Frank Martin vs. Michel Rivera: LIVE updates, results, full coverage

Frank Martin vs. Michel Rivera: LIVE updates, results, full coverage.

Frank Martin defeated fellow lightweight contender Michel Rivera by a wide unanimous decision Saturday at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

The official scores were 120-107, 118-109 and 117-110. Boxing Junkie also had Martin winning 120-107, a shutout.

Martin (17-0, 12 KOs) was too quick and much too slick for the previously unbeaten Rivera, who was outclassed by a better fighter from beginning to end.

Martin didn’t throw a lot of punches but made them count when he did, consistently landing explosive combinations to the head and body of his slower opponent. At the same time, he was an elusive target as a result of his anticipation and superb footwork.

Rivera never stopped trying but had neither the physical tools nor the ring acumen to cope with a thoroughbred like Martin.

The winner scored the only knockdown in the fight in the seventh round, the result of a left-right combination.

You can read a full report here.

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Unbeaten super middleweight contender Vladimir Shishkin of Russia defeated Jose Uzcategui of Venezuela by a unanimous decision in a 12-round bout.

The scores were 117-111, 117-111 and 115-113.

The fight was an entertaining, give-and-take battle. However, Shishkin (14-0, 8 KOs) evidently impressed the judges by being the busier fighting and landing more clean, eye-catching shots.

Shishkin is based in Detroit.

Uzcategui, a former 168-pound titleholder, is ranked as a 175-pounder. He fought as a cruiserweight in May but worked his way down to super middleweight in six months.

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Vincent Astrolabio of the Philippines stopped fellow bantamweight contender Nikolai Potapov of Russia in the sixth round of a scheduled 12-rounder. The official time of the stoppage was 1:26.

Astrolabio (18-3, 13 KOs) put Potapov (23-3-1, 11 KOs) down three times, once in the first round, again in the fifth and once more in the sixth. Potapov, unwilling to take more punishment, refused to get up after the final knockdown.

Astrolabio, a protege of Manny Pacquiao, was coming off a unanimous decision victory over Guillermo Rigondeaux in February.

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Lightweight contenders Frank Martin vs. Michel Rivera will face off in a title eliminator tonight (Saturday) at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas (Showtime).

The main portion of the show is scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. The main event will take place later in the broadcast.

Boxing Junkie will post the result of the main event immediately afterward. Simply return to this post and refresh when the time comes. We’ll also post the results of other featured bouts.

Full coverage – a fight story, photo gallery and analysis – will follow on separate posts the night of the fight and the following day.

Enjoy the fights!

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