Frank Martin capped off 2022 with a dominating victory over Michel Rivera tonight on Showtime, earning a clear 12-round decision in a match that was never really in doubt.
Martin took the fight on unanimous decision scores of 117-110, 118-109 and 120-107. Bad Left Hook also unofficially had it 120-107. The fight was a WBA eliminator, so Martin would be in line for a shot at one of the belts currently held by Devin Haney.
Martin (17-0, 12 KOs) has been on a good streak this year, beating Romero Duno, Jackson Marinez and now Rivera, each fighting a bit more like a paper test than the last, and none of them standing up. also ends A lot of sweat in the ring for the 28-year-old “Ghost”, promoted by Errol Spence Jr and trained by Derrick James.
And if Martin passed his test with flying colors tonight, we have to admit that Rivera (24-1, 14 KOs) failed his test rather badly. That’s not to say the 24-year-old Dominican was written off forever, but he was making some major tactical mistakes early in the fight that he never corrected, and looked a bit shocked at the speed and pace. Martin’s timing in just the first two laps.
Any innings Rivera has struggled in is likely more down to Martin not throwing much than anything special Rivera has done, or any notable hits he has really had. Rivera was also dropped in the seventh round, and he never really looked like he was in that fight. He’s young enough to improve for sure, but there will have to be some changes.
It’s also possible that Martin is just special, and he talks like he thinks he is in 2023.
“There were things I saw in there that I didn’t capitalize on, but I went in there and got the job done,” Martin said. “I could have done a lot more, but what we did tonight worked for us. But there is a lot of room for improvement to improve, and we will keep working.
I believe in myself. I believe in my team. We know what we did in the gym,” Martin replied when asked why he was up for a challenge instead of an easier fight on paper. “We work out steadily. We believe in it and we believe that we are ready for one of the best fighters. Give them to us, we are ready to eat.”
When asked if he had a direct call to make, Martin simply replied, “We want them all. We can have Gervonta Davis, we can have Devin Haney, we can have any of these top guys. We are ready. I see Rolly (Romero) here, he can have it too. Let’s make it happen, man.
Highlights of Rivera vs. Martin
Undercard Highlights and Results
- Vladimir Shishkin UD-12 José Uzcategi: It was an IBF eliminator, although Showtime hinted at the idea of Shishkin (14-0, 8 KOs) fighting secondary WBA guard David Morrell Jr, which could be a good fight. Canelo Alvarez, of course, holds all the true belts at 168. The scores here were 115-113, 117-111, and 117-111. It was a good fight, Shishkin just the better man overall; I think 115-113 is a round or closer than really reasonable, but it’s not the worst card you’ll see. I had 118-110, so a bit wider than the judges, but 116-112 also seems about right to me. Shishkin edged Uzcategui (32-5, 27 KOs) by a healthy margin and never seemed to have any issues with the veteran’s power, outplaying him and landing cleaner, more consistent punches for most of the fight. It was a really solid performance from the Detroit-based Russian, who is now “officially”, as you can tell, in the super middleweight mix.
- Vincent Astrolabio KO-6 Nikolai Potapov: A very good performance for Astrolabio, as he dominated this fight quite well, and is now in line for a shot at the IBF title, which should soon become vacant when Naoya Inoue drops to 122 pounds. The most likely fight would appear to be Astrolabio vs. Emmanuel Rodriguez, which is certainly doable internally at PBC. Astrolabio (18-3, 13 KOs) put out Potapov (23-3-1, 11 KOs) in the first round, and it could have been twice, but one of them was found guilty. Every time he landed clean, he seemed to affect Potapov, who at 32 has likely worked his way out of the bantamweight hunt. Potapov lost again in round five, then finished in round six, taking referee Robert Hoyle’s 10 count. Astrolabio, 25, looks like he just put it all together, which sometimes happens, and he’s in the running at 118 now.
- Omar Juarez UD-10 Austin Dulay: A weird fight, where Juarez (14-1, 5 KO) was docked three-pointers — two in second, one in fourth — for repeated low kicks, and they were pretty well deserved, honestly. He went down low; I don’t think he was trying, but he did, and I also don’t think Dulay (15-4, 11 KOs) was looking for a DQ win here, because some other shots went a little low than he could or would have reacted much more dramatically if he tried that. He rightfully kept getting kicked low. The scores ended up 94-93, 96-91 and 96-91 for Juarez, and I had it 96-91 for him too, giving Dulay only the 10th round. Fouls aside, it was definitely a solid outing for Juarez, and I thought he was just the better fighter pretty much all night, including the rounds where he was tied up on points.
- Elijah Garcia TKO-2 Cruze Stewart: Good win for 19-year-old middleweight prospect Garcia, who moves to 13-0 (11 KOs). He dropped Stewart (8-2, 6 KOs) midway through the second round, and referee Robert Byrd – who is retiring after tonight – made the stoppage with Stewart still unsettled. Garcia came to fight, Stewart tried to meet him directly, and Stewart got arrested.
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