Notebook: Rivera, Martin put unbeaten records on line in Showtime main event

Andrade ready to roll in return; BetUS show; Quick hits; Show and tell

Dec 17, 2022

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Lightweight up-and-comers Michel Rivera and Frank Martin have no interest in waiting around for a fight of significance or in taking bouts just to keep padding their already-glossy records.

They are in a hurry to get to the top of the deep lightweight division, so they have taken an unusual path by agreeing to face each other early in their careers.

They will put their unbeaten records at stake in the hopes of making a splash and launching their careers to the next level when they meet in a WBA title eliminator in the main event of a Premier Boxing Champions tripleheader on Saturday (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET) at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

“It’s not normal for two undefeated guys to put their records on the line,” Rivera said at Thursday’s pre-fight news conference. “I’m telling everyone, you can’t miss this fight. This is going to be amazing.”

Like Rivera, Martin excitedly accepted the fight, knowing what a win would mean to his career.

“This is the fight that’s going to get me to the next level,” Martin said. “I’m not looking past Rivera, but my main thing is just to get in there and capitalize off the game plan and get the victory. Then we’ll keep going up from there.”

Rivera (24-0, 14 KOs), 24, of the Dominican Republic, has scored four wins in a row against good opposition: a one-sided decision over Jerry Perez in October, a decision over then-unbeaten Joseph Adorno in March, plus two wins in 2021, a decision over Jose Matias Romero, whose only previous loss was a decision to contender Isaac Cruz, and an eight-round knockout of one-loss Jon Fernandez.

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Martin, who handed Perez his only other loss, is a step up from those opponents for Rivera.

“We know that Martin is a good boxer with abilities, but I’m the guy. I’m bigger and stronger,” Rivera insisted. “He’s strong and confident too, but I’m more confident. This is my time and I have to do everything to win this fight.

“This fight is everything. I believe that I’m more talented, but I like that he’s confident. For me, this is the best fight of the year. Nobody should miss this fight. I’ve really done a lot of work for this camp. This is my first main event and I have to make this my time. I’m dedicated and motivated. On Saturday, everyone will see a new superstar in the ring. He’s a southpaw, but that’s nothing new. I’ve been fighting with guys more experienced than him for a while. We know he’s got Errol Spence Jr. behind him, but that doesn’t mean anything in the ring. I’m 100 percent confident that I’m winning this fight.”

Martin (16-0, 12 KOs), 27, of Indianapolis, who is a protégé of unified welterweight titlist Spence and shares trainer Derrick James with him, is equally as confident.

“Come fight night, we’ll see who’s stronger and faster,” Martin said. “He may have more length, but we’ll see who dominates and who hits the hardest on Saturday. I’m ready and I’m prepared. I put in all the hard work in the gym. Everything is done. Come fight night, I’m ready to put it all on the line. I know that I’m coming out with the victory because of all the overtime I put in while training.”

Martin has notched two knockout wins so far in 2022, having put away fringe contender Jackson Marinez in the 10th round in July and the Romero Duno in the fourth round in January.

“I’m coming to dominate,” Martin said. “Rivera’s) a good fighter, but on Saturday night, I’m here to show him exactly what kind of fighter I am. Rivera is a good, balanced fighter. He can punch, he can counter-punch, and he’s got some finesse to him. He’s got a game plan and so do we. We’re going to be ready to adjust. No matter what he comes with, we’re going to have something for him. We’ve got all the answers. We’re two undefeated fighters that are super hungry. You’re going to see a lot of hunger in that ring. We’re going to come out and do what we do.”

The undercard features two IBF title elimination bouts:

Former super middleweight titlist Jose Uzcategui (32-4, 27 KOs), 31, a Mexico-based Venezuelan, will face Vladimir Shishkin (13-0, 8 KOs), 31, a Detroit-based Russian, in a 168-pound eliminator.
Nikolai Potapov (23-2-1, 11 KOs), 32, a Russian fighting out of Brooklyn, New York, will meet the Philippines’ Vincent Astrolabio (17-3, 12 KOs), 25, in a bantamweight eliminator. Astrolabio is coming off an upset 10-round decision over former bantamweight and junior featherweight titlist Guillermo Rigondeaux in February in Dubai.

