Frank Martin being a ghost on the inside vs Michel Rivera
{A Thread}

Immediately it was clear that Rivera did not have the slightest idea of what to do whenever Martin closed the distance. He showed a complete lack of understanding when fighting on the inside. His answer was just to guard up and sometimes swing back without even looking

When Martin realised that all Rivera could do was go in his shell, he started pawing his jab to draw out the guard of Rivera and then used it to find openings. Because Rivera wasn’t looking when throwing back, Martin was easily able to evade his punches on the backfoot

Martin also used pivots to ensure he hit and didn’t get hit when entering into range. Rivera didn’t do anything to try dissuade Martin from pivoting (e.g. throwing a lead body hook) meaning he was chasing him around the ring and put in disadvantageous positions while doing so

Rivera would almost always begin combinations with a lunging right straight which often threw him out of position. Doing it so frequently meant Martin read it, he slipped and punished the right straight with his own left straights and uppercuts throughout the fight

Martin scored a beautiful knockdown off of Riveras lunging right straight in the 7th, making use of the pull counter. Rivera threw himself off balance with one leg off the floor from his right straight. Martin simply pulled back and landed a stiff left straight to drop him

As an open stance matchup, the most important aspect of the fight was foot positioning. Pay close attention to Martins lead foot, its always on the outside during exchanges, this gives him the opportunity to find angles and pivot at all times, while Rivera is stuck on the inside

This is noteworthy because it showed the stark contrast between Martins ability and knowledge of boxing compared to Riveras. The latter barely ever tried to gain the advantage with outside foot positioning nor attempt to adjust during the fight when Martin had him figured out

Frank Martin boxed beautifully on Saturday night and emphasised that he is ready to start fighting the elite at lightweight.

Thank you for reading this thread