Mikiah Kreps gets a fitting test for her first main event.
The undefeated rising junior featherweight will face former two-division titlist Mayerlin Rivas on October 4. Their scheduled ten-round regional title bout will be broadcast live on ESPN Knockout from Seneca Niagara Events Center in Kreps’ hometown of Niagara Falls, New York.
“We’ve seen Mikiah grow in the main event slot,” said promoter Felix ‘Tutico’ Zabala Jr., head of All Star Boxing, Inc. said.
“Mikiah is a big prospect who needs to keep passing this test to fight for a world title. It will be a great scene to bring that title fight to Niagara Falls.”
The game is a natural progression for Kreps (8-0, 3 knockouts). Her last fight was an eight-round victory over former title challenger Melissa Oddessa Parker on October 4 at this very venue. She has now moved into the top five in both the WBA and WBO, and aims to fight for a title within her next few bouts.
For now, Kreps will be happy to settle for the toughest test of her career – on paper anyway – in her headline debut.
“It feels great to be fighting at home again,” said the 28-year-old Kreps, a four-year pro. “This time, with a belt on the line.”
Rivas (17-5-3, 11 KOs) is currently on a two-fight winless streak. However, she is a former two-time WBA titleholder who remains among the division’s best fighters.
The Ring’s no. 5-rated junior featherweight won the WBA 118-pound title in January 2015 and made three successful defenses. She then moved up to 122 where she won the WBA belt. The feat came in a February 2020 decision over undefeated Laura Ledezma (14-0 at the time) on the road in Panama City, Panama.
Two successful defenses followed before she dropped a competitive ten-round decision to Erika Cruz (17-2-1, 3 KOs) last November 18 in Inglewood, California.
“I have nothing to lose,” Rivas insisted. “I’m here to give it my all as I always do, it’s all or nothing for me.”
The show also includes a local rivalry between Buffalo’s Gerffred Nagyot (7-2, 6 KOs) and Dunkirk’s Wilfredo Flores (10-3-1, 5 KOs).
All Star Boxing started the Seneca Fight Night series in 2022, three years after debuting in the Western New York market. The company previously oversaw the decades-long Telemundo Boxing series before NBCUniversal pulled out of the box business after 2021.
