Michel Rivera is raring to make a reputation for himself as a contender at 140 kilos.
Rivera will face Hugo Roldan on July 27, Salita Promotions introduced Monday afternoon. The ten-round bout will happen at Little Caesars Enviornment in Detroit, Michigan and can precede the primary occasion bout between undisputed middleweight champion Claressa Shields and WBC ladies’s world heavyweight titleholder Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse.
Each fights will stream stay on DAZN (8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT).
Additionally going down on the Shields vs. Jonaisse card can be a 10-round bout between former world junior welterweight titleholder Shohjahon Ergashev and Julian Smith.
“The junior welterweight division is considered one of boxing’s deepest in expertise and in character,” mentioned Dmitriy Salita, President of Salita Promotions. “Shohjahon Ergashev and Michel Rivera are each high contenders and they’re in with stay challengers who need to make their very own declare to fame. These fights are going to be barnburners with the winners in line for world title photographs.”
Rivera (25-1, 14 knockouts), who’s initially from Santo Domingo within the Dominican Republic and now lives and trains in Miami, Florida, made his 140-pound debut on November 25, defeating former world 140-pound titleholder Sergey Lipinets by unanimous choice.
In his earlier struggle in December 2022, his final as a light-weight, Rivera misplaced to contender Frank Martin in a conflict of unbeaten 135-pound fighters.
The 26-year-old lately signed a promotional take care of Salita Promotions. After wins over lightweights Joseph Adorno, Jose Matias Romero, Jon Fernandez, and Ladarius Miller, Rivera hopes to proceed blazing one other path en path to a world title shot.
“My followers can anticipate an actual quick, explosive Michel Rivera,” mentioned Rivera, who made his professional debut in March 2016. “I’ve bought a brand new staff, however the identical objective. And that’s to be a world champion and dominate the (140-pound) division.”
Roldan (22-2-1, 7 KOs), who resides in La Banda, Argentina, additionally confronted Adorno, shedding a detailed unanimous choice in September 2022. Nearly six months later, Roldan defeated Jose Hugo Acevedo by unanimous choice.
In his final bout on September 30, Roldan dropped once-beaten Batyrzhan Jukembayev as soon as, however got here up quick, shedding by cut up choice.
Regardless of latest setbacks, the 31-year-old Roldan believes he has the skill-set and intangibles to outbox and defeat Rivera on July 27.
“We’ve fought twice in the US and misplaced shut selections due to native favoritism,” mentioned Roldan. “This time, we aren’t leaving it within the arms of the judges.”
Ergashev (24-1, 21 KOs), who’s initially from Rakhmon, Uzbekistan and now lives and trains in Detroit, Michigan, challenged then-IBF world titleholder Subriel Matias on November 25, was aggressive early within the struggle, however was compelled to retire on his stool at the beginning of spherical six.
In his final bout on March 28, Ergashev knocked out Juan Huertas within the opening spherical.
The 32-year-old was a staple on Showtime programming, significantly on ShoBox playing cards, together with victories over Sonny Fredrickson in January 2018, Mykal Fox and Abdiel Ramirez in 2019, and Adrian Estrella in January 2020.
Smith (8-2, 5 KOs) scored an upset win in his final struggle on February 2, stopping previously-unbeaten Orestes Velazquez after spherical 9. Smith additionally has a win over Alfredo Escarcega, who entered the Smith struggle unbeaten.
The 33-year-old Smith, who resides in Nation Membership Hills, Illinois, has received his final two fights since shedding to high prospect Kevin Hayler Brown on Could 26 of final 12 months.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has lined boxing in Southern California and overseas since 2000. Francisco additionally covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He might be reached at [email protected]
