Subriel Matias could wind up with another home game for his next title defense.
Fresh Productions, the career-long promoter for the two-time 140lbs titlist, outbid Matchroom Boxing to claim the rights to Matias’ WBC mandatory title fight against England’s Dalton Smith. Tuesday’s purse bid hearing in Mexico City saw Fresh Productions post a bid of $1,900,000, which outpaced the $1,710,000 offer posted by Matchroom, Smith’s promoter.
Neither a date nor specific location were provided at the time of the bid. However, BoxingScene has learned that the targeted time frame is November or December in Matias’ native Puerto Rico, which is also Fresh Productions’ home base.
The development – which took place during the WBC’s weekly Martes de Café meeting – for the moment ruins plans to stage the fight as part of the November 22 Riyadh Season show. The matchup was initially targeted for that event, dating back to Matias’ narrow win over unbeaten Alberto Puello to claim the WBC 140lbs title on July 12 in Queens, New York. Boxing financier Turki Alalshikh head Matias and Smith pose in the ring immediately after the bout and declared that Matias would fight Smith on the show.
However, the public gesture was made without a deal ever in place. Nor were the two sides any closer when the WBC ordered the fight and again when it was scheduled to head to a purse bid hearing.
Matias became a two-time titleholder after his win over Puello. He previously held the IBF title at the weight but suffered a 12-round, unanimous decision defeat to Liam Paro last June 15 on home soil in Manati, Puerto Rico.
Smith worked his way to the top spot of the WBC 140lbs rankings through a serious of eliminators and regional sanctioning bodies at stake. His first such move towards title contention came in a fifth-round stoppage of former title challenger Jose Zepeda last March 23 in his Sheffield hometown.
In his most recent start, Smith soundly outpointed Mathieu Germain on April 19 also in Sheffield. The win cemented his position as the next line for the title recently acquired by Matias.
Should the bout move forward and in fact land in P.R., it would mark just the third career fight outside of the U.K. for Smith and his first outside of Europe.
Meanwhile, Matias potentially gets a fourth fight on home soil within his past five ring appearances should the terms for his first title defense go as planned.
