NEW YORK — Alberto Puello isn't sure whether Subriel Matias hits as hard as Gary Antuanne Russell.

The Dominican southpaw hopes he doesn't afford Matias many opportunities to compare their power Saturday night, either. Puello, the champion, plans to box circles around the aggressive knockout artist in their 12-round fight for the super lightweight title at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens.

Puerto Rico's Matias will pressure the him as much as possible in his attempt to become a two-time champion in the 140-pound division. The former IBF titleholder must consistently cut off the ring if he is to neutralize the elusive, skillful Puello's best attributes and make him a more stationary target.

After closely studying footage of Matias' upset defeat to another southpaw, Australia's Liam Paro, Puello (24-0, 10 KOs) is confident he will make landing flush punches quite a challenge for Matias (22-2, 22 KOs).

"I noticed there were a lot of things that I could do better [than Paro]," Puello told The Ring following an open workout Wednesday at Hard Rock Café New York in Times Square. "One of the things that I noticed was that Paro would stay put sometimes. I'm not a fighter that stays put. I know how to move around and use the ring to the best of my ability."

Paro (26-1, 16 KOs) upset Matias by unanimous decision in a 12-round main event that was designed to showcase the puncher in his native Puerto Rico in June 2024.

Matias was 8-0 (8 KOs) in fights with southpaws prior to Paro's points victory over him at Juan Abreu Coliseum in Manati.

Referee Luis Pabon deducted a point from Paro for excessive holding in the seventh round. Paro still won on the cards of judges John Basile (116-111), Gerardo Martinez (115-112) and Carl Zappia (115-112) and abruptly ruined Matias' plan to become boxing’s undisputed junior welterweight champion.

A motivated Matias knows he can regain his leverage in their division by beating Puello as part of "Ring III," a card DAZN will distribute on pay-per-view in the United States (5 p.m. ET; $59.99) and United Kingdom (10 p.m. BST; £24.99).

Puello has his own plans for unification fights, including a WBC/WBA title rematch with Russell (18-1, 17 KOs), who won the latter belt after a dominant decision win over Jose Valenzuela on March 1. Puello scored a split-decision win over the American southpaw in June 2024 at Las Vegas' MGM Grand Garden Arena.

"I believe that my style is gonna frustrate Matias," Puello said, "because he's gonna have a hard time trying to find me and hit me."