Michel Rivera made it two wins in a row as the junior welterweight contender dropped Argentina’s Hugo Roldan in the 10th and final round to cement a split decision win at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday night.
Although one judge bizarrely scored the fight 95-94 for Roldan, the others saw the contest appropriately in Rivera’s favor by scores of 99-91 and 98-92. The fight was the chief support bout to Claressa Shields’ challenge of Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse and was streamed on DAZN.
Rivera (26-1, 14 KOs) lost his unbeaten record and some of his luster when he suffered a unanimous decision loss to Frank Martin in December 2022. He bounced back with a win over Sergey Lipinets last November and, notwithstanding the errant scorecard, was in control throughout against the rugged but crude Roldan.
After a lively effort in the first frame, Roldan (22-3-1, 7 KOs) struggled to make any impression on Rivera, who worked at mid-range and attempted to steer the onrushing Argentine onto right hands.
A clean right landed on Roldan’s chin in the third, and another followed suit in the fourth. A big overhand right opened Round 6, and another found its mark in the seventh. A left-right from Rivera in the corner was followed by a left-uppercut-right-hand combination at center ring, and by the end of the seventh Roldan was bleeding from his nose.
Roldan did land a right hand of his own in the eighth but then stood off Rivera in the ninth, as if he felt he had made his point and was happy to make it to the final bell without suffering any further damage.
Roldan didn’t succeed, walking onto a short right hand in the 10th that dropped him. And although he made it to his feet and was not badly hurt, the knockdown underlined Rivera’s dominance – in the eyes of everyone except one judge, anyway.
Julian “Quiet Storm” Smith pulled off one of the leading contenders for upset of the year as he dropped former title challenger Shohjahon Ergashev on his way to a split decision win over 10 rounds in the 140-pound division.
Smith (9-2, 5 KOs), a rare example of a deaf pro boxer, rarely displayed great footwork or balance, and his overhand rights were frequently lunging affairs that left him wildly off-balance and out of position. But he never stopped trying to break through against the more experienced and composed Ergashev, who never appeared entirely comfortable, even as he sought to box his way to victory behind a disciplined southpaw jab.
The first sign that an upset might be on the cards came at the very end of Round 2, when Smith landed a right hand that stiffened Ergashev – and then followed up with another booming right that dropped Ergashev onto his back. The knockdown wasn’t called, however, and although no explanation was given, it appeared as if the bell rang a fraction of a second before the second punch landed.
Uzbekistan’s Ergashev (24-2, 21 KOs), who suffered his first pro defeat by stoppage in a challenge of then-IBF lightweight titlist Subriel Matias in November, attempted to get back to work behind his jab in Rounds 3 and 4 as Smith flung wild right hands in his direction; and then, at the end of Round 5, as Ergashev pulled away from one of those right hands, he walked into a left hook that decked him for the second time – and the first time, officially.
Smith continued to look for a definitive right hand as Ergashev sought to measure him with jabs and straight lefts, but it was Smith who seemed the more likely to succeed as the fight entered its final rounds. A flurry of clean-landing punches at the end of the 10th probably swung the round in Smith’s favor, which was enough to secure him the fight, by scores of 94-95 and 95-94 twice.
Kieran Mulvaney has written, broadcast and podcasted about boxing for HBO, Showtime, ESPN and Reuters, among other outlets. He also writes regularly for National Geographic, has written several books on the Arctic and Antarctic, and is at his happiest hanging out with wild polar bears. His website is www.kieranmulvaney.com.
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