Rivera and Romero train out of the same gym in Miami and share a promoter, bringing an unusual amount of familiarity into the showdown. Despite that, Rivera insisted post fight that his focus was solely on continuing his promising career ascension.
“I really don’t have beef with anybody,” said Rivera. “I’m just fighting to be great in boxing. He took the fight because he knows me and he needs the money. I said no to this fight at first. He took it. It’s finished now and we both move on.”
The 23-year-old Rivera controlled the fight with a dominating jab as he landed 104 to Romero’s 17. Romero looked to circle Rivera in the early rounds as he tried to keep Rivera from planting his feet and landing power punches.
“I just had trouble getting to the right distance,” said Romero. “He was hitting me with the jab and I just couldn’t reach him. I wanted to counter but I couldn’t get there fast enough. I tried to engage but he really didn’t want to. He beat me fair and square. He didn’t bring anything I haven’t seen before but he did a good job.”
As the fight wore on, Rivera was able to find more places for those power punches to land, including 47 body shots that slowed any attack Romero was able to put together. Overall, Rivera out landed Romero 202 to 106, on his way to a unanimous decision by the score of 100-90 three times.
Despite dominating the fight, Rivera believes he has room for improvement in his performance.
“Well, really I did everything I could,” said Rivera. “I don’t feel good about my performance. I know that I can be a lot better than I showed tonight. Of course I can improve and get some more experience. I’m No. 2 in the WBA so I think I’m just waiting for a world title shot.”
#MichelRivera #RiveraRomero #MatiasRomero
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