MINNEAPOLIS – There are two goals in the immediate future of Michel ‘La Zarza Ali’ Rivera.

Both are contingent upon his beating fellow undefeated lightweight Joseph Adorno this weekend, as the two collide as part of a Showtime tripleheader this Saturday from The Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The bout serves as the co-feature, leading to Rivera’s expectation of advancing to headlining act after this weekend.

The other is to fight for a world title.

“I can win a world title right now,” Rivera told BoxingScene.com. “I can fight for a world title right now and win. If they tell me in 20 minutes I’m fighting for a world title, I say yeah.”

Rivera (22-0, 14KOs), 24, weighed well under the contracted 137-pound limit for Saturday’s fight, his third straight on Showtime and fourth overall dating back to his June 2019 U.S. debut. The Dominican lightweight—now based out of Miami—claimed an eight-round points win over Rene Tellez Giron in a battle of unbeaten prospects on ShoBox. From there came developmental fights on Fox and its accompanying platforms before making his way back to Showtime’s platform last summer.

In all of his televised appearances, Rivera has served in a supporting role despite drawing accolades as a can’t miss future champion.

“He deserves to headline his own shows,” German Caicedo, Rivera’s head trainer told BoxingScene.com. “He has a great team behind him, promoter Sampson Lewkowicz, (adviser) Al Haymon… we trust the process and we know that he’s on his way to becoming a world champion. After this fight, we’d love to see him in the main event.”

That wish is a logical next step for Rivera, who is waiting out the winner of the May 28 showdown between WBA ‘World’ lightweight titlist Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis (26-0, 24KOs) and mandatory challenger Rolando Romero (14-0, 12KOs). Rivera is the next highest rated contender in the WBA lightweight rankings, earning that position following a knockout win of Jon Fernandez in a title eliminator last July in Carson, California.  

It’s possible that Rivera will have to fight at least once more after this weekend before landing his first career title fight, assuming he gets past the hard-hitting Adorno this weekend. All it means to the charismatic, rising contender is more time to develop into a star attraction.

“I don’t know how long it will take to get the opportunity, but I’m pretty sure it will be soon,” believes Rivera. “Al Haymon is the best in the world. Sampson is my promoter and I thank him too. With them by my side, my plan is to just keep working hard. When that opportunity comes, I will be ready.

“I just keep working hard. I am good (at lightweight) and I plan to stay here for as long as I need to.”

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