Subriel Matias will remain off the free agent market through at least his next fight.
BoxingScene.com has learned that Puerto Rico’s Matias will make the first defense of his IBF junior welterweight title versus former claimant Sergey Lipinets. A date and location was not yet confirmed, though ESPN.com boxing insider Mike Coppinger—who first reported the development—noted that August 26 is in play for the battle between oft-avoided 140-pound fighters.
Matias (19-1, 19KOs) claimed the IBF belt in a fifth-round knockout of unbeaten Jeremias Ponce on February 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The win was the fourth straight for the 31-year-old knockout artist from Fajardo, Puerto Rico, a streak that includes a ninth-round knockout of Petros Ananyan last January 22 to avenge his lone career defeat.
Rumors swirled of Matias and his team testing the free agent market. Included among those interested in securing his services was Matchroom Boxing, who recently signed WBC junior welterweight titlist Regis Prograis (28-1, 24KOs).
It appears that Matias will—for now—stick with Premier Boxing Champions (PBC), who was eager to keep the hard-hitting Boricua under its banner.
With that came the decision to pull Lipinets (17-2-1, 13KOs) from a previously targeted July 15 clash versus Elvis Rodriguez, who will instead face former titlist Viktor Postol on the date.
Lipinets gets an upgrade out of the deal and the chance to become a two-time IBF titlist.
The 34-year-old Kazakhstan native—who now lives and trains in California—won the belt in a November 2017 points victory over Akihiro Kondo. His reign lasted just four months before he was dealt a twelve-round, points loss to then-unbeaten pound-for-pound entrant Mikey Garcia in March 2018.
Lipinets has fought just six times in the five years that have passed, and not since last August 20 when he knocked out Omar Figueroa in the eighth round of their Showtime main event from Hollywood, Florida. He landed the fight on less than one week’s notice, as Lipinets replaced Adrien Broner who withdrew due to a needed mental health reset.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox