Vince Dwriter: When Subriel Matias was 12-years-old he told his mother he would become a world champion, and on February 25th at The Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota, his premonition came true as he defeated Jeremias Ponce (30-1, 20 KOs) and won the vacant IBF junior welterweight title.
In the Showtime Boxing main event, Ponce got off to a fast start as he skipped the feeling out process and went on the attack in the opening round. He was extremely aggressive as he stood in the pocket and threw a total of ninety-six punches.
Round 2 the action in close quarters continued as Ponce and Matias stood toe-to-toe and exchanged heavy power shots. It was a good bounce back round for Matias as he landed solid left hooks on multiple occasions. With 28 seconds left to go in the second round, Subriel Matias connected with a left hook that wobbled Ponce.
In the third round of the bout, hooks and uppercuts were thrown and landed by both boxers. The phone booth styled fight resumed in the fourth, as Matias closed the round by landing a big left hook followed by a flurry of shots.
Through four rounds of action, Matias showed signs of taking over the back and forth battle as he was able mix his punches up effectively. He constantly jabbed his way inside to land sharp punches to the head and body of his opponent.
The fan friendly action continued in round five, and during the closing seconds of the round, a flurry of punches followed by a left hook to the body sent Jeremias Ponce down to the canvas. Ponce was able to get up and make it to the end of the round, but unfortunately his cornermen decided to call it a day and stop the fight by telling the referee, “no mas.”
Subriel Matias (19-1, 19 KOs) earned the victory and he captured the IBF junior welterweight title. Shortly after winning his first world title, Matias quickly turned his focus to a man who is also a newly crowned champion in the 140-pound division.
Back in November 2022, former WBA junior welterweight champion Regis Prograis finally received another chance to fight for a world title. Prograis took advantage of the opportunity as he stopped Jose Zepeda in the 11th round to win the WBC strap, and become a two-time champion.
Now the 30-year-old Subriel Matias has verbalized his interest in regards to facing Regis Prograis (28-1, 24 KOs) in a unification bout. Prograis noticed the fans reacting to the possibility of a Prograis-Matias matchup, and Regis responded on social media by posting, “It’s levels to this.”
Subriel Matias has Regis Prograis on his radar, and during his post-fight press conference, Matias used the public platform to speak his mind.
“I have a message and I want you all to spread it far and wide. Prograis, I’m coming for you. I’m the world champ now. I promise you I’m going to send you to the hospital, so get ready.”
Matias went on to state, “Prograis likes to talk the talk. He says that he’s gonna hurt his opponent right, well I have that same mentality, so let’s see who prevails in the end.”
