Rivera Makes His Claim!!
By Tom Donelson

May 10, 2006 - While much of the boxing world was focused upon Las Vegas, there was another crucial junior Middleweight bout being held in Worcester, Massachusetts. Jose Antonio Rivera challenged Alejandro Garcia for Garcia's WBA version of the junior Middleweight division. Garcia came in the bout confident as he traveled to Rivera's backyard and even tolerated three judges from Massachusetts. He simply felt that his right hand would be final arbitrator of the bout.

Rivera came in the fight with a game plan and executed it almost perfectly. Rivera reputation was that of inside brawler but in this fight, he switched tactics. He boxed and move on the outside, which conventional wisdom stated favored Garcia. Garcia advantages were heavy hands and he was the natural junior Middleweight whereas Rivera was moving up in weight.

Rivera showed that he belonged as his left jab set Garcia down to one knee in the opening minutes and a straight right sent Garcia down for a second time. All told, Garcia hit the canvas five times and the only time that he had Rivera in trouble was in the fourth round. Garcia unleashed a series of body shots that drove Rivera across the ring and a clubbing right hand sent him down. Rivera returned to his corner after the round with his senses intact and in the fifth round, he restarted his attack.

Under the tutelage of John "Iceman" Scully, Rivera showed flexibility in his attack. He alternated from his typical swarming style to movement from the outside from which he nailed Garcia with left jabs and right hands. Garcia was consistently finishing in second place during flurries and the only thing that kept him up throughout the bout was his heart and grit.

As Rivera commented after the fight, Garcia power stayed with him through the fight. Rivera proved to be one tough hombre who could take a punch or two. Which brings us to the Junior Middleweights.

Oscar De La Hoya is the big name in the junior Middleweight division along with Shane Mosley and Fernando Vargas but underneath these three fighters are some fine fighters. Jose Antonio Rivera, Alejandro Garcia, Kassim Osuma, Sergiy Dzinziyk and the recognized reigning junior Middleweight champion Roman Karmazin make up a core of fighters that are worthy contenders.

Right now, the main man is Roman Karmazin due to his victory over Kassim Osuma last year. Osuma came into that fight as the heavy favorite and the heir apparent to Winky Wright. Karmazin plowed through Osuma like Sherman rolled across Georgia and took Osuma title. Since then, there have been some big fights in the division including Vargas-Mosley and last weekend De La Hoya-Mayorga. De La Hoya overshadows what is becoming a deep division with contenders and champions preparing to do battle.

While it is hard to predict exactly how long De La Hoya will stay active, there is no doubt that De La Hoya has one, no more than two fights left. So that means that those other junior Middleweights will have their own opportunity to make their claim to the top spot of the division. And Karmazin claim to the top spot is tenuous for this division is loaded with talent that nearly even in talent. There are no superior fighter sitting on top of the division but you have numerous fighters who match up well with each other.

While De La Hoya slaughtered Mayorga for one of his best performances in years, Jose Rivera demonstrated that he belong among junior Middleweights elites.