Puerto Rican Subriel Matias can cross becoming a world champion off his list after his last stoppage victory over Jeremias Ponce won him the IBF Junior Welterweight/Super Lightweight world title. He also became the second Puerto Rican boxer this month to win a world title, after Amanda Serrano conquered the WBA women’s Featherweight title earlier this month to become undisputed for the first time of her career. The event featuring Matias and Ponce was held at the Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Saturday, February 25. Their title fight was for the IBF title that had been left vacant in the wake of Josh Taylor’s decision to relinquish his title.
The entire 140 lbs division has been put on notice after Subriel Matias’ (19-1, 19 KO’s) performance against the previously-undefeated Jeremias Ponce (30-1, 20 KO’s). Despite the result, the fight was highly-competitive with Ponce pouncing on Matias at the start of the match where it seemed like he was seeking to break Matias down over the rounds.
Matias’ defense was sharp however. With head and body movement, and rigid composure as he slipped and blocked Ponce’s punches, Ponce – who is quite known for excellent conditioning – failed to properly damage Matias and actually seemed to tire himself out. In what can now be seen as a failed tactic to start early and strong in order to put out or, at the very least, disorientate Matias, Ponce found himself the victim of immense pressure himself, especially in the fifth round.
Unlike Matias, Ponce did not seem to be capable of handling Matias’ swarming punches, and Matias rapidly broke Ponce down in the fifth with a flurry of unstoppable combinations that floored Ponce late in the fifth round. As the sixth round went on to commence, it was made apparent that Ponce refused to continue and the match was eventually ruled a referee’s technical decision – otherwise known as just a stoppage – after Jeremias Ponce basically quit on his stool.
Subriel Matias earned the vacant IBF 140 lbs world title as the match was ruled a RTD victory in the fifth round. His latest victory now makes him the fourth and final champion in a division that has recently seen an abrupt change after Josh Taylor vacated some of his titles.
Though he netted the first world title of his career, Matias faces a tough but no less fruitful road with the other three champions now incumbent in the division. There will be plenty of challenges for him to face now that WBC champion Regis Prograis (28-1, 24 KO’s) – a former (WBA) world champion of the division – has seemingly driven his ability into the next gear. WBO champion Josh Taylor (19-0, 13 KO’s), the former undisputed champion, is still active and undefeated and can be Matias’ toughest challenge if they fight, given what he accomplished before. First, Taylor will have to make it past contender Teofimo Lopez (18-1, 13 KO’s) in their fight scheduled for June 10th. Lopez had been a unified world champion at Lightweight in 2020 before eventually losing to George Kambosos Jr. (20-2, 10 KO’s) and moving up to 140 lbs.
There is also WBA ‘Super’ champion Alberto Puello (21-0, 10 KO’s) who hails from the Dominican Republic and has been rather underrated and overlooked in favor of the more reputable champions in the division. That by no means indicates he’s an easier target than the other champions as he is known as one of the best technical fighters in the division and so far, he is still unbeaten.
Jeremias Ponce will now look to recover after suffering the first loss of his career in a vital bout for a world title. One advantage he has is that he, at the age of 26, has plenty of room to grow and improve and contend for a title speedily if his team matchmakes him properly with challenging fighters.
The 140 lbs division was previously subject to the WBSS (World Boxing Super Series) which often pits champions and the highest-rated contenders against another. In their edition of the Junior Welterweight/Super Lightweight division between 2018 and 2019, Josh Taylor became a world champion for the first time of his career while competing as a contender and he eventually went on to beat Prograis in order to become a unified champion, earning the WBA, IBF and The Ring titles in 2019. Roughly two years later, he would go on to become undisputed after defeating the only other unified champion in the division, Jose Ramirez (27-1, 17 KO’s).
Though Subriel Matias has fought for a career that’s spanned for nearly a decade, the Puerto Rican is best known for being Maxim Dadashev’s last opponent before his eventual death. Dadashev unfortunately died as a result of injuries he accumulated in his fight with Matias, a fight that Matias recently stated still haunts him.
