Subriel Matias will be defending his WBC light welterweight title in 21 days against his mandatory challenger, Dalton Smith, on January 10, 2026, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

It’s a fight that will allow fans to see for themselves if Smith’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, is right about him. He views Matias’ fighting style as “perfect” for Dalton and predicts a knockout win for him in their 12-round headliner.

What makes it difficult to agree with Hearn is Smith’s lack of experience against world-level opposition during his six-year pro career. While he’s done an admirable job of compiling an unbeaten 18-0 record, none of the victories have come against top-level fighters.

The 28-year-old Smith’s best wins have come against fringe-level fighters. He’s done what he’s supposed to, beating the opposition put in front of him, but he’s not fought the type of talents that would give people the chance to gauge accurately how well he’ll do when he gets through with the Puerto Rican knockout artist.

Dalton’s last five wins:

• Mathieu Germain
• Walid Quizza
• Jose Zepeda
• Sam Maxwell
• Billy Allington

Smith has not faced several established contenders in the 140-pound division: Ernesto Mercado, Keyshawn Davis, Oscar Duarte, Jamaine Ortiz, and Kenneth Sims.

One of the problems in the sport is that fighters aren’t tested before fighting for world titles. The emphasis is on putting together a record to earn them a title shot, but there’s no developing. Is Smith a beneficiary of this? We’ll see. Perhaps the sparring he’s had will make up for the lack of quality opposition he’s faced during his career.

“Subriel is a tremendous fighter, but it’s just the perfect style for Dalton Smith. I think he’ll stop Subriel Matias late in the fight,” said promoter Eddie Hearn to Ring Magazine.

Smith’s best chance of winning is to try for an early knockout, because if the fight with Matias goes into the later rounds, the chances of him getting beaten down and stopped will increase.

“Don’t run. You haven’t faced anyone like me before, and I will prove that to you on January 10,” said Matias to Boxingscene about Smith.

The Matias-Smith was briefly at risk of being canceled after Matias came up positive in a VADA-conducted test for low levels of the banned substance Ostarine. The New York State Athletic Commission and WBC cleared Matias. So, the fight is being allowed to continue.