New beginning for Andrade

Former middleweight and junior middleweight titlist Demetrius Andrade, who was idle and lost in the boxing wilderness for the past year, now has a new path.

Having linked up with Premier Boxing Champions, Andrade will look to get back on track in the first fight of his new deal when he faces Demond Nicholson (26-4-1, 22 KOs), 29, of Laurel, Maryland, in a 10-round super middleweight fight in the opening bout of the Gervonta Davis-Hector Luis Garcia card on Jan. 7 (Showtime PPV) at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.

“I’m feeling good. This is a new journey,” Andrade said. “I’m looking to become a three-division champion. I’m thankful to have this opportunity to showcase my skill and talent on this beautiful card.”

Andrade has not fought since retaining the WBO middleweight title by second-round knockout of Jason Quigley on November 2021, after which his contract with Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn was up. Hearn, who was unable to secure a major fight for Andrade during their deal, did not seek to re-sign Andrade.

Andrade (31-0, 19 KOs), 34, of Providence, Rhode Island, declined to face mandatory challenger Janibek Alimkhanuly and was going to move up to super middleweight to fight Zach Parker for the vacant WBO interim title this past spring. But Andrade pulled out of the spring fight due to a shoulder injury and then he backed out again this fall because he was unhappy with the result of a second purse bid won by Parker promoter Frank Warren that would have paid him in the low six figures, far less than the low seven figures he was making in the later stages of the Matchroom deal.

Andrade had hoped to land a fight with super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez and even crashed his post-fight news conference following his three-belt unification win over Billy Joe Saunders in May 2021, when Hearn promoted both of them. Alvarez was not interested in facing him and instead beat Caleb Plant to become the undisputed champion.

Now that Andrade is PBC, there are several potential major fights.

“At the end of the day, nothing guarantees a Canelo Alvarez fight. Right now I’m looking at Caleb Plant, David Benavidez and Jermall Charlo,” Andrade said. “I want all those big names.”

All of them other than Alvarez are with PBC. Andrade also returns to Showtime, where he impressively knocked out Willie Nelson in the 12th round in 2016.

“Showtime is a great place to be,” Andrade said. “I’ve had my journey through my boxing career and now I’m writing my own chapter. January 7 is an opportunity to do what I do best.

“There are a lot of great fights that can be made at 168 pounds and I’m looking to make them. This is a great position right now for me to make those fights. My experience and my amateur pedigree (as a 2008 Olympian and former world amateur champion) will be the difference. My IQ, my talent and my skill overall are going to be huge for me.

“I’m looking to show that I’m the best. Let’s make this happen. There’s no more excuses. This fight is a stepping stone toward making those things happen and I’m grateful for the opportunity. I did my thing at 154 and 160 and now I want to move on to this journey at super middleweight and make it happen.”

BetUS Boxing Show

If you missed the BetUS Boxing Show live at a special time of 12 p.m. ET (instead of the usual 1 p.m.) on Friday on YouTube, please check out the replay (and also subscribe to the YouTube channel). We previewed and picked the two Saturday main events, the bout between unbeaten lightweights Michel Rivera and Frank Martin that headlines on Showtime, and cruiserweight Chris Billam-Smith against Armend Xhoxhaj in the Boxxer main event that headlines on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom. And, of course, we also took viewer questions and comments! Check out the show here:

Quick hits

Jose Uzcategui (left) and Vladimir Shishkin

Weights from Las Vegas for Saturday’s PBC card on Showtime (10 p.m. ET): Michel Rivera 134.5 pounds, Frank Martin 134.75 (WBA lightweight eliminator); Jose Uzcategui 167.5, Vladimir Shishkin 167.25 (IBF super middleweight eliminator); Nikolai Potapov 117, Vincent Astrolabio 117.5 (IBF bantamweight eliminator); Omar Juarez 141, Austin Dulay 140.5; Elijah Lorenzo Garcia 164, Cruse Stewart 162.5.

Weights from Commerce, Calif., for the Golden Boy card Saturday on DAZN (9 p.m. ET): Raul Curiel 146.6 pounds. Brad Solomon 147; Diego De La Hoya 131, Jose Gonzalez 130.4; Aaron Silva 167.4, Alan Campa 166.2; Jousce Gonzalez 134.8, Ivan Cano 134; Nick Sullivan 134, Angel Vazquez 135; Cecilia Braekhus 152.4, Marisa Portillo 148.8; Martin Leon 138.4, Ricardo Quiroz 140.6; Gregory Morales 125, Diuhl Olguin 125.8.

