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Enthusiastic Michel Rivera volunteers to face Teofimo Lopez and Devin Haney

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Junior welterweight fighter Michel Rivera sets high goals for himself and is not holding back when choosing his next fight. Rivera, nicknamed “La Zarza Ali,” is drawing the attention of Teofimo Lopez Jr., who has made more headlines for his social media activity than his in-ring performances. However, Rivera is open to fighting Devin Haney or Ryan Garcia if they are looking for a challenge.

Rivera (26-1, 14 KO), 26 years ancient, last fight in July, after which he defeated Hugo Alberto Roldan (22-3-1, 7 KO) by split decision. The fight, according to many, was closer than it should have been. Rivera previously secured a victory in November against former titleholder Sergei Lipinet (18-3-1, 13 KOs), marking his first fight at junior welterweight after a tough loss to Frank Martin at lightweight in December 2023.

Now Rivera is focusing on 27-year-old Lopez (21-1, 13 KO), whose last fight was in July, defeating Steve Claggett (38-8-2, 26 KO). Lopez’s performance, coupled with Claggett’s career ups and downs, did not impress Rivera.

“He’s a fighter and he’s notable, but I think I have the skills to beat him,” Rivera said. “I saw him lose, just like Sandor Martin, and they still gave him the fight. He’s not as good as they say and I know I can beat him. I’m already recognized in this division and he’s fighting guys with eight losses. I’m one of the best at 140 pounds, but they just want fights they think they can win. I want a world title and I’m ready to make it happen.”

Rivera did not rule out the possibility of facing the currently inactive Haney (31-0, 15 KO) or Garcia (24-1, 20 KO). Haney’s majority victory over Garcia was recently overturned and declared a no-contest because Garcia failed a pre-fight drug test while Garcia is serving a suspension.

“Boxing is more of a business than a sport. I know these fights will happen eventually,” Rivera said. “When Ryan Garcia is looking for an opponent, my name is always on the table, but they never take it. These substantial guys don’t want to fight real fighters like me.

Rivera, who is currently ranked No. 14 in both the IBF and WBC rankings, believes his all-around skills make him a risky opponent for any fighter in the division.

“I can hit, I move well and I’m ready for any of them,” Rivera said.

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Boxing

Dmitry Bivol wants more movement in the rematch with Beterbiev

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Image: Dmitry Bivol Wants to Move More In Rematch with Beterbiev

Dmitry Bivol wants to operate more movement and counter-punching in his rematch with Artur Beterbiev, as he felt he didn’t operate enough last Saturday night following his 12-round majority decision loss.

Many fans believed that Bivol (23-1, 12 KO) used too much movement and ultimately lost the fight; he did not stop long enough to land punches from rounds 8 to 12. Bivol seemed tired of constantly moving, which made him effortless pickings for Beterbiev in the final five rounds.

Bivol under the influence of Sugar Ray

Dmitry Bivol says he watched some of Sugar Ray Leonard’s elderly fights before the Beterbiev fight. He recalls watching Leonard fight Marvin Hagler, and Ray fought the full 12 rounds. He would stop to throw combos before moving again.

What Bivol fails to note is that many boxing fans who watched the Leonard-Hagler fight felt that Hagler was robbed by the referees because he was taking bigger shots and Leonard was simply cleaning his shoes with quick, low-power combinations.

Using Leonard’s fight with Hagler as a role model for fighting Beterbiev in this era was a mistake. Bivol lacks Leonardo’s popularity to receive a gift decision against Beterbiev, as many thought would happen with Hagler.

“I want to improve my movement. I didn’t move enough. I need to move more and operate more counterattacks. I just need to add more,” said Dmitry Bivol Fighting Hub TV about what he needs to do to improve his game in the rematch with Artur Beterbiev. “The tactic was not just to stand in front of Beterbiev. Move like Ray Leonard.”

If Bivol is going to emulate Leonard’s approach to fighting, he should focus on some of the fights where he threw more punches and fought with more aggression. He’s not rapid enough to fight like Leonard did in his prime. Bivol would have been better off using early Oscar De La Hoya as someone he could emulate in his rematch with Beterbiev. De La Hoya started his career quickly. He was an offensive player, he scored many knockouts.

