Albuquerque, New Mexico: Perez Beats Rivera to Keep WBA Interim Flyweight Title

Abraham Perez gave his hometown crowd the fight it came for. The Albuquerque native kept his WBA interim flyweight title on Saturday, November 7, 2026, beating Yankiel Rivera by unanimous decision in the main event at Kiva Auditorium in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Salita Promotions card was shown on DAZN, and Perez controlled it from the first round to the last.

A knockdown in the second

Perez set the tone early. He landed a straight right hand in the first round, and his counter shots and power punches left Rivera with a bloody nose before the second round began. Late in the second, Perez landed another straight right, followed by a grazing left hook and a right hook, and Rivera went to the canvas. It was the only knockdown of the fight, and it put the champion well ahead on the cards.

The judges scored the 12 round fight 120-107 for judge Patrick Morley, 119-109 for Raul Caiz Sr. and 118-109 for Nexis Novoa. Perez, 27, improved to 16-0 with seven knockouts in his first defense of the interim title. The Ring lists him as its No. 8 contender at flyweight. The full WBA title at 112 pounds is held by Sergio Mendoza, who also holds the WBO belt.

Rivera presses, Perez holds firm

Rivera, a 29 year old Puerto Rican southpaw, tried to change the fight from the third round on. He pushed forward, worked to get inside and landed solid hooks to the body and a home for his left hand. The pressure came at a cost. His open defense and limited head movement left him in range for Perez counters all night, and he finished at 8-2-1 with four knockouts.

The inside fighting also left marks on the champion. Perez picked up two cuts around his left eye in the fourth round from headbutts, one on the eyelid and one above the eyebrow, and he later developed a cut on the bridge of his nose. None of the cuts changed the pattern of the fight. Perez kept countering off Rivera pressure and swept the late rounds to close out a wide decision. At Friday's weigh in, Perez scaled 111.2 pounds and Rivera 111.4, both inside the 112 pound flyweight limit.

On the undercard

In the co-main event, Atif Oberlton outboxed Deon Nicholson to a split decision in a ten round light heavyweight fight. Two judges scored it 98-92 for Oberlton, now 18-0, and one judge scored it 96-94 for Nicholson. Oberlton said after the fight that he hurt his left biceps in the first round and boxed most of the night with one arm.

Earlier on the card, Pedro Taduran of the Philippines kept his IBF title at 105 pounds with a unanimous decision over Spain's Brandon Moreno. Two judges scored it 115-113 and the third scored it 120-108. It was Taduran's fourth successful title defense, and Moreno took the first loss of his career, falling to 16-1. Pryce Taylor also won a split decision over Tsotne Rogava in a ten round heavyweight fight on the same card.