He had a successful career under Pedro Téllez-Girón, Duke of Osuna, achieving fame for his victory over a vastly larger Ottoman fleet at the Battle of Cape Celidonia.

In 1605, he was part of Fajardo's expedition to Cumaná, modern-day Venezuela, where their 14 galleons captured 19 Dutch privateer hulks which harassed local Spanish trade.

[2] He travelled to the Viceroyalty of Sicily seeking to join the famed fleets of the Duke of Osuna, who gave Rivera command of one of the 36-gun galleon San Juan Bautista.

[4] At the Battle of Cape Celidonia, his squadron defeated 55 Ottoman galleys, leading King Philip III to promote Rivera to admiral for this victory, along with awarding him with admittance to the Order of Santiago.

Rivera's last deployment under his orders saw him command ten galleons in conjunction with Agustín de Silva with six galleys, hounding Candia and capturing a dozen Venetian merchants.

After Rivera returned to Naples with the merchants, Silva was cornered by Venetian admiral Federico Nani with eight galleons, losing his main galley but managing to escape with the rest.