“He’s in good shape. He tried to beat the last rounds. This is what I don’t like. I didn’t do those three rounds perfectly,” Bivol said of how he didn’t put his hands down in rounds 10, 11 and 12.

“They told me, ‘You should move. You should throw the jab like you did before. Don’t stand in front of him. Don’t be a constant target,” Bivol said of what the corner told him before the 12th round.

In retrospect, Bivol went too far in the 12th round and gave it to Beterbiev. With the fight hanging in the balance, Bivol should have fought with more aggression.

“Sometimes I felt like I could do it, but I did [cautious]Bivol said. “My plan was to exercise a lot because I was watching a lot [Sugar] Ray Leonard’s fights before this fight. Leonard-Hagler. Leonard was on the move in all 12 rounds.

“He would stop, do combinations and then move again. He was not on Hagler’s side. If he got up and fought Hagler, it wouldn’t make sense. You can’t fight a guy who is stronger than you.

“We have to agree with Beterbiev that he is the strongest lightweight heavyweight fighter, but that doesn’t mean he is the best,” Bivol said.

Beterbiev beat Bivol, which should mean he’s the “best” in the league. Bivol saying that Beterbiev is not the best in the lightweight heavyweight division suggests that he either thinks he is even better or thinks someone else in the fighting category is. Bivol did a good job of remaining humble after the loss, but the above comment about Beterbiev being less than stellar suggests he hasn’t fully accepted his loss.

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Alberto Mora with one punch KO of Benito Garcia remains undefeated

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by Francisco Salazar |

Albert Mora on Friday night at Domo del CODE in Garcia’s hometown of Guadalajara, Mexico, he scored a one-punch knockout over Benito Garcia. Mora improves his record to 12-0, 9 by knockout.

From the opening bell, Mora effectively defeated Garcia, using the distance with regular land combinations. Garcia tried to cut off the ring but wasn’t consistent enough as Mora effectively moved in and out of striking range.

Mora was more aggressive and initiated exchanges in the third round, putting Garcia on the defensive with precise punches and combinations. During an exchange in round four, Mora landed a right-left combination to the body that sent Garcia to the canvas. Garcia tried to get up, wincing in pain, as he was given 2:26.

Including Friday’s victory over Garcia, Mora, who lives in Mexico City and splits training time there and in the United States, has stopped five of his last six opponents and has a regional title under his belt.

The 26-year-old stopped Raul Galaviz Hernandez in the fifth round of his previous fight on June 14. Three months before his victory over Galaviz, Mora defeated the once defeated Fernando Romero Hilario by unanimous decision.

Mora signed a contract with BXSTRS, which promotes Friday’s card. He is trained by Jay Najar, who also trains lightweight fighter William Zepeda.

Garcia drops to 17-9-3, 5 KOs. On July 27 in Guadalajara, he won by knockout against journeyman Jesus Garcia Frutos.

The 24-year-old has lost four of his last six fights.

Junior welterweight frontier Gabriel Gollaz Valenzuela of Guadalajara defeated Jesus Lopez by unanimous decision. The scores were 79-72, 79-72 and 78-73 for Gollaz, who improved to 30-3-1, 17 KOs.

Gollaz dominated most of the fight, defeating an aggressive Lopez midway through the eighth round. Despite the fall, Lopez suffered no injuries and continued to stay in the pocket, exchanging combinations until the final bell.

The 29-year-old has now won his last five fights since a narrow decision loss to Montana Love in May 2022.

Lopez, who lives in Costa Rica, Mexico, has a record of 16-15-3, 4 KOs. Before the Gollaz fight, he was undefeated in his 11 previous fights.

In the clash of flyweight fighters residing in Tijuana, Jose Russell improved his balance to 16-0, 10 KO, defeating Arnulfo Salvador (16-7-1, 9 KO) by unanimous decision. The scores for Russell were 78-73, 78-73 and 79-75.

Salvador was deducted a point in round eight for a headbutt, for which he had been warned in previous rounds.

