Michel Rivera has officially launched the 2020 Prospect of the Year race. 

The blue-chip lightweight made the most of his televised showcase, picking apart Fidel Maldonado Jr. en route to a 10th round stoppage in their Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on FS1 co-feature Saturday evening at Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Rivera scored a knockdown midway through round ten, with the ensuing volley forcing the stoppage at 1:40 of the 10th and final round. 

The baby-faced lightweight from Dominican Republic is represented by all-star boxing personalities, with promoter Sampson Lewkowicz and trainer Herman Caicedo both hailing the unbeaten boxer as the future of the lightweight division. A taste of it came on Saturday, as Rivera had an answer for every trick thrown at him by Maldonado, a 28-year old southpaw from Albuquerque.

Due to Maldonado’s desire to box from the outside, two-way exchanges were infrequent. It wasn’t from a lack of trying on the part of Rivera, who worked behind a purposeful jab in the opening round, mixing in right hands upstairs as Maldonado continued to fight off the back foot.

The same pattern continued in round two—and pretty much throughout the contest—as Rivera continued to chip away at his elusive foe. Rivera connected with a straight right hand which Maldonado tried to dismiss as ineffective, though his sheepish grin telling another tale.

Rivera stayed the course, building on each round and closing the gap in his best effort to make it an inside fight. The Dominican prospect found himself at close range in round five, with right hands up top followed by left hooks to the body.

Maldonado enjoyed his best round of the fight in the sixth, scoring with left hands which split the guard of Rivera. It marked the first time in the fight where the southpaw initiated exchanges, at the very least testing Rivera’s punch resistance and patience, as the undefeated prospect showed he could take a shot.

He also showed that he could give plenty in return.

Maldonado found himself under siege in round eight, getting clipped with several right hands as Rivera had a knockout in mind in a bout threatening to go the distance.

Rivera took care of that in a big way, closing the show in the 10th and final round. A steady volume of punches had Maldonado in retreat, with a right hand clipping him on his wide open chin to produce the bout’s lone knockdown. Maldonado beat the count, but Rivera moved in with a steady diet of power shots which forced referee Keith Hughes to stop the fight.

Maldonado snaps a three-fight win streak in falling to 27-5-1 (20KOs).

Meanwhile, the sky’s the limit for Rivera who continues to thrive in primetime. Having made his stateside and televised debut last summer, the promising lightweight—who turns just 22 in March—improves to 18-0 (12KOs).

The bout served in supporting capacity to a welterweight heat between Yordenis Ugas (24-4, 11KOs) and Mike Dallas Jr. (23-3-2, 11KO).

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox