Despite seemingly being on track to face Jeremias Ponce in an IBF final eliminator, Subriel Matias will instead be taking care of some unfinished business his next time out. Matias’ promoters announced and Lou DiBella confirmed that he’ll rematch Petros Ananyan on Showtime’s January 22nd Gary Russell Jr. vs. Mark Magsayo card.
Matias (17-1, 17 KO) and Ananyan (16-2-2, 7 KO) first met in February 2020 on the Wilder-Fury 2 undercard. Ananyan had suffered losses to Steve Claggett and Kareem Martin in two of his previous three bouts, but wound up shocking Matias by forcing a count and ultimately claiming a decision.
The fight was Matias’ second since his tragic bout with Maxim Dadashev, and he’s since bounced back into contention by battering unbeaten prospects Malik Hawkins and Batyrzhan Jukembayev into submission. Ananyan stayed busy by taking a majority decision over Daniel Gonzalez in October.
As someone who’s very high on Matias, I’m down to watch him go for revenge, even if it does represent another obstacle between him and a title fight.