Junior welterweight Subriel Matias. Photo by Esdel Palermo/Fresh Productions
The clash between Subriel Matias and Jeremias Ponce, who will fight for the vacant IBF world junior welterweight title, now has a new date.
Matias and Ponce will fight on February 25 at The Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) announced. The fight will headline a three-fight Showtime Championship Boxing telecast (9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT).
“The 140-pound division is one of the hottest in boxing and a new champion will be crowned at the weight when Subriel Matias and Jeremias Ponce meet in an anticipated clash on Saturday, February 25,” said Tom Brown, President of TGB Promotions. “One of the sport’s most powerful punchers, Matias will have to be at his best to turn away the unbeaten and highly-motivated Ponce.”
Matias (18-1, 18 knockouts), who resides in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, is ranked No. 4 by The Ring at 140 pounds. He has not fought since January 22 of last year, stopping Petros Ananyan after the ninth round. The fight was a rematch from their February 2020 clash, which Ananyan won by unanimous decision.
After the loss to Ananyan, the 30-year-old Matias faced back-to-back fighters, stopping Malik Hawkins in October 2020 and Batyrzhan Jukembayev in May 2021.
The fight between Matias and Ponce, an intriguing clash between punchers, was originally scheduled to take place as the co-feature on the Showtime card on February 11 in San Antonio, Texas. The main event of that fight is for the vacant WBC world junior lightweight title between Rey Vargas and O’Shaquie Foster.
“I’m very grateful that there is a now a date for this fight so that I can finally realize my dream and become world champion,” said Matias, who is managed by Juan Ivan Orengo. “I’ve been away from my family for 10 months (training) in Mexico, just preparing and getting ready until the time came to step into the ring. Now that it’s in my sight, there’s nothing that is going to stand in my way.”
Ponce (30-0, 20 KOs), who resides in Buenos Aires, Argentina, will be making his United States debut after also fighting in England and in Germany. He stopped Lewis Ritson in the 10th round in June 2021 in his most notable fight, on paper, of his pro career. He has stopped four of his last five opponents.
In the co-feature, welterweight contender Jamal James will again fight in his hometown when he squares off against Alberto Palmetta in a 10-round bout.
James (27-2, 12 KOs) has not fought since October 2021 when he was stopped by Radzhab Butaev. The 6’2” James does have recent victories over Antonio Demarco, Thomas Dulorme, Abel Ramos, and Diego Chaves.
Palmetta (18-1, 13 KOs), who also resides in Buenos Aires, stopped Tomas Mendez in his last bout on November 10 in a stay-busy fight. The 32-year-old has not lost since his eighth pro fight, defeating Erik Vega Ortiz and Tre’sean Wiggins along the way.
In the opening bout of the Showtime telecast, an intriguing clash of once-beaten junior welterweights will take place between Elvis Rodriguez (13-1-1, 12 KOs) of the Dominican Republic and Allentown, Pennsylvania’s Joseph Adorno (17-1-2, 14 KOs).
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]
