Subriel Matias referred to as out WBC champion Regis Prograis after scoring an distinctive stoppage victory on Showtime this weekend.
Energy-punching Matias confirmed why he’d develop into one in every of boxing’s most vaunted knockout artists. He stopped the beforehand unbeaten Jeremias Ponce after 5 rounds to win the vacant IBF 140-pound World Championship.
The victory occurred Saturday evening reside from The Armory in Minneapolis, headlining a Premier Boxing Champions occasion.
Puerto Rico’s Matias (19-1, 19 KOs) captured the title in an electrical firefight that noticed the 2 top-ranked 140-pounders throw over 800 mixed punches in 5 rounds in keeping with CompuBox.
For Matias, the victory culminated an extended journey that had him away from his household for almost a yr as he educated in Mexico for his first title alternative.
“I’m on cloud 9 proper now,” mentioned Matias. “I don’t assume I’ve woken up from this dream.
“Perhaps I can inform you the way it feels tomorrow, however proper now, it’s a dream come true.
“I needed to work him from the primary spherical on, as a result of I knew he wouldn’t have the identical energy as me because the battle went on.”
Ponce (30-1, 20 KOs) got here out extraordinarily aggressive and appeared to swarm Matias early as he threw 96 punches in spherical one, out touchdown Matias 28 to 11.
Matias adjusted in spherical two, closing the gap and smothering Ponce to uninteresting a few of his assault whereas additionally discovering spots for his personal quick energy punches.
“I believed it was a fair battle, however one punch can change every little thing and that’s what occurred,” mentioned Ponce. “Subriel is a troublesome, robust fighter and I knew what he was able to.”
After touchdown a robust left hand that damage Ponce late in spherical 4, Matias returned decided and sharp in spherical 5, touchdown 47% of his energy punches over the three minutes.
Within the waning moments of the spherical, Matias landed the decisive blows, a sequence of head and physique pictures that badly damage Matias and put him on the mat.
Ponce was in a position to make it to his stool, however his nook had seen sufficient and recommended that the battle be stopped, with the official end result coming as a TKO on the finish of spherical 5.
“I’m high-quality now,” mentioned Ponce. “My crew is aware of me, and so they made the choice that they needed to make. It hurts, however a very powerful factor is that I’m wholesome.”
“I wasn’t actually stunned,” mentioned Matias. “As soon as, I noticed how his nook reacted. I noticed that [Ponce] was damage. I believed that I used to be affected person within the first 4 rounds. So I got here out with a unique method and mindset within the fifth.”
After the battle, together with his IBF belt in tow, Matias set his sights on a unification showdown in opposition to WBC 140-pound World Champion Regis Prograis.
“Regis Prograis, I’m coming for you,” mentioned Matias. “I’m the world champion now. I promise that I’m coming to harm you.
“Prograis likes to speak the speak, however I’ve that very same mentality. Let’s see who prevails. I would like him to see that there are folks crazier than him on this sport.”
Comply with WBN: Fb, Insta, Twitter.
