Moments after Subriel Matias relieved Alberto Puello of his WBC junior welterweight title at Ring III on July 12 in New York, he was greeted in the ring by mandatory challenger Dalton Smith.

It appeared the two were on a collision course to contest the title as part of Ring IV headlined by David Benavidez vs. Anthony Yarde on Nov. 22.

However, that wasn't the case. And after both parties couldn't come to an agreement, the fight went to a purse bid.

On Tuesday in Mexico City, Fresh Productions, Matias' promoter, outbid Matchroom, which promotes Smith, to win the rights to stage the fight. The winning bid was $1,900,000. Matchroom bid $1,710,000.

Fresh Productions announced it plans to stage the fight in the fall in Puerto Rico, Matias' home country.

Matias (23-2, 22 KOs), rated No. 2 by The Ring at junior welterweight, bludgeoned previously unbeaten Jeremias Ponce (RTD 5) to claim the vacant IBF title in February 2023.

He made one successful defense, against Shohjahon Ergashev (RTD 6), before surprisingly losing his title in a homecoming defense against Liam Paro (UD 12) in June 2024. However, he recalibrated with a pair of wins before edging home against Puello (MD 12) to become WBC titlist.

Smith (18-0, 13 KOs), rated at No. 8 by The Ring at junior welterweight, won British, Commonwealth, European and WBC regional titles. He owns wins over Sam Maxwell (TKO 7), former world title challenger Jose Zepeda (KO 5) and, in his most recent outing, Mathieu Germain by lopsided 12-round unanimous decision.