Rivera to face Raices in FS1 prelim headliner on Saturday

The lightweight prospect is part of Saturday’s PBC show.

PBC have finalized their Saturday night card, with lightweight prospect Michel Rivera set to headline the FS1 prelims against Anthony Raices.

The FS1 portion of the card starts at 7 pm ET, with the Anthony Dirrell vs Kyrone Davis-headlined FOX portion starting at 8 pm ET. The card is flying way under the radar because it’s going head-to-head with Canelo Alvarez’s return to action on DAZN, and also because the fights aren’t the type that would generate any buzz even if it weren’t.

The 22-year-old Rivera (19-0, 12 KO) was recently considered as an opponent for Adrien Broner’s comeback, and it’s probably good that didn’t come off on a number of levels. Given what we saw of Broner this past Saturday, Rivera might well have beaten him, and also Rivera was already flirting with going up to 140 for that fight, and Broner wound up having to have the weight changed to 147 in the end, too. So Rivera would have wound up having to jump two weight classes, or the fight might have gotten called off.

Anyway, he’s facing Raices (13-4, 11 KO), a Puerto Rican who hasn’t fought in two years and has had no success past a club level. His biggest fight came in 2018, when he lost an eight-round decision to Mykal Fox in Philadelphia.

Rivera-Raices is set for either 8 or 10 rounds. There will also be a four-round lightweight bout opening the FS1 show, with 18-year-old Anthony Cuba (1-0, 1 KO) taking on Diego Elizondo (3-2-2, 0 KO).