And so many fighters at home, if you're watching this, this is exactly what you need to do.
10:50If a fighter's trying to clinch and hold on, you don't need to.
10:52You can push him off, use that leverage to then follow up with a hook.
10:55McDonnell didn't hold properly, and now was completely open to eat that shot.
10:59And again, the referee not even bothering with the count, and I can't blame him.
11:03That fight was one-way traffic, except Adagio McDonnell was trying.
11:08He was aggressive.
11:09He was throwing punches.
11:10But again, just could not lay a glove on Wilkins Mathieu.
11:13Wilkins Mathieu, like you said, it's the ring IQ that sets him apart from just about every other prospect and future contender in this sport.
11:22This is why, again, along with Orobio, he's a guy that a lot of people well outside Canada get really excited about.
11:29One of the reasons why he has the ring on his waist, of course, a Wilkins Mathieu, as we saw with John Orobio,
11:35targeted at some of the better prospects in the world of boxing.
11:46Mathieu in front of his hometown crowd improves his record.
11:4914 and 0.
11:54To 14 and 0.
11:55Ladies and gentlemen, official time, 44 seconds of round number three.
12:05Your winner by knockout, Wilkins Mathieu!
12:19Wilkins Mathieu improves to 14 and 0.
12:24Records his 10th knockout in emphatic fashion.
12:27And again, records it in exactly the way that he told me two weeks ago that it was going to happen.
12:33That it was going to happen off a counterpunch.
12:34And it was going to be because he used Adagio McDonnell's.
