Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Las Vegas, USA. In the main event of the show in the WBA eliminator, two top prospects met: the Dominican Michel Rivera (24-1, 14 KOs) lost without options to the American Frank Martin (17-0, 12 KOs) – the protégé of pound champion Errol Spence.
The confrontation began with a shootout with jabs. Left-hander Martin acted a little more aggressively, and Rivera relied on superiority in anthropometry – he kept his opponent at a long distance with a jab.
Martin confidently took the 2nd round: he periodically disturbed the opponent with twos and left straight lines. Rivera looks confused. Something didn’t go according to plan. Perhaps the opponent is a little faster than expected.
.@TheGhost_2016 finding a home for that left in round 2. #RiveraMartin pic.twitter.com/9IVh93nyd4
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) December 18, 2022
“Ali” Rivera is still dangerous. I spent much better in the 3rd three-minute period: more jabs, more often I used my right hand. But he is clearly afraid of Martin’s firepower, because both are noble counter-punchers.
The visual impression is that Rivera is inferior to his opponent in footwork. In the sense that he has a lot of unnecessary fussy movements. Martin has a set job from coach Derrick James, great at creating angles of attack. It seems that he studied the opponent, but Rivera did not.
.@TheGhost_2016 is too quick #RiveraMartin pic.twitter.com/WN2H1qWiWZ
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) December 18, 2022
Both often pierce the body. They still try to pull the opponent towards themselves and counter. Rivera is more active, but there is little benefit from this. Against the background of his activity, Martin’s highest efficiency is even more striking. It is high time for the Dominican to make some changes. He knows how to box left-handed.
This exchange @TheGhost_2016 @zarzabox02 | #RiveraMartin pic.twitter.com/sXyzRE2wdd
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) December 18, 2022
In the 7th round, Martin pulled Rivera onto himself and countered with a combination – he ended up on the floor. Beautifully! How cool Frank feels and controls the distance. And this despite the fact that it is inferior in anthropometry to the opponent. In social networks, Frank is compared not to Spence, but to Terence Crawford. There’s something about it.
KNOCKDOWN
That’s only the second time Rivera has been knocked down in his career!@TheGhost_2016 | #RiveraMartin pic.twitter.com/1EqZNI7GaR
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) December 18, 2022
The 8th round also went to the “Ghost” piggy bank. Cool cross counter. “Ali” Rivera has nothing to answer. He understands that he needs to box more aggressively, but this will make him even more vulnerable. In the corner they don’t know what to do either – they offer to jab more. Funny…
Looks like Derrick James is sure to win Coach of the Year today. How brilliantly they, along with Martin, took Rivera’s jab out of the equation. He continues to stick his front hand into the milk. The American doesn’t just counter, he manages to throw a series of punches in response.
It seems that in the 12th round Martin injured his left hand. But this did not stop him from writing down the decisive three-minute period in his piggy bank. Divine performance. Instead of a competitive fight, we got the complete dominance of the ward James. It is unlikely that Rivera will be given more than one round.
No, you guessed wrong. The score of the judges: 117-110, 118-109 and 120-107 in favor of the American.
Martin UD 12.
Source: https://vringe.com/news/161186-protezhe-spensa-martin-pobil-ali-riveru-v-eliminatore-wba-video.htm?rand=141343
