IBF junior welterweight No.1 contender Subriel Matias appears to be heading to the US for his next fight after three straight bouts in his homeland of Puerto Rico with his promoter, Dmitriy Salita, still believing he has the best fighter in the division. 

Matias earned a technical knockout over Gabriel Gollaz Valenzuela in the eighth-round at Coliseo Tomas Dones in Fajardo, Puerto Rico on March 1.

Matias, a 32-year-old from Farajdo, Puerto Rico, now holds the position as the mandatory challenger for the title he once held and a belt currently held by Richardson Hitchins.

“Subriel Matias is the best junior welterweight in the world,” Salita told BoxingScene. ”He is now the mandatory to Hitchins. We'll see if it makes sense for him to fight before that.”

The next vision for Salita is to bring Matias to the United States with the goal of fighting in New York City. Salita hopes that he would follow in a long tradition of Puerto Rican fighters who have been embraced by New York fans. It was best seen with Felix Trinidad and followed by Miguel Cotto. Salita is aiming for Matias to build a connection in that market. 

“I feel that it's very important to connect the Puerto Rican fighter to New York City,” Salita said. “That’s always been how great Puerto Rican stars are built, so that has to happen at some point.

“Then obviously Matias and Hitchins being from New York City would be a great event. I think the next step would be to take Subriel out of Puerto Rico and bring him to the United States.”

Will Matias fight Hitchins, 19-0 (7 KOs), the 27-year-old from New Yorker next? The answer is unclear.

“I think the [IBF] mandatory fight is not due for a while,” Salita said. “It may not be due until late this year. Once we get clarity on that and if that is truly the case then he would probably be wise to get into a ring around the same time that Hitchins gets into the ring and that is a great way to build a fight.”

Victory for Matias, 22-2 (22 KOs), over Valenzuela, 30-4-1 (17 KOs), a 30-year-old from Guadalajara, Mexico, sets the stage for him to contest for the IBF title. Matias, 32, is currently on a two-fight win streak since losing his title to Liam Paro last June. 

“Puerto Rico, I do believe that it's a land of champions and has the ability to and has produced many great fighters and Matias is at the top of the pack now,” Salita said.

Salita is ambitious and would like to match Matias against pay-per-view star Gervonta Davis, who fought to a majority draw on the same night against Lamont Roach Jnr.

“We teased it early in the week with a graphic saying, ‘Can Gervonta Davis and Matias be next? Salita said. “From what I saw on Saturday night, I think Matias cleans the floor with Gervonta Davis. He's just non-stop coming forward to take your body and soul inside the ring.”