Mikiah Kreps made a statement to the 122-pound division.
The undefeated contender defeated former titleholder Mayerlin Rivas via unanimous decision Friday night at the Seneca Niagara Hotel and Casino in Kreps’ hometown of Niagara Falls, New York. Scores were 79-73, 78-74 and 77-75 for Kreps, who improved to 9-0, 3 knockouts.
From the opening bell, Kreps tried to walk away from Rivas, who kept her distance using her jab. Kreps increased her aggression the next round, and the tactic worked as she was able to land more combinations against Rivas, who backed up against the ropes but did little to keep Kreps off her.
Rivas tried to work the body of Kreps during round four, and had some success, but that didn’t stop Kreps from fighting on the front foot.
Kreps began to land more left hooks to Rivas’ head in round six. Whether it was a lead or a counter, Kreps landed hooks to the head, forcing Rivas to retreat to the ropes.
Realizing that Rivas might be ready to go and looking for a knockout victory, Kreps went all out during the final round. She went at Rivas with full aggression in the final 30 seconds, but was unable to score a knockout or takedown.
The win by Kreps was impressive as Rivas presented herself as great opposition at this stage of her career. The win could put Kreps in the top-5 ranking by The Ring at 122 pounds.
In her previous fight on May 10, Kreps defeated Melissa Oddessa Parker by unanimous decision. On November 7, Kreps defeated Isis Vargas Perez by decision over eight competitive rounds.
The 28-year-old has been an amateur standout, including first place at the 2018 Elite National Championships, a bronze medalist at the 2019 World Championships, and was the No. 1 ranked amateur in USA Boxing. She is co-managed by former WBO world lightweight titleholder Jamel Herring and Jerry Cazarez and co-promoted by Lou DiBella and Tuto Zabala, Jr.
Rivas, who lives in Caracas, Venezuela, went 17-6-3, 11 KOs. In her previous fight on November 18, Rivas lost the WBA junior featherweight title to Erika Cruz by majority decision.
The 36-year-old Rivas has won world title belts in two different weight classes.
In the co-main event, lightweight Wilfredo Flores defeated Gerffred Ngayot by majority decision. One judge scored the bout 75-75, while the other two judges scored the bout 77-73 for Flores, who lost a three-fight sweep.
Flores (11-3-1, 5 KOS) dropped Ngayot twice in the fourth round, which was the difference between a victory and a majority decision. The 34-year-old Flores was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico and now lives in North Tonawanda, New York.
Ngayot, who is originally from Brazzaville, Congo and now lives and trains in nearby Buffalo, falls to 7-3, 6 KOs.
Junior featherweight prospect Alexander Castellano, who also lives in North Tonawanda, improved to 11-1-2, 2 KOs and defeated Dominique Griffin (5-8-2, 2 KOs) of Irving, Texas by majority decision. One judge scored the bout 77-77, while the other two judges scored the bout 78-76 for Castellano.
Griffin was deducted a point in round four for throwing and landing low blows, for which he had been warned in previous rounds.
The card was streamed live on ESPN Knockout.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at (email protected)
