By Miguel Maravilla

Former world champion Lucas “La Maquina” Matthysse (38-4, 35 KOs), of Chubut, Argentina, is set to return as he takes on undefeated Thai superstar Tewa Kiram (38-0, 28 KOs) of Thailand. Matthyse will square off against Kiram Saturday January 27th at the “Fabulous” Forum in Inglewood, California live on HBO Boxing After Dark. We caught up with the Machine as he talked about his upcoming fight and hookup with trainer Joel Diaz.

“This is a good fight. I am coming to this fight well prepared to be ready January 27th, against a very tough fighter,” Lucas Matthysse told Fightnews.com®.

This will be Matthysse’s second fight with trainer Joel Diaz training in Indio, California. Diaz has trained former world champions Timothy Bradley, Omar Figueroa, and currently trains former world champion Francisco Vargas. Matthysse talked about his experience with the respected trainer as he prepares in the desert town.

“This is my third time training in Indio and my second camp with Joel. We are training hard staying focused, getting good sparring everything is good here in camp,” Matthysse on his training camp. “I learn every day working with Joel,” Matthysse added.

“Since he got here I noticed a big difference. First, he never wanted to do camp here in the states and never wanted to leave home. I understand they are skeptical about the environment, weather, training is different,” trainer Joel Diaz told Fightnews.com®. “He is really motivated. A happy fighter is always a good fighter. We are giving him the best training camp.”

He previously trained in Indio back in the summer of 2013 as he prepared for the Danny Garcia fight. Following the Garcia fight Matthysse made a few changes to his team adding former world champion fellow Argentine Juan Martin Coggi. After a brief experiment thing did not go as planned now 4 years later Matthysse teams up with Diaz.

“After his first camp with me, I never expected for him to be the way he is now. We did the first camp it went well, we clicked well and he loves to learn,” Coach Diaz “His confidence level has risen. Not only do I teach him boxing but I taught him to believe in himself,” Diaz added.

In his last fight back in May, Matthysse scored a fifth round TKO over Emmanuel Taylor on the Canelo vs. Chavez pay per view undercard. Matthysse returned after nearly a two-year layoff since being stopped by Viktor Postol.

“I felt good returning to the ring very strong. This was my first fight in a long time. It was a good preparation, my first camp with Joel,” Matthysse said about his last fight.

“Lucas is a really strong fighter but he needed that mental health. He always had doubts about his strategies in every fight he never had a plan. There was never a plan or strategy it was all about knocking the guy out or using his power,” Diaz said. “He had no game plan and never could make adjustments. It’s about becoming a well-rounded fighter because he is already a strong explosive powerful fighter,”

His undefeated Thai opponent Kiram, relatively unknown in the boxing world has fought all his fights in his native Thailand as he is coming off a unanimous decision over Ramadhani Shauri. Kiram looks to make a statement in his U.S. debut as the Argentine slugger gave us his thoughts on his counterpart.

“He is ranked number one undefeated for a reason and a strong fighter,” Matthysse on his opponent. “He is a fighter that likes to come forward. I am training hard to give a great fight,” Matthysse added.

“This will be a tough fight. I’ve been watching video on his opponent he is tall, young, and really strong. He is the taller fighter that has a beautiful jab. We just have to approach the fight the proper way to win in good fashion,” Diaz on their counterpart.

Matthyse will look to get his name in the welterweight mix to start his 2018 campaign. First, he must get past the unknown Kiram. A win will make him one of the titlists in the 147-pound division as that would be a good way to start the year.

“If everything goes well here, I start the year off well and put myself in line ready for the best. Rather it’s a rematch with Danny Garcia or any of the top fighters but I would really like that rematch with Garcia,” Matthysse said.

Matthysse vs. Kiram will be a scheduled 12 round championship fight for the vacant WBA welterweight title.

“I will triumph and bring a victory to Argentina,” Matthysse concluded.

Follow Miguel on Twitter @MigMaravilla