Last Friday in Montreal, Oscar Rivas finally became a world champion when he picked up the WBC's bridgerweight title with a tough unanimous decision win over Ryan Rozicki.

"I am proud of myself," said Rivas to TVA Sports. "Everyone knows the ups and downs that I have experienced due to injuries.  Ever since I started my professional career, I wanted that famous WBC green belt. This is the work of the past 11 years. I am happy to say that I am the first champion in this new division.

"It was tough and we expected this type of fight. I expected to push the limit and had prepared well in the gym with my team. Rozicki is always in your face. After the third round, I should have worked more around my jab.”

His trainer Marc Ramsay was also very happy with this conquest. For him, it's a fifth world champion who came from his gym. 

“Oscar was willing to foot the bill to become the first bridgerweight champion,” Ramsay said. "It's something really fun for him, but also for the whole team.”

Rivas injured his left hand during the third round of his title win. His hand had a visible lump and was very swollen. 

“We don't know if it's broken,” Ramsay said. We will have to do exams in the next few days to find out the extent of his injury. After that, Oscar will have a full month's rest.

"[During a fight] you have to deal with what the adversary imposes on you. On the other hand, to just jab and move around, we would have lost the respect of our opponent. From the fourth round, we saw that Oscar was using his jab less. On the other hand, by working at close range, we saw Rozicki boxing more on his heels. He was developing less power.”

Rivas has barely won his belt and he already knows the identity of his next opponent - Russia's Evgeny Romanov.

Romanov (16-0, 11 KOs) became the mandatory contender at bridgerweight after defeating compatriot Dmitry Kudryashov (24-5, 23 KOs) by unanimous decision in May.

"We will still look at all the options," said promoter Yvon Michel. "We received an offer for a heavyweight fight in the last few months.  We're going to choose the best path for him. We will do everything to ensure that his next fight is in Quebec.”