Last month, Michel Rivera improved his record to 19-0 with a 10 round unanimous decision victory over Ladarius "Memphis" Miller (21-2) in San Antonio. The rising 22-year-old prospect fought 10 full rounds for the first time in his career on the Gervonta Davis-Leo Santa Cruz undercard.
Miller, who is promoted by Floyd Mayweather, is one of the most experienced fighters that Rivera has faced in his young career. He entered the fight with an 11 fight win streak. He also missed weight by over 3 pounds but Rivera agreed to fight him anyway.
"The truth is I wasn't surprised that he missed weight. Some of my team said prior to the weigh in that he wouldn't make weight and that he looks like a 140 pounder. None of us were surprised," said Michel.
The Sampson Lewkowicz promoted fighter now has his sights set on the all the big names in the lightweight division. He believes that he is ready to fight for a world title or take on any other big name in the division.
"I want to get back in the ring as soon as possible. I would love the opportunity to fight for a world title. I am ready for fighters like (Devin) Haney, Gervonta Davis, Ryan Garcia and Teofimo Lopez. I believe that I am ready to beat any of them," Rivera told BoxingScene.com.
In the main event, Davis stopped Santa Cruz in 6 rounds with a vicious uppercut. The fight was very competitive leading up to the knockout. Michel was impressed with the knockout but also had a lot of praise for Santa Cruz and the performance that he put on.
"That was a beautiful uppercut but we should make it clear that Santa Cruz is a warrior and even though he was knocked out, he made it a great fight. Davis knew that Santa Cruz is a really a 126 pound fighter and Davis is a 135 pounder so they are really 2 divisions apart," Rivera stated. "I don't doubt that Davis is a good fighter but Santa Cruz isn't in that weight division. Santa Cruz is a fighter with a lot of heart. Congratulations to Davis."
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