By Vince D’Writer: In a clash of hungry unbeaten rising lightweight stars, Frank “The Ghost” Martin dominated the number two ranked WBA contender Michel Rivera (24-1, 14 KOs) as he cruised to a unanimous decision victory at The Chelsea inside the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, live on Showtime.
The opening round was a battle of foot position as the southpaw Martin and the orthodox Rivera both tried to establish their base. Martin instituted his range, and was able to get off first, as he won the opening round by landing a couple of solid combinations.
In the second round, Martin immediately pressed forward as he worked the body, and proceeded to hit his opponent with the one-two combination. Martin was able to neutralize Rivera’s jab due to his fluid movement, and his work rate inside the pocket.
The next round Martin continued to dictate the pace of the fight by using his jab, going to the body, and scoring with the straight left hand. Rivera looked to turn things around in the fourth as he came out feinting and throwing the jab, but Martin closed the round by landing a hard straight left to the body followed by more effective combinations.
Michel Rivera got into a rhythm in the fifth round, and it appeared as though he finally won a round in a fight that was being dominated by Martin. Just when it seemed like Rivera would make his move to get back into the fight, Martin hit Rivera with a left-right combination that sent him down to the canvas in round seven.
Rivera was able to survive the seventh round, but unfortunately for him, things wouldn’t get any better. The remainder of the fight turned into a Frank Martin showcase. Martin showed a high ring IQ, exhibited his ring generalship, and he put his boxing skills on display by thoroughly outboxing his opponent.
Martin controlled the fight from start to finish by using his jab, using his footwork, going to the body, scoring with the big left hand, and sharp combinations. Frank Martin completely outclassed his opponent as he was awarded a unanimous decision victory by the scores of 117-110, 118-109, and 120-107.
With a one-sided victory in the WBA title eliminator bout, Frank “The Ghost” Martin (17-0, 12 KOs) has officially put the rest of the talent rich 135-pound division on notice. Martin aced his toughest test to date, and during his post fight interview he spoke about his confidence level in regards to taking the risk and fighting the highly ranked Michel Rivera.
“I just believe in myself. I believe in myself and I believe in my team. We know what we doing when we in the gym. We working consistently outside the gym. I’m doing my homework. We believe in it. We just believe that we are ready for any of the top fighters. Give them to us. Let us get them. We ready to eat.”
When asked about calling out a fighter, Martin responded by stating, “We want them all. We can get Gervonta Davis, we can get Devin Haney, we can get any of those top guys, we are ready. I see Rolly in here. Rolly my guy, we can get it in too, let’s make it happen.”
