Salvador Rodriguez, confirming an earlier report from Fernando Barbosa, brings word that super lightweight contenders Subriel Matias and Gabriel Gollaz Valenzuela will meet in a previously ordered IBF final eliminator on March 1st in Puerto Rico.
The winner would be in line for a crack at newly crowned champion Richardson Hitchins, who’s reportedly pursuing a unification bout with WBO titlist Teofimo Lopez. Lopez infamously rejected a March clash with Matias (21-2, 21 KO) that was by all accounts nearly finalized.
Gollaz (30-3-1, 17 KO) doesn’t offer that level of prestige, but as I said before, he should still make for a good fight. He’s durable, aggressive, and good enough to push Matias to the limit if the hometown favorite isn’t in peak form. That’s a genuine possibility here; Matias looked listless in his loss to Liam Paro and got rocked early by the unheralded Roberto Ramirez in last November’s comeback fight.
Hopefully the broadcast will prove as easy to watch as the fight itself.