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Showtime will stream two preliminary bouts from the Michel Rivera-Frank Martin card on its Showtime Sports YouTube channel and Showtime Boxing Facebook page beginning at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday. The stream will feature junior welterweight Omar Juarez (13-1, 5 KOs), 23, of Brownsville, Texas, versus Austin Dulay (15-3, 11 KOs), 27, of Nashville, in a 10-rounder and middleweight prospect Elijah Garcia (12-0, 10 KOs), 19, of Phoenix, against Cruse Stewart (8-1, 6 KOs), 33, of Maple Grove, Minnesota, in an eight-rounder.

Top Rank acquired the U.S. rights to the card headlined by super middleweight Christian Mbilli (22-0, 20 KOs), 27, a 2016 French Olympian, against Vaughn Alexander (17-6-1, 10 KOs), 37, of St. Louis, who is the older brother of two-division titlist Devon Alexander, in a 10-rounder. The card will stream live from Parc des Expositions in Nantes, France, on Saturday on ESPN+ beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET. The fight will be Mbilli’s first at home since 2019. Alexander is 2-0-1 in his last three fights. Among other fights on the stream: French welterweight Souleymane Cissokho (15-0, 9 KOs), 31, of France, will face Tulani Mbenge (19-1, 12 KOs), 31, of South Africa, in a 12-rounder, and Top Rank junior welterweight prospect Hugo Micallef (4-0, 0 KOs), 24, the only active pro boxer from Monaco, will be in a six-rounder.

The IBF has ordered junior bantamweight titlist Fernando Martinez, of Argentina, and mandatory challenger Jade Bornea, of the Philippines, to meet next. According to letter sent to both camps, and obtained by Fight Freaks Unite, Martinez promoter Pacquiao Promotions and Bornea promoter Probellum have until Dec. 29 to come to terms or a purse bid will be ordered, although they could still make a deal until 15 minutes before bids are unsealed. Martinez (15-0, 8 KOs), 31, won the 115-pound title from Jerwin Ancajas by wide decision on Feb. 6 and then beat him against by a similarly wide decision in an immediate rematch on Oct. 8. Bornea (18-0, 12 KOs), 27, of the Philippines, cemented his position with a third-round knockout of Mohammed Obbadi in January and maintained it with a seventh-round knockout of Ivan Meneses in a stay-busy fight in August.

Show and tell

Manny Pacquiao, boxing’s only eight-division champion, a future Hall of Famer and one of the greatest fighters to ever put on gloves, retired soon after his decision loss challenging then-welterweight titlist Yordenis Ugas in August 2021. Pacquiao, boxing at 160 pounds, returned for a six-round exhibition bout last week in South Korea, where he dominated the much bigger YouTuber/martial artist DK Yoo, who was 173 pounds. Some think Pacquiao isn’t quite done with real boxing and may return in 2023. If he does, he’ll be 44. Pacquiao celebrates that birthday on Saturday. Happy birthday to the all-time legend, who was as much fun to cover as any fighters I’ve ever covered.

Here is Pacquiao’s scarce rookie card in my collection. It is part of a panel of four cards on thin card stock that was inside the February 1999 issue of the monthly Japanese “World Boxing” magazine and meant to be cut out. Mine is still part of the complete panel and attached to the issue. From 1996 to 1999 each issue contained a four-card panel. The set consists of 45 panels and 180 cards. Each panel typically featured two Japanese boxers, a retired legend and one active non-Japanese boxer. The set is tremendous and filled with stars of the time and retired legends. Besides Pacquiao, the set includes cards of fighters such as Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, Salvador Sanchez, Ricardo Lopez, Lennox Lewis, Oscar De La Hoya, Felix Trinidad, Bernard Hopkins, Erik Morales, Kostya Tszyu, Johnny Tapia and many more. The Pacquiao rookie is by far and away the key card in the set.

Rivera-Martin and Uzcategui-Shishkin photos: Esther Lin/Showtime; Andrade photo: Amanda Westcott/Showtime

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