LAS VEGAS – Michel Rivera has worked tirelessly since he moved from the Dominican Republic to Miami five years ago in pursuit of his dream to become a lightweight world champion.

When the reality of what had happened to him Saturday night hit Rivera, the 24-year-old contender cried in his locker room at The Chelsea inside The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. The previously unbeaten Rivera was very confident that his boxing skills would be too much for Frank Martin in their high-stakes, 12-round WBA elimination match.

Martin, as it turned out, was the superior fighter throughout their “Showtime Championship Boxing” main event. The taller, rangier Rivera (24-1, 14 KOs) had difficulty dealing with the sharp, smart southpaw’s speed, power and elusiveness during a match Martin (17-0, 12 KOs) won by large margins on all three scorecards (120-107, 118-109, 117-110).

Martin’s footwork enabled him to slip many of Rivera’s punch attempts. CompuBox credited Rivera for landing only 67-of-439 punches in their 12-round bout, less than six per round. Martin connected on 174-of-561 punches, according to CompuBox.

“I’m pretty fast, but you have be faster to fight a guy like this,” said Rivera, who entered the ring ranked number two among the WBA’s lightweight contenders. “I was too slow [Saturday night]. I tried to use my jab to keep him off me. He was the better guy [Saturday]. I won’t take anything from him. I don’t want to learn how to lose. I’m just going to work hard to win again. I don’t want losing to feel normal. I work to win.”

A left hand by Martin dropped Rivera with just over 30 seconds to go in the seventh round. A resilient Rivera reached his feet quickly and took Martin’s hardest shots without going down again in the final five rounds.

Nevertheless, the 5-foot-9 Rivera indicated it might be time to move up to the junior welterweight limit of 140 pounds for his next fight.

“I went in there for a win,” Rivera said. “I didn’t come here to lose. I was feeling pretty good [Saturday night], but by round four or five, I think I started to feel the effects of the weight cut. I don’t make excuses, but I’m a big guy for the division.”

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