IBF orders Subriel Matias-Gabriel Valenzuela elimination bout at 140

Junior welterweights Subriel Matias and Gabriel Gollaz Valenzuela have been ordered to face each other in an elimination bout, with the winner becoming the mandatory contender for the IBF title currently held by Richardson Hitchins.

BoxingScene obtained a copy of the letter the IBF sent to both teams on January 8.

The letter referred to Matias and Valenzuela as “the two highest-ranked available contenders.” Matias is ranked No. 5 by the IBF while Valenzuela is No. 6. The first and second slots are vacant. The third and fourth slots belong, respectively, to Jack Catterall and Arnold Barboza Jnr. However, Catterall and Barboza are scheduled to fight February 15 for the WBO’s interim title.

Both teams have until 5 p.m. ET on January 11 to let the IBF know whether their fighters are available to participate in the bout. Otherwise, the IBF will look further down its rankings, which were last updated on December 9. 

Currently listed after Valenzuela are Elvis Rodriguez, Kariton Agrba, Jose Ramirez, Dalton Smith, Kenneth Sims Jnr, Mathieu Germain, Lindolfo Delgado, Jamaine Ortiz and Michel Rivera.

Matias, 21-2 (21 KOs), used to be the IBF titleholder, winning the vacant belt in February 2023 with a stoppage of Jeremias Nicolas Ponce. He defended it with a TKO of Shohjahon Ergashev in November 2023 but then dropped the title in a homecoming bout in his native Puerto Rico, losing a unanimous decision to Liam Paro last June. Matias returned in November with a two-round TKO of Roberto Ramirez.

Paro lost the title to Hitchins in December via split decision.

Valenzuela, 30-3-1 (17 KOs), suffered two of those defeats very early in his career, including a decision loss to a very young William Zepeda. He then had 22 victories and one draw before losing a close decision to Montana Love in May 2022. Valenzuela has scored five consecutive wins since.