After failing to capture the title at a heavier weight last year, Matthews pounced on his second chance, knocking down opponent Quang Pham three times within three rounds to earn the win by TKO at Melbourne Pavilion.
The 21-year-old is still coming to terms with the win, and has been overwhelmed by the support he has received since he secured the title earlier this month.
“Oh, yeah, it’s pretty surreal,” he said.
“The first few days after the fight there was heaps of people just messaging me non-stop, so I kind of just stayed off my phone for a few days and just relaxed in Melbourne for a bit.”
Having fought Pham once before for a points-decision win, Matthews this time made sure it didn’t go the distance, and pinpointed a key moment in the first round when he knew he would be walking away with the belt.
“I usually start slow to see what he (Pham) does before I do what I want to do,” he said.
“But I started just you know, pushing him away, hitting him in the stomach and then I landed a knee, and I noticed that he kind of shuddered a little bit.
“So then I just went at him after that. (I knew then) that I was going to win, because he didn’t really look like he wanted it.”
Despite knowing his opponent was hurt, Matthews didn’t throw his gameplan out of the window hunting a knockout, instead sticking to his high-intensity style and smothering Pham.
A knockdown in the second round gave the local fighter the advantage on the scorecard, but it was the two knockdowns in the third that handed him the win.
“The first time was like a combo, I just put him down with like a bit of everything — knee, elbow, kick, punch, and then he went down,” Matthews said of the first knockdown in the third round.
“He got up, walked to the corner and then the ref said go, so I went straight at him and then landed the left elbow and then he was down, and then that was the fight.”
While some may rest on their laurels after being crowned state champion, Matthews has his eyes set on a much bigger prize.
And despite being immensely proud of his achievement, he knows there is work to be done to reach his ultimate goal.
“It’s been a goal, when I first started training I always wanted a belt,” he said.
“But it’s more than just this belt, I want more, I want to be a world champion.
“This is just a step to the bigger picture. So after this it’s a few more fights and then maybe look to the Australian title and then after that go international, so this is a step.
“It’s a big goal and it’s a big achievement and I’m very, very proud of myself, I’m very happy, but I want to be world champion.”
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