Hard-hitting RING No. 1-rated junior welterweight Lucas Matthysse said he fully expects his hammer-fisted countryman, Diego Chaves, to emerge victorious from Saturday’s welterweight clash of unbeatens against Florida’s Keith “One Time” Thurman, which will be televised on Showtime from San Antonio.

Thurman (20-0, 18 knockouts) is coming off a unanimous-decision rout of Jan Zaveck in March that ended his streak of nine consecutive knockouts, and Chavez (22-0, 18 KOs), off his fifth consecutive stoppage victory.

Chaves, 27, will be in only his second fight on American soil against Thurman, having scored a six-round unanimous decision over Edvan Dos Santos Barros at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas in March of 2010.

RingTV.com polled 15 boxing insiders as to what they think will transpire in Thurman-Chaves.

“All of the people from Argentina are going to be following that fight, because we want to watch the fight and cheer for Diego,” Matthysse said.

“I know that Diego is an excellent boxer, and we’re hoping and we’re expecting that he will come back to Argentina with the title [the fight is for the WBA’s interim belt]. I have a lot of pride in him.”

In May, Matthysse (34-2, 32 KOs) obliterated IBF 140-pound beltholder Lamont Peterson, dropping him three times on the way to a third-round knockout.

Mattysse is in Argentina preparing for a Sept. 14, Showtime-Pay Per View televised battle with RING champion Danny Garcia (26-0, 16 KOs), who will put his WBA and WBC belts on the line against Matthysse on the undercard of the blockbuster main event featuring Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Canelo Alvarez at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Note: Matthysse’s interview was translated by Golden Boy’s Ramiro Gonzalez.

Photo by Naoki Fukuda

Lem Satterfield can be reached at [email protected]