Frank Martin Delivers Stunning Victory, Handles Michel Rivera

Undefeated top contender Frank Martin kept his perfect record intact, dominating Michel Rivera over the weekend.

The bout headlined the SHowtime event from The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, presented by Premier Boxing Champions.

The 27-year-old Martin (25-0, 14 KOs) controlled the action throughout, showing superior speed and boxing acumen, as he quickly closed the reach advantage held by Rivera. Promoted by unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. and coached by top trainer Derrick James, Martin has put himself into a prime position in the star-studded 135-pound division.

“This is just what I do,” said Martin, who dropped Rivera in the seventh round and won by scores of 120-107, 118-109 and 117-110. “I felt good tonight. There were some things that I saw in there that I didn’t capitalize on, but we went in there and got the job done. My corner was telling me to stay on the outside, watch out for the right hand and work the game plan.

“I was using my legs and I could have done it a lot more. It worked for us, but there’s a lot of room for improvement and we’re going to keep working.”

The loss was the first in the professional career of Rivera, who is now 16-1.

In the co-main event, unbeaten contender Vladimir Shishkin (14-0, 8 KOs) grinded out a hard-fought unanimous decision victory over former world champion Jose Uzcategui (32-5, 27 KOs) to win the IBF super middleweight title eliminator.

In the telecast opener, Vincent Astrolabio (18-3, 13 KOs) scored an impressive and dominant sixth-round stoppage over Nikolai Potapov (23-3-1, 11 KOs) in their IBF bantamweight title eliminator.