Lightweight contender Michel Rivera needed only one weapon to outclass Joseph Adorno on the Tim Tszyu-Terrell Gausha card Saturday in Minneapolis.
Rivera used his long, accurate jab — with power shots thrown in here and there — to control the fight and win a unanimous-decision victory in a 10-round bout at The Armory.
All three judges scored it 97-93, seven rounds to three. Boxing Junkie scored it 99-91 for Rivera.
The gifted Rivera (23-0, 14 KOs) kept the jab in the face of Adorno (14-1-2, 12 KOs) for most of the fight. The Dominican followed with some combinations, although not enough of them to break Adorno down.
Meanwhile, Adorno couldn’t (or wouldn’t) find a way to get inside the jab consistently enough to give himself a chance to win the fight.
The Pennsylvania fighter was able to jump in and land power shots on occasion but he spent most of the fight at a distance where he couldn’t get anything done.
Rivera is ranked by all four of the major sanctioning bodies, No. 2 by the WBA, meaning a title fight is coming soon. He just needs to continue doing what he did on Saturday.