Wilfredo Rivera (boxer)

After two wins over lower opposition rivals Luis De Jesus (3-7) and Jose Luis De Jesus (1-1, the latter two not the same boxer), Rivera fought a string of hard opponents, including 11-1 Francisco Martinez, a knockout victory for Rivera on June 21, 1991, at Tamiami, Florida; Valentin Ocasio, who was 2-5 but who had lasted the six rounds distance against Félix Trinidad earlier and whom Rivera knocked out on October 30, 1991, in San Juan; 27-12 Idelmar Paisan, a unanimous decision win for Rivera on November 27 at San Juan; fellow Trinidad victim, 17-15 Darren McGrew, knocked out by Rivera on March 12, 1992, in San Juan; and 21-12-3 Amancio Castro, defeated by Rivera on June 13, 1992, at Miami by technical knockout.

By this point of his career, Rivera's record was 23-0-1 with 14 knockout wins; he was a highly regarded contender for the WBC world Welterweight title held by Pernell Whitaker, and the local press in Puerto Rico widely speculated about the outcome of a bout between the two.

Rivera halted Lubo, winning by technical knockout to continue having a spot among the WBC's top ten Welterweight championship contenders, and followed that win with a knockout victory against 24-15 -2 journeyman Benjie Marquez on July 25, also at San Juan.

On September 12, Rivera faced Mark Hammon, a veteran journeyman with a record of 38 wins and 12 losses.

If Rivera could get past Hammon, a fight with WBC world Welterweight champion Oscar De La Hoya would be signed.

With such an opportunity lurking on the horizon, Rivera made his Caesars Palace hotel debut in Las Vegas, dispatching Hammon by knockout.

Rivera dominated this bout, scoring a third-round knockout win over his experienced foe, who had beaten International Boxing Hall of Fame member Ray Mancini twice and who sported a 38-19-2 record into this fight.

Wilfredo Rivera (born May 4, 1969) is a Puerto Rican former professional boxer who fought three times for world titles, losing to Pernell Whitaker twice and to Oscar De La Hoya.

Rivera grew in poverty in Rio Piedras, San Juan, Puerto Rico, the son of Wilfredo Rivera, Sr. and of Iris Violeta.

When he was 12, his parents divorced and his father moved to Brooklyn, New York, in the united States.

Rivera was a member of the Puerto Rican men's boxing team that participated at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.

He was, however, not allowed to participate himself, the Puerto Rican Boxing Federation choosing Hector Arroyo instead to fight at Rivera's weight during those Olympic Games.

Rivera wound up his amateur boxing career with a record of 51 wins and 6 losses.

Rivera debuted as a professional boxer on May 2, 1988, beating the also debuting Jose Centeno by knockout in San Juan.

He then defeated Agustin Silva and Luis Rivera (no relation), the latter as part of an undercard headed by the fight between John John Molina and Juan Laporte at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan on April 29, 1989.

Rivera won his next two bouts, both at the Madison Square Garden's Felt Forum, before facing future IBF world Lightweight champion Leavander Johnson, 3-0 before their bout, on September 12, 1989, in a battle of undefeated prospects at the Showboat Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The two remained undefeated after fighting to a draw (tie).

Next was Delfino Martin, a 13 win, 17 losses trail horse who fought Rivera on Saturday, February 13, 1993, as part of the undercard in which Molina successfully defended his IBF world Junior Lightweight title by outpointing Francisco Segura over 12 rounds at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan.

Rivera defeated Martin by unanimous decision.

Rivera then entered a Great Western Forum annual competition that was held for many years in Inglewood, California in which winners in each boxing division were promised a world ranking among the top ten in their category by one of the four major sanctioning bodies and, possibly, a world title shot, Rivera competing in the 1993 edition of the tournament's Welterweight championship.

On April 26, 1993, Rivera won in the tournament's quarterfinals by knocking out Argentina's Ariel Chaves to advance to the semifinals, held on June 28, when he faced former WBC Junior Welterweight world champion Lonnie Smith, an American whom Rivera outpointed in order to reach the tournament's Welterweight division's final, fought against Stephan Johnson on August 9.

He beat Johnson by 10 round unanimous decision to become the Great Western Forum's boxing tournament's 1993 edition's Welterweight champion.

Rivera's first world championship fight was held on April 12, 1996, at the Atlantis Casino, Cupecoy Bay, in the island of St. Maarten, in front of an exclusive crowd of 1,000 casino guests.

The fight was televised to Puerto Rico and the United States on HBO Boxing.

Commentators Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant and George Foreman did not expect a Rivera victory.

After twelve rounds, however, Rivera had impressed the HBO team enough to have HBO's unofficial judge, Harold Lederman, score the bout for Rivera, 115–113.

Whitaker, however, was given a very controversial 12 round split decision win, with judges Tamotsu Tomihara (116-111) and George St. Aude (115-113) scoring for the champion and judge Barbara Perez scoring for Rivera, 115–112.

Due to the closeness of their first fight, and to the protests raised by boxing magazines both in Latin America and the United States (Rivera was even called the "uncrowned champion" on some outlets), the World Boxing Council ordered an immediate rematch.

The second Rivera-Whitaker bout was fought at the James Knight Convention Center in Miami, Florida.

At stake was not only the WBC world Welterweight title but also a big money fight versus WBC world Junior Welterweight champion Oscar de La Hoya, who was planning to challenge the rematch's winner.

Rivera dropped the champion in round five with a body blow that landed after Whitaker apparently tripped on Rivera's left foot.

Whitaker then responded by dropping Rivera with a left to the chin in round six.

Rivera also lost a point during that round for a low blow.

Once again, Whitaker pulled a very close and somewhat controversial, but this time unanimous, decision win over 12 rounds to retain the WBC world welterweight title, with scores of 115-113 by Masakazu Ushida, 113-112 by Jay Kassees, and 115-111 by John Keene.

Had Rivera not lost a point and been dropped in round six, this bout would have ended in a draw (tie) and possibly a third match between Rivera and Whitaker (by losing points due to the low blow and the fall, Rivera lost the chance of having the bout scored 114-113 for him by Kassees and 115-115 by Ushida, which, added to Keene's score-which would have read 115-113 for Whitaker-would have caused the bout to be ruled a tie).

HBO's unofficial judge, Harold Lederman, also notably, this time scored the bout for Whitaker by a score of 116–109.

The next year, Whitaker lost his world title to De La Hoya by way of yet another very controversial but unanimous decision.

On March 22, 1997, Rivera was matched with the legendary but shopworn former WBA world Lightweight champion Livingstone Bramble at El Condado, San Juan.

On April 19, 1997, Rivera faced Alex Lubo, a 10-1 contender who hoped to upset Rivera and enter the Welterweight top 10 rankings himself.

After gaining a ranking among the WBC's top ten Welterweights, Rivera proceeded to beat 9-3 Carlos Cartagena by knockout on July 22, 1994, in Trujillo Alto, 56-24-5 former world title challenger Rod Sequenan by knockout on September 12, 1994, at the Great Western Forum, 16-5-2 Ronald Rangel by unanimous decision at the Taj Majal Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City on January 25, 1995, an April 18 victory over fringe contender, Cassius Clay Horne, 29-8-2 before their bout at the Aladdin Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas-a knockout victory-, a win over veteran trial horse Manuel Hernandez, 18-15-2, on a technical knockout July 15 at the Caesar's Tahoe in Stateline and one over 22-16 Steve Larrimore on November 18 at the Taj Majal Hotel and Casino.