Mikiah Kreps made an announcement to the 122-pound division.
The unbeaten contender defeated former titleholder Mayerlin Rivas by unanimous resolution Friday evening on the Seneca Niagara Lodge and On line casino in Kreps’ hometown of Niagara Falls, New York. Scores have been 79-73, 78-74, and 77-75 for Kreps, who improved to 9-0, 3 knockouts.
From the opening bell, Kreps tried to stroll down Rivas, who maintained her distance by using her jab. Kreps elevated her aggression the next spherical, and the tactic labored, as she was capable of land extra mixtures in opposition to Rivas, who backed up in opposition to the ropes, however did little to maintain Kreps off of her.
Rivas tried to work the physique of Kreps throughout spherical 4, discovering some success, however that didn’t deter Kreps from preventing on the entrance foot.
Kreps started throwing and touchdown extra left hooks to Rivas’ head in spherical six. Whether or not it was a lead or counter, Kreps landed continues with hooks to the top, forcing Rivas to retreat in direction of the ropes.
Sensing Rivas is likely to be able to go and making an attempt to attain a knockout win, Kreps went all out through the last spherical. She went at Rivas with full aggression over the last 30 seconds, however was not capable of rating a knockdown or knockout.
The victory by Kreps was spectacular as Rivas posed as a serious step-up opposition at this stage in her profession. The win might put Kreps within the top-5 ranking by The Ring at 122 kilos.
In her earlier combat on Might 10, Kreps defeated Melissa Oddessa Parker by unanimous resolution. On November 7, Kreps defeated Isis Vargas Perez by resolution over eight aggressive rounds.
The 28-year-old was an beginner standout, together with putting first on the 2018 Elite Nationwide Championships, a bronze medalist on the 2019 World Championships, and was the No. 1 ranked beginner in USA Boxing. She is co-managed by former WBO world light-weight titleholder Jamel Herring and Jerry Cazarez and co-promoted by Lou DiBella and Tuto Zabala, Jr.
Rivas, who resides in Caracas, Venezuela, fell to 17-6-3, 11 KOs. In her earlier combat on November 18, Rivas misplaced the WBA junior featherweight title by way of majority resolution to Erika Cruz.
The 36-year-old Rivas has gained world title belts in two totally different weight courses.
Within the co-main occasion, light-weight Wilfredo Flores defeated Gerffred Ngayot by majority resolution. One decide scored the bout 75-75, whereas the opposite two judges scored the bout 77-73 for Flores, who snapped a three-bout dropping streak.
Flores (11-3-1, 5 KOS) dropped Ngayot twice in spherical 4, which was the distinction between a win and a majority resolution draw. The 34-year-old Flores was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico and now lives in North Tonawanda, New York.
Ngayot, who’s initially from Brazzaville, Congo and now lives and trains in close by Buffalo, falls to 7-3, 6 KOs.
Junior featherweight prospect Alexander Castellano, who additionally resides in North Tonawanda, improved to 11-1-2, 2 KOs, defeating Dominique Griffin (5-8-2, 2 KOs) of Irving, Texas by majority resolution. One decide scored the bout 77-77, whereas the opposite two judges scored the bout 78-76 for Castellano.
Griffin was deducted a degree in spherical 4 for throwing and touchdown low blows, of which he had been warned for in earlier rounds.,
The cardboard streamed reside on ESPN Knockout.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has coated boxing in Southern California and overseas since 2000. Francisco additionally covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He will be reached at [email protected]
