HAVING proven his worth as a genuine world champion, Alberto Puello prepares for his toughest test to date, tasked with a feared knockout artist in fellow Caribbean islander, Subriel Matias.
Bringing a baseball rivalry into the boxing ring, Alberto Puello, 24-0 (10 KOs), can become the second Dominican Republic boxer to defeat a Puerto Rican in a world title contest, 57 years after Carlos Cruz claimed Carlos Ortiz’s undisputed lightweight crown.
Puello outpointed Gary Antuanne Russell in an upset win last June for the WBC Interim strap and was later upgraded to full world champion, following Devin Haney’s decision to vacate the belt.
Back in March, the 30-year-old southpaw made a first defence of the title, overcoming Sandor Martin via split-decision in a nip-and-tuck affair to retain the title by the skin of his teeth.
On Saturday night in New York, Puello is facing a true acid test, as he takes on former IBF titleholder Subriel Matias, 22-2 (22 KOs), considered by many to be one of the hardest pound-for-pound punchers and most brutal proposals in the sport.
Matias’ reign began when he halted Jeremias Ponce in March 2023. After that, the Fajardo-born phenomenon would make just one defence of the IBF title, stopping Shohjahon Ergashev to continue an insane stretch of forcing five straight corner retirements.
However, last June, Liam Paro showed no such quit and proved that Matias can be outsmarted rather than outfought or out-brawled. Keeping busy by throwing over 1,200 punches, both on the outside and then clinching, Paro was able to restrict Matias’ inside opportunities.
Since then, Matias has appeared twice and maintained his 100% knockout ratio, but he will need to show that he is more than just a ferocious puncher if he is to hand Puello a first career defeat on Saturday night.
Puello has the much-desired knack of finding a way to win and forcing fights to become scrappy ones, whilst the entertaining challenger is often considered a must-watch fighter.
Against Russell, Puello showed that he possesses the intelligence to nullify hard-hitting opposition, whilst Paro was able to disarm Matias similarly.
With the blueprints laid out in those previous contests, Puello’s size and smarts will help him to scrape a win on the scorecards and retain the WBC super-lightweight world title on Saturday night.
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