By Ian S Palmer
The inaugural Bridgerweight World Championship fight takes place this Friday Oct, 22nd at the Montreal Olympia in Quebec, Canada. The title is for boxers who weigh between 200 and 224 lbs and will feature Oscar Rivas of Colombia against unbeaten Ryan Rozicki of Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. The 12-round fight can be seen on ESPN+ in America, on the FITE Network in the UK and on pay-per-view in Canada. Rivas last fought in March when he stopped Sylvera Louis after three rounds. Rozicki also stopped Louis in his last outing as he halted him in six rounds for the NABA Canadian Cruiserweight Title just a month after Rivera beat him.
When the 34-year-old Rivas stopped Bryant Jennings in the 12th round in January, 2019 he won the WBO NABO Heavyweight Title and the IBF International Heavyweight Crown. It appeared he may be a legitimate heavyweight prospect but the then dropped a controversial 12-round unanimous decision to Dillian Whyte six months later in England for the vacant WBC interim Heavyweight title despite decking the local fighter in the ninth round.
He’s now dropping down to the WBC’s bridgerweight division which is basically aimed at boxers who are a bit too heavy for cruiserweight and are on the light side as heavyweights. Rivas, who fights out of Montreal, Canada has an impressive mark of 27-1 along with 19 Kos. He had a pretty successful and extensive amateur career and beat Kubrat Pulev at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Rivas turned pro a year later and has boxed 122 rounds since then.
He’s not very big compared to most current heavyweights as he stands just over six-feet tall with a reach of 76.5 inches so seems to be well suited for the new bridgerweight division. He carries quite a bit of power in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 67.9 per cent but has gone the distance in four of his last six outings. Since turning pro he’s captured the NABF Heavyweight Title and has also beaten the likes of Carl Davis Drumond, Jeremy Bates, Jeremiah Karpency, Joey Abell, Jason Pettaway, Shawn Cox and Matthew Greer.
Rozicki is just 26 years old and carries around a perfect record of 13-0 with 13 Kos. He obviously has a heavy punch as he’s stopped all 13 opponents so far with 12 of them being halted in the first three rounds with his longest outing going six rounds. He’s boxed just 30 rounds since turning pro in 2016 after a short amateur career, however, he’s taken on domestic-level opposition only in Canada.
Even though he’s faced limited-level opposition so far, Rozicki has done his job well. He won the vacant NABA Cruiserweight Title in 2018 by stopping Abokan Bopke in the first round and captured the vacant WBC International Silver Cruiserweight Belt by halting Shawn Miller in the third round a year later. Unfortunately there’s no reach information available on Rozicki but he’s listed as 6-feet-2—inches tall and the heaviest he’s weighed for a fight was just under 201 lbs in his pro debut.
Prediction…
Rivas didn’t really stand out in his heavyweight tilts against Bryant Jennings and Dillian Whyte but he is a natural heavyweight while Rozicki is basically a cruiserweight who will be stepping up in both weight and class this weekend. Rivas needs to be aware of Rozicki’s power but being a naturally bigger boxer with plenty more experience he should be able to become the first Bridgerweight Champion in history.
