By: Sean Crose
Lightweight Michel Rivera opened Saturday’s Showtime Broadcast from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas by taking on Jose Matias Romero in a scheduled 10 rounder. Rivera, 21-0, came out aggressively against the 24-1 Romero in the first. Romero went down near the end of the round, though the referee ruled it a slip. Rivera continued to effectively employ his left in the second. The third saw Romero trying to get inside on his taller opponent.
By the fourth, the fight was becomming something of a chess match, with each fighter trying to figure his man out. Rivera, though, still appeared to be the stronger and sharper of the two. The fifth round showcased the fact that Rivera simply was able to land the cleaner shots. Romero moved straight forward in sixth, and ate a lot of punches for his efforts. By the end of the round the fight was turning from a boxing match into a beating. Rivera went down from a slip early in the seventh, but got up and continued employing his strategy of feinting, jabbing and picking his shots.
The eighth say Romero simply unable to put anything together against his taller, faster and stronger opponent. Indeed, Romero continued to move forward to face his man in the tenth and final round, something he had done for most of the fight. Ultimately, it was to little avail, as Muhammad Ali lookalike Rivera walked out of the ring with a UD win.