Former IBF light welterweight champion Subriel Matias weighed in at 139.8 lbs, and his opponent, Gabriel Gollaz Valenzuela, also weighed in at 139.8 lbs at Friday’s weigh-in for their 12-round headliner, live on DAZN on Saturday, March 1st, at the Coliseo Tomas Dones in Fajardo, Puerto Rico.
Matias vs. Valenzuela will fight in an IBF light welterweight title eliminator to determine the mandatory for champion Richardson Hitchins. The 32-year-old Subriel was dethroned by Liam Paro last summer, losing a 12-round unanimous decision in front of his fans on June 15th in Manati, Puerto Rico.
That was a surprise defeat for Matias, because he had been expected to steamroll Paro going into that match, but he could deal with the clever tactics the Aussie used in the fight.
Matias 21-2, 21 KOs) really needs a solid performance in this fight to help make his fans forget about how awful he looked in his loss to Paro. He had gone into that fight looking like the class of the light welterweight division, but Paro made him look clueless in that encounter.
What was interesting was how Matias couldn’t find any strategy to deal with the movement, and Paro used frequent clinching in that fight. It was if it was the first time he’d ever fought an opponent that used those tactics.
Valenzeula (30-3-1, 17 KOs) is seen as a longshot in winning this fight, as he’s never beaten anyone close to the level of Matias during his career. The last time Valenzuela fought a decent opponent was against Montana Love in 2022. You can’t rule out a win for Valenzuela if Matias turns in another performance like he did against Paro, but it’s likely that we’ll see the former IBF champion win this fight in style.
In the co-feature, light welterweight Alfredo Santiago (16-2, 7 KOs) weighed in at 139.75 lbs for his fight against former Super featherweight champion Javier Fortuna (39-5-1, 28 KOs) for their 12 round fight. Fortuna weighed in at 144. He’s won two out of his last four fights coming into Saturday’s match against Santiago.
