Wilfredo Rivera (born May 4, 1969) is a Puerto Rican former professional boxer who fought three times for world titles, losing to Pernell Whitaker twice and to Oscar De La Hoya.
He discovered boxing at the age of 8 when he was playing one day and heard some noises, which made him curious, so he went into a building and saw boxers practicing and exercising; he thought what they were doing looked like it was fun and soon joined the gym, managed by a trainer named Don Eusebio.
He was, however, not allowed to participate himself, the Puerto Rican Boxing Federation choosing Hector Arroyo instead to fight at Rivera's weight during those Olympic Games.
Next was Delfino Martin, a 13 win, 17 losses trail horse who fought Rivera on Saturday, February 13, 1993, as part of the undercard in which Molina successfully defended his IBF world Junior Lightweight title by outpointing Francisco Segura over 12 rounds at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan.
On April 26, 1993, Rivera won in the tournament's quarterfinals by knocking out Argentina's Ariel Chaves to advance to the semifinals, held on June 28, when he faced former WBC Junior Welterweight world champion Lonnie Smith, an American whom Rivera outpointed in order to reach the tournament's Welterweight division's final, fought against Stephan Johnson on August 9.
By this point of his career, Rivera's record was 23-0-1 with 14 knockout wins; he was a highly regarded contender for the WBC world Welterweight title held by Pernell Whitaker, and the local press in Puerto Rico widely speculated about the outcome of a bout between the two.
Once again, Whitaker pulled a very close and somewhat controversial, but this time unanimous, decision win over 12 rounds to retain the WBC world welterweight title, with scores of 115-113 by Masakazu Ushida, 113-112 by Jay Kassees, and 115-111 by John Keene.
On March 22, 1997, Rivera was matched with the legendary but shopworn former WBA world Lightweight champion Livingstone Bramble at El Condado, San Juan.
Rivera dominated this bout, scoring a third-round knockout win over his experienced foe, who had beaten International Boxing Hall of Fame member Ray Mancini twice and who sported a 38-19-2 record into this fight.
Their bout was held on December 6, 1997, at the Caesars Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey and broadcast live on HBO Pay Per View.
Rivera-Palomino was held at the historic Olympic Auditorium at Los Angeles, California, and Rivera convinced the Mexican legend to re-retire, beating him by ten round unanimous decision.
On July 16, 1999, Rivera fought a mismatch against 14-34-1 triailhorse Jimmy Morgan, who was stopped by the Puerto Rican at the Radisson Hotel, in Evansville, Indiana.
Rivera took off some time after the action-packed loss at the hands of Mosley, returning ten months after with a win on July 21, 2000, against 16-15 Gerald Coleman by technical knockout at the Harrah's hotel and Casino in Reno, Nevada, a victory that he followed with one over the veteran Rob Bleakley, who, with a record of 77 wins, 29 losses and one draw was making his 108th bout against Rivera when they met on January 7, 2001, at Nashville, Tennessee.
Rivera outpointed Bleakley over ten rounds, setting up a ten-round bout against former IBF world Junior Middleweight champion "Ferocious Fernando Vargas".