Argentine boxing will live its first great moment of 2023 when at midnight on sunday, Jeremías Ponce from Buenos Aires facing Puerto Rican Subriel Matías for the super lightweight title (63,500 kg) of the International Federation that was opportunely vacated by Scotsman Josh Taylor. The agreed 12-round fight will take place at The Armory in Minneapolis (United States) and will be broadcast from 11:15 p.m. on ESPN 2 and Star +.
A review of the background of both allows us to predict an explosive and perhaps brief process. Ponce, a 26-year-old boxer carved with the care of goldsmiths by Alberto Zacarías and his son Patricio at his school in Rafael Calzada, He arrives undefeated in 30 fights with 20 wins before the limit. While the Puerto Rican Matías impresses with his record of 18 victories, all by knockouts and one defeat. Ponce never had a boxer like Matías ahead of him with such a heavy hand and so good in the short distance. But Matías also didn’t see it with someone like Ponce who, with a good combination, can settle a fight at any time.
Zacarías himself, one of the most competent technicians and experts in national boxing, believes that “It’s a 50 percent fight for each one, because Matías hits very hard, but we don’t know how much he’s going to react when Jeremías puts pressure on him, I think Ponce wins by knockout.” Forecasts aside, Ponce won the four times he appeared abroad (never in the United States), three of them by fast track, and in 2019 it conquered the crown of the category in the version of the International Organizationhe. A title of second order but that helped him to position himself and be looked at with interest by the most important entities
Two Argentines appear in the impressive record of Puerto Rican Matías: Fernando Saucedo (2018) and Jonathan Eniz (2019). He glared at both of them without regard and only the Armenian Petros Ananyan stopped his unstoppable march by beating him on points and knocking him down in 2020.
It will be necessary to see which of the two puts the first knockout hand. Whoever is able to endure it will be in a better position to take the title in a category that means a lot in the history of Argentine pugilism: Nicolino Locche, Uby Sacco and Juan Martín Coggi once reigned in it, and more here in time, Marcos Maidana and Lucas Matthysse. Ponce wants to be the last link in this glorious chain.