Frank Martin might’ve made his pursuit of higher-profile lightweight fights more difficult by dominating Michel Rivera the way that he did December 17.

The skillful, strong, versatile Martin (17-0, 12 KOs) was so impressive versus Rivera that the emerging contender nicknamed “The Ghost” feels he probably “spooked” lightweights who previously might’ve considered facing him. The Detroit native dropped the Dominican Republic’s Rivera (24-1, 14 KOs) in the seventh round and decisively defeated him on all three scorecards in their “Showtime Championship Boxing” main event at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

“I feel like it made it a little tougher, you know, because it brought out some things that people didn’t think I had,” Martin told BoxingScene.com. “You know, so the fighters that was sleeping on me, it woke ‘em up to certain things I can do, as far as my skill set. But the way we moving right now, the top names gonna have to see me. So, I’ve just gotta keep working.”

The 28-year-old Martin’s work will continue Saturday night, when he will return to The Cosmopolitan to box unbeaten, unknown Armenian contender Artem Harutyunyan (12-0, 7 KOs) in the main event of a “Showtime Championship Boxing” tripleheader (10 p.m. EDT; 7 p.m. PDT).

Martin is ranked second by the WBA, fifth by the WBC, sixth by the IBF and seventh by the WBO. If undefeated, undisputed lightweight champ Devin Haney (30-0, 15 KOs) remains in the lightweight division for one more fight, it is highly unlikely that Martin will draw that assignment.

In fact, Martin is resigned to having to secure a mandatory position to get a shot at the IBF, WBA, WBC or WBO lightweight titles that Haney might vacate.

“I feel like that them top guys ain’t just gonna be like, ‘Yeah, we gonna fight Frank Martin,’ ” Martin said. “They gonna look at me as a dangerous fight. You know, I feel like I can do it all.”

Martin has trained just as hard to fight Harutyunyan as he did any of his first 17 professional opponents. Assuming the 12-1 favorite wins Saturday night, he hopes to get in another bout before the end of 2023 against a known lightweight contender.

Like virtually every other lightweight, Martin hopes he eventually gets an opportunity to oppose Premier Boxing Champions’ cash cow, Gervonta Davis.

The WBA’s secondary lightweight champion currently is serving time in a Baltimore correctional facility https://www.boxingscene.com/report-gervonta-davis-jailed-spending-home-detention-four-seasons-luxury-condo--175079). Once Davis (29-0, 27 KOs) is released early next month, he and his team are expected to start plotting his third fight of 2023.

“Right now, my team and everybody, they’re positioning me to get those type of fights right there,” Martin said. “They’re putting me in that mandatory spot, so guys will have to eventually step up and take the fight. But I think [Davis is] a real dude. I think he a solid fighter. You know, we as fighters, we’ll eventually give a guy an opportunity once we feel they done did something, where, ‘OK, we gotta fight him.’ So, hopefully, he’ll be like, ‘Yeah, OK, let me see about him. Just give me that fight.’ That’s why I train for the big fights. I don’t train day in and day out to just, you know, let those big fights slip past me.”

If Davis doesn’t grant Martin an opportunity, the Dallas-based boxer mentioned Isaac Cruz and Edwin De Los Santos as potential opponents among the lightweights also affiliated with Al Haymon’s PBC.

Mexico’s Cruz (24-2-1, 17 KOs) is scheduled to square off against Chicago’s Giovanni Cabrera (21-0, 7 KOs) on the Showtime Pay-Per-View portion of the Errol Spence Jr.-Terence Crawford undercard July 29 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The Dominican Republic’s De Los Santos (16-1, 14 KOs) outboxed Joseph Adorno (17-3-2, 14 KOs) and won their 10-rounder by unanimous decision last Saturday night at Boardwalk Hall’s Adrian Phillips Theater in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Martin would love to test himself against two-division champ Shakur Stevenson or three-division champ Vasiliy Lomachenko as well. Those two bouts would be tougher to put together because Stevenson (20-0, 10 KOs) and Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs) are promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc.

“I want the big fights,” Martin said. “I want all the big names, all the people the world know as far as lightweights. I know I done name-dropped a few times. You know, sometimes you get a lotta backlash for name-dropping. People say you trying to get clout and this and that, so I really don’t feel like talking too much about individuals, naming them and stuff like that. I’m just ready for those top guys who everybody mentions as far as when people talk about the best 135-pounders. You know, I’m ready for every last one of ‘em.”

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