LAS VEGAS – Frank Martin wasn’t disappointed that he didn’t knock out Michel Rivera on Saturday night.

Martin was satisfied with his performance because the Detroit native dominated an undefeated lightweight contender in what was the most significant fight of the southpaw’s five-year pro career. That said, Martin felt afterward that he missed opportunities during their 12-round, 135-pound bout to punctuate his victory with a knockout.

The left-handed Martin (17-0, 12 KOs) dropped Rivera with a left hand when there were just over 30 seconds remaining in the seventh round. A resilient Rivera (24-1, 14 KOs) reached his feet pretty quickly and avoided a second knockdown on his way to making it the distance in their “Showtime Championship Boxing” main event at The Chelsea inside The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

“I felt like if I woulda pressed the gas more, you know, if I would just got on him, I feel like I coulda got him up out of there,” Martin told a group of reporters. “But I was kinda like patient, you know? I was a little too patient, I feel like. If I woulda just, after the round I dropped him in, if I woulda just went hard on him and just went out, I feel like I probably coulda got him up out of there.”

Judges Tim Cheatham (120-107), Dave Moretti (117-110) and Steve Weisfeld (118-109) all credited Martin for his offensive and defensive effectiveness throughout their WBA elimination match.

CompuBox’s unofficial punch stats supported the large margins by which Martin won on the cards. According to CompuBox, Martin landed 107 more punches overall than Rivera (174-of-561 to 67-of-439).

Martin’s footwork and ability to slip punches made it very difficult for the Dominican Republic’s Rivera to land clean punches on the elusive southpaw. Martin was confident by the second round that he would handle Rivera with relative ease.

“I mean, it’s cool, you know, like I said, if a stoppage came,” Martin said. “I’m always ready to go the distance. You know what I mean? We always train the rounds to go the distance. So, it ain’t never a disappointment, you know, if you get a shutout, you know, [over] a knockout. You know, I dropped the guy. We ain’t get the stoppage, but it’s all good.”

The 27-year-old Martin sensed he hurt Rivera at times other than during the seventh round.

“It was a couple rounds I felt like that if I woulda just pressed the gas, like he was kinda ready to go,” Martin said. “You know, I could just tell by his body language.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.