The long-awaited WBC junior welterweight title fight between Subriel Matías and Dalton Smith is officially moving forward on January 10, with the bout now confirmed to take place in Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York. Fresh Productions, Matías’ promoter, secured the rights to the fight with a $1.9 million purse bid, signaling their intention to test the Puerto Rican champion’s drawing power in the city where he’s delivered some of his biggest wins.
The matchup briefly appeared in doubt after Matías returned an adverse analytical finding for Ostarine, a banned performance-enhancing substance, from a November 9 VADA test. The result raised the possibility of him being stripped and a potential Smith-Puello vacant title fight being ordered. However, at the WBC convention in Bangkok, president Mauricio Sulaimán declared that the commission was satisfied the positive test stemmed from contaminated supplements rather than intentional doping. As a result, Matías has been cleared to compete, though he will spend one year on probation and must undergo additional testing at his own expense leading into fight night.
Matías is coming off a thrilling majority-decision win over Alberto Puello in July at Louis Armstrong Stadium - his second world title reign at 140 pounds. His power and history of stoppages have made him a feared figure in the division.
Smith enters as a live underdog and a decorated regional champion with notable wins over Jose Zepeda, Sam Maxwell, and Mathieu Germain. Regardless of the controversy, the original plan remains intact: the winner will be ordered to face Puello next.
The undercard is also taking shape. Former two-time IBF bantamweight champion Emmanuel Rodríguez returns for the first time since losing his title to Ryosuke Nishida, while two-time Olympian Jeyvier Cintrón and junior welterweight Alfredo Santiago will compete in separate bouts.
Fight card:
▪️Subriel Matias vs. Dalton Smith, 12 rounds, for Matias’s WBC World super lightweight title
▪️Alfredo Santiago vs. Hendri Cedeno, 10 rounds, for Santiago’s WBO NABO super lightweight title
▪️Jeyvier Cintron vs. Jonathan Rodriguez, 10 rounds, for Cintron’s WBO Inter-Continental super lightweight title
▪️Nestor Bravo vs. Pedro Campa, 10 rounds, super lightweight
▪️Emmanuel Rodriguez vs. Fernando Diaz, 10 rounds, bantamweight
▪️Keith Colon vs. TBA, 8 rounds, featherweight
▪️Jahanzeb Rizwan vs. TBA, 4 rounds, middleweight
