One of the most exciting fighters in the lower weight classes, Subriel Matias (17-1, 17 KOs), from the Maternillo neighborhood in the town of Fajardo in Puerto Rico, will have the opportunity to avenge his only loss on Saturday, January 22.
Matias will face tough Armenian Petros Ananyan (16-2-2, 7 KOs) in a twelve round bout in the junior welterweight division. The fight will be broadcast live on Showtime, from the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Ananyan defeated Matias by unanimous decision on February 22 of 2020, on the undercard of the high-profile rematch between heavyweight contenders Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas.
“Anyone who knows me knows how much I wanted this fight. At last I am being given the opportunity and I will make the most of it. If I don’t beat Ananyan, then I understand that I don’t deserve to be champion,” said Matias.
“That defeat delayed me a bit in what is economic and this rematch is necessary for me, my family and the neighborhood (Maternillo) that saw me grow up and is proud of me. This fight will be very exciting.”
After his defeat, Matias came back in a big way by securing important victories via knockout over unbeaten Malik Hawkins of Maryland and Batyrzhan Jukembayev of Kazakhstan.
Matias’ promoter believes current undisputed junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor will move up to the welterweight division in the aftermath of his mandatory defense against Jack Catterall.
Promoter Juan Orengo of Fresh Productions Boxing stated that, “We were looking for this rematch for a long time. Ananyan is a winnable fight and Subriel will show that he will be Puerto Rico’s next superstar.
“What is already spoken is that after the fight, Subriel will fight for the vacant IBF world title against Argentine Jeremias Ponce because the undisputed champion Josh Taylor will vacate all the titles after his February fight to go up to 147 pounds.”
Currently at 140 pounds, Matias is in the second position in the world rankings of the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and Ponce in the first position.