Subriel Matias plans to power his way to his first world title
Subriel Matias said that Artur Beterbiev is the active fighter he admires most.
It’s no wonder. Beterbiev, the light heavyweight champion, has scored knockouts in all 19 of his fights. Matias is 18-1, with 18 knockouts. And he avenged his only loss, a decision against Petro Ananyan, by stoppage.
In other words, Matias brings unusual power into the most important fight of his career Saturday in The Armory in Minneapolis, where he faces Jeremias Ponce for the vacant IBF junior welterweight title (Showtime).
“I take pride in the fact that I don’t let three judges sitting at ringside dictate my fate or result of my work,” he told me and co-host Kenneth Bouhairie on The PBC Podcast through a translator. “I had to go through that once, and I didn’t like it.
“I’m going to do everything in my power to resolve the fight with my fists rather than the cards.”
Matias had bounced back with a victory after his tragic meeting with Maxim Dadashev, who died from a brain injury days afterward, when he first ran into Ananyan on the Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder II card in February 2020.
The Puerto Rican performed well early in the fight but went down in the seventh round and faded down the stretch, which seemed to indicate that his fitness was lacking. Ananyan ended up with a close, but unanimous decision.
Matias evidently learned his lesson, however. He knocked out unbeaten fighters – Malik Hawkins and Batyrzhan Jukembayev – in his next two fights to set up a rematch with Ananyan in his last fight, in January of last year.
This time he outboxed, outworked and ultimately stopped his rival in nine rounds to earn a shot at the title.
“I learned the value of discipline,” Matias said of his loss. “It made me mature. I had to realize you can’t go into a fight being cocky, thinking that you’re better than somebody with having the discipline to back it up. …
“I learned not to underestimate anybody no matter how good, no matter what they’re record is.”
Matias isn’t underestimating Ponce (30-0, 20 KOs), a tall, lanky, but powerful contender from Argentina who is making his U.S. debut.
The Buenos Aires native doesn’t have the knockout record of Matias but his long, whipping punches have produced stoppages in his last three fights and four out of his last five. He’s a genuine threat to anyone in the division, including Matias.
“Ponce is tough and he possesses a unique style,” Matas said. “I would compare him to Marcos Maidana, who’s shocked the boxing world plenty of times. I don’t see a lot of people similar to him in boxing nowadays.
“Ponce is a great fighter, and I respect both him and Argentina. But my goal is to not let this fight go the distance.”
Naturally.