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LAS VEGAS – Michel Rivera respects Frank Martin’s boxing ability and his willingness to take a difficult fight against an unbeaten opponent at this stage of his career.
The 24-year-old Rivera, who is three years younger than Martin, still feels he is better prepared for their 12-round WBA lightweight elimination match Saturday night at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. The Dominican Republic’s Rivera beat an undefeated fighter two bouts ago, Joseph Adorno, and believes he has faced better competition overall than Indianapolis’ Martin, a southpaw who didn’t take up boxing until he was 18.
“I have undefeated guys on my record before,” Rivera told BoxingScene.com. “It’s not something new for me. It’s something new for him. He never fought with somebody like me. I know he has good skills, is a good guy, but I’m a better guy. Everybody will see in this fight. I know after this fight something good is coming, but I’m focused on this fight right now.”
Rivera (24-0, 14 KOs), a Miami resident, also contends that Martin needed to take this type of fight more than him.
The WBA ranked Rivera number two among its lightweight contenders in its most recent ratings. Rivera is rated sixth by the IBF, ninth by the WBC and 10th by the WBO as well.
Martin (16-0, 12 KOs), who is represented by Errol Spence Jr.’s promotional company, is ranked 10th by the WBA, but he isn’t listed in the top 15 by the IBF, WBC or WBO.
Beating Rivera, however, would move Martin into position for the higher-profile fights he wants within the lightweight division.
“I’m a contender and I’m in position to fight for a world title,” Rivera said. “He needed it. I don’t need him, but he needs me, you know? He’s a prospect and I’m a contender. If I am in his position, I would take the fight. That’s not a surprise. The people that I needed, they don’t want to take the fight – [Isaac] ‘Pitbull’ Cruz or these guys that they already fought for the world title, they don’t take the fight. So no, I’m not surprised he took the fight.”
The 27-year-old Martin performed impressively in his last fight, a 10th-round stoppage of another Dominican contender, Jackson Marinez (20-3, 8 KOs).
The skillful, strong Martin was in complete control before he dropped Marinez once apiece in the ninth and 10th rounds. Their fight, which Showtime televised July 9 from Alamodome in San Antonio, was stopped with 30 seconds to go in the final round, immediately after the second knockdown.
“He’s a good boxer,” Rivera said. “He has good skills. But it’s nothing new for me. He’s focused, but I’m more focused. I’m more hungry and I’m the better guy. I will win this fight. I don’t know if it’ll be by knockout or decision, but I’m ready for a win. That is my word – I will win for sure.”
Rivera has beaten Spanish contender Jon Fernandez (then 21-1) by eighth-round knockout and recorded consecutive unanimous-decision victories over Argentina’s Jose Matias Romero (then 24-1) and Americans Adorno (then 14-0-2) and Jerry Perez (then 14-1) in his past four fights. Perez’s only previous loss came by seventh-round knockout to Martin in April 2021.
Rivera-Martin will headline a “Showtime Championship Boxing” tripleheader scheduled to start at 10 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. PT.
Super middleweight contenders Jose Uzcategui (32-4, 27 KOs) and Vladimir Shishkin (13-0, 8 KOs) are set to square off in the 12-round co-feature, an IBF 168-pound elimination match. In the 12-round opener of Showtime’s telecast, bantamweight contenders Nikolai Potapov (23-2-1, 11 KOs) and Vincent Astrolabio (17-3, 12 KOs) will meet in an IBF eliminator.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.