Mikiah Kreps will get an applicable take a look at for her first fundamental occasion.
The unbeaten rising junior featherweight will face former two-division titlist Mayerlin Rivas on Oct. 4. Their scheduled ten-round regional title battle will air stay on ESPN Knockout from Seneca Niagara Occasions Heart in Kreps’ hometown of Niagara Falls, New York.
“We’ve got seen Mikiah develop into the principle occasion slot,” mentioned promoter Felix ‘Tutico’ Zabala Jr., head of All Star Boxing, Inc. “She has fought persistently on our Seneca Battle Night time collection and expanded her fanbase.
“Mikiah is a superb prospect who has to maintain passing these take a look at with a purpose to battle for a world title. It will be an incredible scene to deliver that title battle to Niagara Falls.”
The matchup is a pure order of development for Kreps (8-0, 3 knockouts). Her final battle was an eight-round win over former title challenger Melissa Oddessa Parker on Oct. 4 at this very venue. She has now superior to the highest 5 in each the WBA and WBO, and intends battle for a title inside her subsequent couple of bouts.
For now, Kreps will gladly accept the hardest take a look at of her profession—on paper, anyway—in her debut as a headlining act.
“It feels nice to be combating once more at residence,” acknowledged the 28-year-old Kreps, a four-year professional. “This time, with a belt on the road.”
Rivas (17-5-3, 11 KOs) is at the moment on a two-fight winless streak. Nevertheless, she is a former two-time WBA titleholder who stays among the many division’s greatest fighters.
The Ring’s No. 5-rated junior featherweight gained the WBA 118-pound title in Jan. 2015 and made three profitable defenses. She then moved as much as 122 the place she gained the WBA belt. The feat got here in a Feb. 2020 determination win over unbeaten Laura Ledezma (14-0 on the time) on the street in Panama Metropolis, Panama.
Two profitable defenses adopted earlier than she dropped a aggressive ten-round determination to Erika Cruz (17-2-1, 3 KOs) final Nov. 18 in Inglewood, California.
“I’ve nothing to lose,” insisted Rivas. “I’m right here to present it my all as I all the time do, It’s all or nothing for me.”
The present additionally features a regional rivalry between Buffalo’s Gerffred Nagyot (7-2, 6 KOs) and Dunkirk’s Wilfredo Flores (10-3-1, 5 KOs).
All Star Boxing started the Seneca Battle Night time Collection in 2022, three years after debuting within the Western New York market. The corporate beforehand oversaw the decades-long Boxeo Telemundo collection earlier than NBCUniversal opted out of the boxing enterprise after 2021.
