By Ian S Palmer
The vacant IBF Junior Welterweight Title is up for grabs this Saturday, February 25th as Subriel Matias of Puerto Rico takes on undefeated Jeremias Ponce of Argentina. The 12-rounder from Minneapolis, Minnesota can be seen live in America on Showtime. Matias last fought in January, 2022 when he stopped Petros Ananyan in the ninth round of their rematch while Ponce last saw action in April when he halted Ochiko Odikadze in the third round.
The 30-year-old southpaw Matias climbs into the ring with an impressive record 18-1 with all 18 wins coming by Ko, which gives him a current knockout ratio of 94.7 per cent. He’s boxed 85 rounds since turning pro in 2016 following a brief amateur career and stands 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 71.5-inch reach.
The lone pro defeat on Matias’ record came at the hands of Petros Ananyan in 2020 via a close 10-round unanimous decision after Matias was dropped in the seventh round. His biggest wins have been against Patrick Lopez, Adrian Estrella, Breidis Prescott, Fernando Saucedo, Wilberth Lopez, Maxim Dadashev, Malik Hawkins and Batyrzhan Jukembayev. Sadly, Dadashev passed away at the age of 28 after sustaining injuries in the bout with Matias.
The 26-year-old Ponce enters the contest with a perfect mark of 30-0 with 20 Ko’s and has boxed 150 rounds since making his pro debut in 2015. He also carries good power with a current knockout ratio of 66.7 per cent. Ponce measures 5-feet-11-inches in height with an unlisted reach which means he’s three inches taller than Matias.
Ponce has fought outside of his homeland just five times, in Europe. Since turning pro he’s captured the vacant WBA Fedebol Welterweight Title, the vacant IBF Inter-Continental Junior Welterweight Belt, the Argentinian Junior Welterweight Crown, the South American Junior Welterweight and the IBO Junior Welterweight Title. His biggest wins have been against Lewis Ritson, Michael Marcano, Jonathan Eniz and Rico Mueller. Ponce has a pretty good chin but has also been dropped to the canvas before.
Prediction…
This is a world title fight between two relative unknowns on the world stage but it should be a good matchup. Matias comes in with the power while Ponce is a fine boxer/puncher. Ponce is four years younger with a height advantage but Matias has the power to turn a fight around with a single punch. It should be entertaining and I’m expecting Matias to take it.
