A date is now attached for a long in-play mandatory title fight.
BoxingScene.com has learned that the Subriel Matias-Shohjahon Ergashev IBF junior welterweight title bout will take place November 4 as part of a Showtime Championship Boxing event. A location was not yet finalized as this goes to publication.
Puerto Rico’s Matias (19-1, 19KOs) will attempt the first defense of the title he claimed in a fifth-round stoppage of unbeaten Jeremias Ponce on Februay 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Their bout came with the vacant belt at stake in lieu of the final leg of a previously ordered four-man box-off to determine the mandatory challenger to then-champ Josh Taylor (19-1, 13KOs).
There were rumors that Matias would face former titlist Sergey Lipinets in a voluntary title defense, with both parties previously on board for the fight. However, it was never approved by the IBF, who ruled on June 28 that Matias must next face Ergashev as his mandatory challenger.
Ergashev (23-0, 20KOs) was prepared to enter his first title eliminator but could not find a willing opponent after the IBF ran through the entire Top 15 junior welterweight rankings. The 31-year-old Uzbek, now based in Detroit, has struggled to secure willing opponents as he has advanced from prospect to contender under Dmitriy Salita’s Salita Promotions.
His most notable win to date came in a ten-round, unanimous decision over Mykal Fox in their February 2019 battle of unbeaten prospects. Six wins have followed, most recently an eight-round decision over Luis Alberto Veron in a stay-busy fight last May 26 in his adopted Detroit hometown.
TGB Promotions secured promotional rights to the fight through an August 22 purse bid, submitting $510,000 to outpace Salita Promotion’s $225,000 bid. Matias is entitled to the favorable end of a 70-30 purse split as the defending titleholder.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox