On Friday night, Oscar Rivas and Ryan Rozicki squared off at the Olympia Theater in Montreal, Canada for the inaugural WBC bridgerweight title. In what was an all-out war, Rivas emerged with a unanimous decision victory. Two judges turned in 115-112 scorecards for Rivas while another judge had it 116-111 for Rivas.
The World Boxing Commission is currently the first major sanctioning body to acknowledge such a title. The IBF, WBA and WBO currently do not make a distinction between larger heavyweights like Tyson Fury at nearly 280 pounds and lighter heavyweights like Deontay Wilder who weigh closer to the bridgerweight maximum of 224 pounds.
Moving forward, it will be interesting to see how this division develops. The next logical step for Rivas would be to defend his title against Bryant Jennings. Rivas was originally scheduled to fight Jennings for the bridgerweight crown, but he refused to abide Canad’s COVID-19 protocols. Meanwhile, Rozicki will look to bounce back after enduring the first loss of his young career.
