Heavyweight contender Oscar Rivas had no difficulty in dismissing Sylvera Louis (8-6) in their rematch, which took place on Tuesday evening at the Hotel Plaza in Quebec, in the main event of card that was staged by Groupe Yvon Michel (GYM).
Rivas (27-1, 19 KOs) won by stoppage following Louis’ abandonment after the third round.
“I felt very strong physically and my reflexes were sharp. I feel like I’m going to show some great things in this new weight class [of bridgerweight]. My goal is to become world champion and I will wait for what comes,” Rivas said.
He snapped his inactivity streak of 20 months. The boxer last fought when he suffered the first defeat of his career by way of a twelve round decision at the hands of Dillian Whyte in July 2019.
Rivas will now move forward with a fight against Kevin Lerena or Bryant Jennings for the title of the WBC’s brand new bridgerweight division.
Rivas’ promoter, Yvon Michel of GYM, mentioned that an announcement will be made soon, very possibly at the beginning of April.
Jennings, who Rivas beat by a twelfth round stoppage in January 2019 in Verona, NY, is said to be reluctant to sign the contract to face the Colombian boxer, which is why Lerena’s name has surfaced in the past few hours.
Also on the card, Sebastien Bouchard beat Mario Perez by unanimous decision (60- 54, 59-55 and 58-56).
A little less than three years after stopping Janks Trotter in the first round, Patrice Volny (16-0, 10 KOs) used the rematch to win with a TKO at 1:56 of the fifth round after sending his opponent to the floor three times during the fight.
Volny is expected to return to the ring in late spring or early summer to face Germany’s Patrick Wojcicki in an IBF middleweight eliminator, with the winner targeting a crack at world champion Gennadiy Golovkin.