NEW YORK — Suddenly, Eddie Hearn holds quite a few cards at 140 pounds.

The Matchroom chief sat ringside as his fighter, Dalton Smith, went toe-to-toe with Subriel Matias and lived to tell the tale, winning the WBC junior welterweight title by fifth-round stoppage on Saturday night in New York.

Brooklyn’s Barclays Center fell silent as Smith dropped and stopped his man in an early Fight of the Year contender. Once the fight was over, Hearn rushed the ring to congratulate his new champion.

Hearn wants Smith to recuperate, but in the meantime Hearn will be working hard on the selection of his next opponent. Although the junior welterweight division has a ton of big names to choose from, Hearn likes the idea of giving Smith the chance to win another world title.

“We’ve got Richardson Hitchins,” Hearn told The Ring immediately after. “That would be a huge unification fight.”

Hitchins, The Ring’s No. 1 ranked 140-pounder and current IBF champion, was hoping to have a fight date by now.

After successfully defending his strap against George Kambosos last summer, Hitchins (20-0, 8 KOs) was expected to make an appearance on ‘The Ring 6’ on January 31 at Madison Square Garden.

However, just when Hitchins looked to be on the verge of signing to fight Jamaine Ortiz, the deal fell through. Since then, Hitchins has said he wants to take on a big name.

Hearn now believes that Smith (19-0, 14 KOs) fits that mold. Putting them in the ring against one another could be easy. Smith has been a part of Hearn’s stable since the beginning and Hitchins recently re-signed a multi-fight deal with Matchroom in early December.

As previously reported by various outlets and later confirmed by The Ring, Hearn is entertaining the idea of making a fight between Hitchins and No. 3 ranked IBF contender, Oscar Duarte. But while that fight may very well be on the table, Hearn may push past him and put on a bigger fight.

“It’s possible,” Hearn admitted when discussing Duarte as possibly being next for the IBF champion. “But maybe we’ll just unify against Hitchins.”