School of the Hard Knocks

Subriel Matias grew up in the small city of Fajardo, in the east of Puerto Rico, whose most famous boxer was former world champion John John Molina.

“I was always fighting in school until I started in boxing,” said Matias, who idolized Hall of Fame Puerto Rican former champion Felix Trinidad and first entered the ring as a 12-year-old. “Boxing changed my way of thinking and behaving. I can say that boxing changed my life completely.”

Matías won 80 of 100 amateur bouts with 22 knockouts, stopping every opponent to win the Isaac Barrientos tournament and earning a silver in another called the Cheo Aponte tournament.

Matias survived shootings in 2012 and again in 2013 which have left scars on his butt, on the inside of his right thigh and another on the inside of his left thigh.

All of this before December 2015, when a 24-year-old, 145-pound Matias debuted professionally with a 61-second stoppage of Juan Rojas Rodriguez.

“I started a bit late in boxing. I was studying and working,” Matias, a former massage therapist, once told reporters in Las Vegas. “You are talking to a dead man who God has brought back to life.”

Matias stopped all three opponents in 2016 in four rounds or fewer, capped by a second-round TKO of Jeffrey Fontanez, who entered their December bout at 16-2 with 12 knockouts. 

There were four more stoppage victories in three or less rounds in 2017, ending with November’s one-knockdown second-round TKO of southpaw Patrick Lopez, a former Olympian who entered at 25-9 with 16 knockouts. 

A sensational 2018 featured four more stoppages, in succession, over Columbia’s Daulis Prescott (February), Mexico’s Adrian Estrella (May), Daulis’ brother, Breidis (August), and former title challenger Fernando David Saucedo (October).

Matias halted Daulis and Breidis Prescott, former contenders, in the third- and fourth-rounds. Saucedo was floored twice during his first-round stoppage loss, and Estrella, a future title challenger who entered at 28-1 (24 KOs), in the fourth.  

On The Come Up

In 2019, Matias scored a sixth-round knockout of Wilberth Lopez in March, an 11th-round TKO over Maxim Dadashev in July and a fifth round stoppage of Jonathan Jose Eniz in November. 

Dadashev was 13-0 (11 KOs) entering their 140-pound title elimination bout, after which the Russian boxer suffered a severe brain injury and died a few days later.

"No one is prepared to die while looking for dreams and goals,” said Matias in a statement. “Fly high, great warrior. Only God knows the reason for things. You will always have my respect. RIP Maxim Dadashev.”

Matias split his next two bouts of 2020, being floored in the seventh of a 10-round unanimous decision loss to Petros Ananyan in February before dominating October’s sixth-round stoppage of previously unbeaten 6-foot Malik Hawkins, who entered at 18-0 (11 KOs). 

The Hawkins victory was a scary performance—easily the finest of his professional career. 

“The biggest difference between this [Hawkins] fight and my loss was the way I trained in the gym,” said Matias, who battered Hawkins with left hooks to the head and body all night, flooring him with a final-round left hook behind the head. 

“I didn’t train as much as I should have for my last fight. Malik didn’t have the power to hurt me. In the first round, I knew that. And that’s when I kept moving forward and started hurting him in the body. That’s what I kept doing, just going to the body.”

Frightening Power

Matias was right back in the ring on May 29, 2021, as he took on Batyrzhan Jukembayev on the Oubaali-Donaire undercard, live on PBC on SHOWTIME from Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. Matias delivered another power-punching display, breaking down previously-unbeaten Jukembayev until Jukembayev’s corner stopped the bout after eight riveting rounds. 

With the win, Matias established himself as one of the best in a stacked division, but this latest win wasn’t easy. Kazakhstan’s Jukembayev came out strong, landing a right hook-right uppercut combination upstairs from his southpaw stance that got Matias’ attention in the first.

Jukembayev pushed the pace in the second. Matias began letting his hands go in the third, throwing in combination to the head and body. Both combatants were now fully warmed up, setting the stage for a fourth round that could be a candidate for “Round of the Year.” It began when a hard left hook staggered Jukembayev and drove him to the canvas. Matias sought to close the show but Jukembayev held on, cleared his head and started landing his own shots. With a minute left in the stanza, Jukembayev stunned Matias with a left cross. Instead of clinching, Matias fought fire with fire, bringing the crowd out of their seats with toe-to-toe action until the bell sounded.