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Boxing

Eddie Hearn Salty wants the referee to never work again after Bivol’s loss to Beterbiev

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Image: Eddie Hearn Salty Over Bivol's Loss to Beterbiev, Wants Judge Never to Work Again

Dmitry Bivol’s promoter Eddie Hearn sounded like a classic example of a sore loser after his 12-round majority decision loss to unified featherlight heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev last Saturday night in Riyad. He had difficulty understanding what happened to his fighter Bivol, who crumbled under the pressure of the hard-hitting Beterbiev in their clash.

Matchroom boss Hearn had Bivol’s 8-4 victory in mind and was shocked to see him lose. It was obvious what had happened. When Bivol started hitting Beterbiev rigid in the seventh over, he stopped fighting, went the last five rounds and lost. Bivol was scared and desperate.

Every judge could see that Bivol had mentally given up. Instead of crying about the referee who scored at 116-112, Hearn should have praised him because he did a great job scoring the goal.

Beterbiev thwarted the great Canelo’s plans for Bivol

Hearn says he wants the judge, who scored the fight 116-112 for Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KO), to never fight again. Of course, Bivol’s defeat dashed Hearn’s hopes of fighting Canelo Alvarez, which would have happened had he won.

A Canelo-Bivol rematch would take the cake and bring untold riches. Instead, Bivol suffers his first defeat and his career seems uncertain, so he must try to avenge his defeat. This doesn’t look good.

The rematch could be much worse for Bivol as he will likely be knocked out by Beterbiev. If Bivol loses to Beterbiev again, he will be useless ballast for Hearn, who won’t be able to do much with him other than operate him as a B fighter to fight David Benavidez, David Morrell or Joshua Buatsi.

Interestingly, the score of 116-112 that Hearn complained about was the same score that many fans on social media gave to Beterbiev, who defeated a tired-looking and injured Bivol (23-1, 12 KO) in the second half of the match. Action last night at Kingdom Arena.

“How can we forget what just happened in the ring? Do we want to forget that in one of the biggest fights of our generation and the most essential fight of Bivol’s life, you give him four rounds? It’s absolutely disgusting,” said Eddie Hearn Boxing in the match roomtalking about the judge who scored the Beterbiev vs. Bivol 116-112 for Artur.

Hearn should take a look at Bivol to see if he wanted to blame anyone for it he gave the ship back after the seventh round and he was nowhere to be seen in the championship rounds. Whatever fight Bivol had in him disappeared halfway through the match.

Bivol, 33, abandoned the ship and allowed Beterbiev to come aboard and take command. Bivol looked like he didn’t want to take part in the fight with Beterbiev after he was hit with a series of powerful shots to the head midway through the round. In the championship rounds, Bivol looked physically older than Beterbiev and showed no heart.

“They knew Artur Beterbiev lost that fight,” Hearn said of Beterbiev’s corner kick. “Top Rank knew Beterbiev lost this fight. Then the news spread that Artur Beterbiev had won by a majority of votes. I am completely surprised and disgusted by the result of 116-112. 115-113, I don’t like it,” Hearn said.

What the hell is Hearn talking about? Top Rank did not think Beterbiev lost. They knew he had done his job, he hit Bivol with some giant shots that forced him to run and he won, walking away. Hearn cannot accept the fact that the better one beat his fighter Bivol.

“8-4 for Dmitry Bivol” – Hearn said of how he won the fight, giving his fighter Bivol a 116-112 round victory over Beterbiev. “He [Bivol] beautifully packed there tonight. “I don’t want to be disrespectful to Beterbiev, but Bivol should have been the undisputed champion tonight and that referee should never work again,” Hearn said of the referee scoring it 8-4 for Beterbiev.

“Four rounds of a fight of this scale is disgusting. I’m not saying it was a victory or a landslide for Dmitry Bivol. Nobody made Artur Beterbiev win this fight. I didn’t even hear the draw. Beterbiev was deflated. They knew they had lost the fight.

“It was a pretty fight worth watching. Dmitry was so astute. He was injured several times. He injured Beterbiev several times. He took on so many gloves. All markings here [on Bivol’s face]. It was obvious it was gauze on his tape.

“He just fought a pretty fight in a tough fight. When you get an opportunity like that, you box like that and you don’t make decisions, it really hurts,” Hearn said.

I don’t know how Hearn can keep a straight face when he talks about how Bivol “fought a pretty fight” to escape Beterbiev after tasting his power in the seventh round.

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