A desert town on the U.S. West Coast provides the unlikeliest of backdrops for an all-Boricua clash.
Angel Acosta and Janiel Rivera both made weight for their upcoming ten-round bout just above the flyweight limit. San Juan’s Acosta—a former WBO junior flyweight titlist and aspiring flyweight contender—checked in at 112.8 pounds, the second heaviest of his career. Rivera—a fringe contender from Manati, Puerto Rico—also weighed 112.8 pounds for the scheduled 10-round main event.
The bout airs live atop a Golden Boy Fight Night on DAZN show Thursday evening from Fantasy Springs Special Events Center in Indio, California.
The fight is the first for Acosta (23-2-1, 21KOs) since suffering a fourth-round cuts stoppage to WBO flyweight titlist Junto Nakatani (23-0, 18KOs) last September in Tucson, Arizona. The loss snapped a two-fight win streak since moving up to flyweight following the end of 18-month WBO junior flyweight title reign.
Acosta lives in Puerto Rico but now trains in Indio under the tutelage of Joel Diaz, with the two spending their second camp together for Thursday’s main event.
Rivera (18-8-3, 11KOs) has lost five straight, including a first-round knockout at the lethal hands of Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez (15-0, 10KOs) in September 2020—more than a year prior to Rodriguez capturing the WBC junior bantamweight title this past February. In his most recent start, Rivera suffered a third-round stoppage versus Saleto Henderson last February in Gadsden, Alabama.
Below are the weights for the rest of the undercard.
Victor Morales (15-0-1, 8KOs), Vancouver, Washington, 125.6 pounds vs. Alberto Torres (11-4-3, 4KOs), Sacramento, 125.4 pounds—10 rds, featherweight
Rudy Garcia (12-0-1, 2KOs), Los Angeles, 125 pounds vs. Diuhl Olguin (15-22-5, 10KOs), Guadalajara, Mexico, 124.8 pounds—8 rds, featherweight
Jimmy Brenes (1-0, 1KO), Masaya, Nicaragua, 146.2 pounds vs. Hector Perez (0-1, 0KOs), Inglewood, California, 145.8 pounds—4 rds, welterweight
Eric Tudor (3-0, 3KOs), Hollywood, Florida, 154 pounds vs Donte Stubbs (6-4, 2KOs), Riverside, California, 157.6 pounds—6 rds, junior middleweight
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox