Mikiah Kreps-Mayerlin Rivas Headlines Oct. 4 ‘Seneca Fight Night Series’ On ESPN Knockout
Mikiah Kreps gets an appropriate test for her first main event.
The unbeaten rising junior featherweight will face former two-division titlist Mayerlin Rivas on Oct. 4. Their scheduled ten-round regional title fight will air live on ESPN Knockout from Seneca Niagara Events Center in Kreps’ hometown of Niagara Falls, New York.
“We have seen Mikiah grow into the main event slot,” said promoter Felix ‘Tutico’ Zabala Jr., head of All Star Boxing, Inc. “She has fought consistently on our Seneca Fight Night series and expanded her fanbase.
“Mikiah is a great prospect who has to keep passing these test in order to fight for a world title. It would be a great scene to bring that title fight to Niagara Falls.”
The matchup is a natural order of progression for Kreps (8-0, 3 knockouts). Her last fight was an eight-round win over former title challenger Melissa Oddessa Parker on Oct. 4 at this very venue. She has now advanced to the top five in both the WBA and WBO, and intends fight for a title within her next couple of bouts.
For now, Kreps will gladly settle for the toughest test of her career—on paper, anyway—in her debut as a headlining act.
“It feels great to be fighting again at home,” stated 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 Jan. 2015 and made three successful defenses. She then moved up to 122 where she won the WBA belt. The feat came in a Feb. 2020 decision win over unbeaten 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 Nov. 18 in Inglewood, California.
“I have nothing to lose,” insisted Rivas. “I’m here to give it my all as I always do, It’s all or nothing for me.”
The show also includes a regional rivalry between Buffalo’s Gerffred Nagyot (7-2, 6 KOs) and Dunkirk’s Wilfredo Flores (10-3-1, 5 KOs).
All Star Boxing began the Seneca Fight Night Series in 2022, three years after debuting in the Western New York market. The company previously oversaw the decades-long Boxeo Telemundo series before NBCUniversal opted out of the boxing business after 2021.
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