Subriel Matias can’t wrap his mind around what just happened.

The 33-year-old Puerto Rican, making the first defense of his WBC 140-pound title against Dalton Smith on Saturday, was leading on two cards when a hard combination in the fifth round sent him to the canvas. He was able to get up, but referee Ricky Gonzalez decided he was hurt too badly to continue and waved it off.

Losing his belt stings, but losing by stoppage had been unfathomable even against a good puncher like Smith (19-0, 14 KOs).

“I never thought I would get knocked out in my career,” Matias said on a self-recorded video posted on his Instagram account. “For the first time, they stopped me. It’s something I used to do to others.”

Adding to the pain is the fact Matias (23-3, 22 KOs) believes he could've continued fighting at Brooklyn's Barclays Center.

“I feel like it was a bad stoppage,” he said. “But that’s boxing. There’s a referee, and he did what he thought was right.”

Matias must now try to figure out what went wrong and begin the rebuilding process a second time. He lost his IBF junior welterweight title to Liam Paro in June 2024.