Dalton Smith put a bow on an impressive outing against Subriel Matias last night (Sat., Jan 10, 2026) in Brooklyn, New York, stopping the now-former champion in the fifth round to become the new WBC super lightweight champion. From the jump, both men got after it and delivered a fast, back-and-forth pace, though it was […]
Dalton Smith put a bow on an impressive outing against Subriel Matias last night (Sat., Jan 10, 2026) in Brooklyn, New York, stopping the now-former champion in the fifth round to become the new WBC super lightweight champion.
From the jump, both men got after it and delivered a fast, back-and-forth pace, though it was obvious that Smith had the distinct speed advantage and was quicker to the punch in most of the exchanges. Matias, as usual, started off slow and ate a lot of big shots early. That said, he eventually found his groove as the fight went on and started to find his own openings.
In the end, Smith was simply too precise, too quick and just too much for Matias to overcome, and he put the finishing touches by landing three huge right hands that dropped the Puerto Rican fighter to the canvas. The official on duty gave him a chance with a standing count but it was obvious he was out of it, prompting him to call the fight.
Here is another angle of the stoppage:
And just like that, Smith fulfills a lifelong dream and becomes the new WBC super lightweight champion while improving his record to 19-0 with 15 knockouts. The 28 year-old is the first fighter to drop, and then stop Matias and now brings a world title back to Sheffield, Yorkshire, England.
Smith will be a very interested observe later this month as Teofimo Lopez and Shakur Stevenson collide in a huge 150-pound title fight on Jan. 31 inside Madison Square Garden in New York City.
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Category: General Sports
