By Jim Calfa: Michel Rivera weighed in at 134 1/2 lbs at Friday’s weigh-in for his 12-round WBA lightweight title eliminator against Frank ‘The Ghost’ Martin this Saturday, December 17th, on Showtime at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Errol Spence-promoted Martin (16-0, 12 KOs) weighed in at 134 3/4 lbs for his 10:00 p.m. ET event against the unbeaten Rivera (24-0, 14 KOs).
During the face-off, the Ali-lookalike 24-year-old Rivera smirked at the glaring Martin, who appeared to be attempting to intimidate him.
In the co-feature, Jose Uzcategui will be fighting Vladimir Shishkin in an IBF super middleweight title eliminator.
Undercard weights
- José Uzcátegui – 167 ½ lbs. vs. Vladimir Shishkin – 167 ¼ lbs.
- Vincent Astrolabio – 117 ½ lbs. vs. Nikolay Potapov – 117 lbs.
“For sure, I’m better. I’m 100% ready for this fight. I know he’s a good guy, but I’m a better guy,” said Michel Rivera to Fighthype, discussing his fight with Frank Martin.
“We don’t know. Maybe I have to fight with him,” said Rivera when asked how important the jab will be for him. I have to see what he come, but I’m ready for whatever. That’s it.”
“That’s what he thinks. That’s his opinion, and that’s how he feel,” said Frank Martin to Fighthype, reacting to being asked about his thoughts on Rivera smirking at him during the weigh-in.
“As soon as we get in the ring, he’ll see who’s stronger and who the more dominant man is in that ring. He’ll see come Saturday night. I dealt with it with my last opponent [Jackson] Marinez.
“I kind of started late. We didn’t have a full, full game plan, but this fight will be a little different. I’ve had little more time to train for this opponent, so it’ll be a little more different than my last fight.
“I feel like he’s going to come out for this fight and have a little more speed and power in the beginning rounds. By the later rounds, I’ll break him.
“I feel like he’s balanced. He can do a little bit of everything,” said Martin when asked what Rivera is best at. “He can box, he can counterpunch. He’s got a little finesse to him, so he can do a little bit of everything.
“It’s more of a dominant style,” said Martin about what he’s learned from Errol Spence Jr. “I can switch it up. I can be dominant if I want to, and I can be finesse. I can be slick,” said Martin.