Matias never stopped coming forward. Following a one-sided sixth, Jukembayev returned to his corner with both eyes swelling shut. The back and forth ensued in the seventh as Jukembayev buzzed Matias with two right hooks toward the end of the round.

Matias returned to the driver’s seat in the eighth round, pounding away at Jukembayev with both fists. In total, he out-landed Jukembayev by 100 punches (234/608 to 134 /409) and was more accurate (38.5% to 32.8%). The accumulation of blows was enough to convince Jukembayev’s corner to request the bout be stopped.

A DISH BEST SERVED COLD

Nothing was going to stop Matias from avenging the lone loss of his career in February 2020. It haunted him like a hovering specter for two years, never letting him go.

Finally, Matias had his chance and he didn’t disappoint.

On Saturday, January 22, 2022, Matias took on Petros Ananyan for a second time, this one at the Borgata Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, NJ, on a PBC on SHOWTIME card.

Matias bludgeoned Ananyan over nine rounds, battering the stubborn 33-year-old Russian until he couldn’t answer the bell in the 10th.

“This is the fight that I always wanted,” Matias said. “Ever since my defeat to him, I wanted to avenge the loss. When you’re sure about yourself and you know that you have the skills that you have, you take the rematch.”

By the third, Matias had busted up Ananyan’s face with variety of uppercuts, strafing crosses and with constant pressure.

The few glitches came with 2:41 left in the seventh, when referee Mary Glover deducted a point from Matias for a low blow. The fighters ended the seventh going at each other nonstop.

By the ninth, Ananyan’s face was as red as his trunks. He fought back, though he couldn’t do anything to avoid Matias. Finally, with :02 left in the ninth, a Matias’ left hook to the chin sent Ananyan (16-3-2, 7 KOs) to canvas.

Beaten and swollen, Ananyan couldn’t answer the bell for the 10th.

Puerto Rico Has a New World Champion

On February 25, 2023, Matias showed why he’s become one of boxing’s most vaunted knockout artists as he stopped the previously unbeaten Jeremias Ponce after five rounds to win the vacant IBF 140-pound World Championship at The Armory in Minneapolis 

Puerto Rico’s Matias (19-1, 19 KOs) captured the title in an electric firefight that saw the two top-ranked 140-pounders throw over 800 combined punches in five rounds according to CompuBox. For Matias, the victory culminated a long journey that had him away from his family for nearly a year as he trained in Mexico for his first title opportunity.
 
“I'm on cloud nine right now,” said Matias. “I don't think I've woken up from this dream. Maybe I can tell you how it feels tomorrow, but right now, it's a dream come true. I wanted to work him from the first round on, because I knew he wouldn't have the same power as me as the fight went on.”
 
Ponce (30-1, 20 KOs) came out extremely aggressive and looked to swarm Matias early as he threw 96 punches in round one, out landing Matias 28 to 11. Matias adjusted in round two, closing the distance and smothering Ponce to dull some of his attack while also finding spots for his own short power punches.
 
After landing a powerful left hand that hurt Ponce late in round four, Matias returned determined and sharp in round five, landing 47% of his power punches over the three minutes. In the waning moments of the round, Matias landed the decisive blows, a series of head and body shots that badly hurt Matias and put him on the mat.
 
Ponce was able to make it to his stool, but his corner had seen enough and suggested that the fight be stopped, with the official result coming as a TKO at the end of round five.
 
“I wasn’t really surprised,” said Matias. “Once I saw how his corner reacted. I saw that [Ponce] was hurt. I thought that I was patient in the first four rounds, so I came out with a different approach and mindset in the fifth.”
 
After the fight, with his IBF belt in tow, Matias set his sights on a unification showdown against WBC 140-pound World Champion Regis Prograis.
 
“Regis Prograis, I’m coming for you,” said Matias. “I’m the world champion now. I promise that I’m coming to hurt you. Prograis likes to talk the talk, but I have that same mentality. Let’s see who prevails. I want him to see that there are people crazier than him in this sport.”