Subriel Matias came out victorious on March 1 when he faced Gabriel Gollaz Valenzuela at Coliseo Tomas Dones in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. Making his hometown ring appearance, the former world champion won the IBF super lightweight title eliminator.
Matias dominated and out-landed tough Valenzuela, who also suffered a big cut. The scheduled 12-round bout was stopped in the eighth round by referee after the Mexican fighter was forced to take a knee.
Fajardo’s 32-year-old Subriel Matias improved to 22-2, 22 KOs and secured his second win in a row since dropping the IBF 140-pound belt by unanimous decision to Liam Paro last June. 30-year-old Gabriel Gollaz Valenzuela from Guadalajara, Jalisco dropped to 30-4-1, 17 KOs, which snapped his five-fight winning streak.
“Gollaz Valenzuela proves that Mexican fighters fight for their country,” Subriel Matias said. “He showed the heart of a warrior, but I came ready for 12 rounds. I trained two years in Mexico, and I know how they train. They are very dedicated boxers, and I have great respect for them. I learned a lot from them as well.”
Matias is now the mandatory challenger for current IBF super lightweight champion Richardson Hitchins.
“I am happy but won’t be complete until I get the world title. I will be a two-time world champion and want to avenge my loss against Liam Paro.”
In an all-Dominican co-feature, Alfredo Santiago (17-2, 8 KOs) defeated former champion Javier Fortuna (39-6-1, 28 KOs) by TKO. The latter’s corner called it a day prior to the start of the ninth round. With the win, Santiago, who also scored a knockdown in the eighth round, retained his WBO NABO super lightweight title.
Among other Matias vs Valenzuela results, Xolisani Ndongeni (33-6, 19 KOs) of South Africa pulled off an upset defeating Puerto Rico’s Nestor Bravo (23-1, 16 KOs) by split decision. After 10 rounds at super lightweight, the scores were 95-94, 98-92 for Ndongeni, and 97-92 for Bravo.
Pryce Taylor (7-0, 5 KOs) of Brooklyn, NY dropped Trevor Kotara (4-4-1, 1 KO) of Mesa, AZ multiple times and TKO’d in the first round at heavyweight. Kicking off the action, Orlando, FL-based Jean Guerra Vargas (10-0, 4 KOs) eliminated Alexander Mejia (19-11, 8 KOs) of Nicaragua in the fourth round.