By Craig Page: Michel Rivera will face Frank Martin on December 17th live on SHOWTIME in a WBA 135-lb world title eliminator in the headliner.

The winner of the Rivera vs. Martin fight will be the mandatory challenger to undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney.

With the way the 23-year-old Haney is packing on the pounds, it’s doubtful he’ll still be fighting in the 135-lb division by the time the World Boxing Association orders the WBA champ to defend against the Rivera-Martin winner if they don’t elevate the winner to champion if Devin vacates his belts.

This is a tough match-up for the 27-year-old ‘The Ghost’ Martin (16-0, 12 KOs) to be taking on this level of a fighter in 24-year-old unbeaten ‘La Zarza Ali’ Rivera (24-0, 14 KOs).

#10 WBA Martin (16-0, 12 KOs) hasn’t fought anyone close to the level of Rivera during his five-year professional career. It’s going to be a sink-or-swim type of fight for Frank, who wasn’t that impressive in his recent 10th round knockout of Jackson Marinez last July.

The southpaw Martin was getting hit cleanly by Marinez the entire fight, and it was his power that got him through that match because things looked bad for him early on.

Rivera is ranked WBA #2, IBF #6, WBO #10, and WBC #12, and has recent wins over these fighters:

• Jerry Perez
• Joseph Adorno
• Jose Matias Romero
• Jon Fernandez
• Anthony Mercado Raices
• Ladarius Miller
• Rene Tellez Giron

By far, the best win of the bunch for Michel Rivera was against the hard-hitting Joseph Adorno in a 10 round unanimous decision last March. Rivera took Adorno to school, dominating him from start to finish.

The 24-year-old Rivera is already arguably better than the likes of Ryan Garcia, Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz, Jamaine Ortiz, and William Zepeda and might be superior to what we saw of Vasyl Lomachenko.

Rivera comes from  Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and currently lives in Miami, Florida.

With Haney likely to bail from the 135-lb division soon, Rivera could get elevated to WBA champion if he defeats Martin on December 17th.

Martin, 27, is promoted by Errol Spence Jr and has gotten a lot of attention due to his being mentioned frequently by the 147-lb champion.

Frank Martin has wins over these fighters:

• Romero Duno – TKO 4
• Jackson Marinez – TKO 10
• Ryan Kielczweski – UD 10
• Jerry Perez

Martin is a good fighter, but he’s over his head fighting Michel Rivera, which will end badly for him.