Heavyweight Oscar Rivas has been out of the ring for nearly a year, but not out of his own volition, according to the boxer.  

Rivas, the Montreal-based Colombian who holds the WBC “Bridgerweight” title, has not fought since October of last year, when he defeated Ryan Rozicki by unanimous decision. Things, however, went haywire from there.

In an interview conducted by Le Journal de Montreal with Rivas, his promoter Yvon Michel, and his manager Stéphane Lépine, it was revealed that Rivas believes he was the subject of promotional fraud.

The issue apparently stems from an arrangement Rivas, 35, made with a certain Colombian promoter named Juan Carlos Moreno. Rivas, in accordance with Michel, entered into an agreement with Moreno to fight Lukasz Rozanski of Poland in Rivas’ homeland of Colombia. Rivas, who became the inaugural champion of the so-called Bridgerweight division, a weight class (200-224lbs) that was created by the WBC sanctioning body in 2020 to help smaller heavyweights, had always dreamed of fighting in Colombia.

It appeared he would finally get his chance.

A fight date was scheduled for Aug. 13 at Guerrero Stadium in Cali, Colombia, for a card that would also feature Colombia natives and former champions Cecilia Braekhus and Eleider Alvarez. But the event never took place due to what Michel at the time called “logistical problems” that arose with his Colombian partner. That appears to have been a charitable description.

According to Michel, Moreno, the Colombian promoter and Michel’s “partner”, continued to stall, make unnecessary demands, and break promises. In the end, Michel said there was no other option but to part ways with Moreno. One major problem, Michel said, was that Moreno had not paid the WBC, which was sanctioning the fight, an obligatory deposit.

“After several weeks, it was our understanding that a deposit had not been made to the WBC,” Michel said. “We were a month away from the fight.”

“Moreno is a fraudster and manipulator,” Michel added.

Michel said Moreno attempted to stage the fight with the investment from a “mysterious” but ultimately above-board “multi-millionaire” businessman for November but those efforts ended up nowhere. In the end, Rivas and Co. said they wanted nothing more to do with Moreno.

Michel, who travelled to Colombia with Rivas for the initial press conference, said he has not been reimbursed by Moreno for expenses that number in the tens of thousands of dollars. Michel said Rivas had even met with local media and politicians during the initial build-up. But Rivas said even then he had a bad feeling about the proceedings.

“I felt something was wrong when we went over there," Rivas said. “It was strange at the hotel. It was cheap and we didn’t have any transportation, which we needed.”

Rivas will fight soon, however. Le Journal has reported that Rivas will face Rozanski on Feb. 25, in Rzeszow, Poland. His hopes of fighting in Colombia, however, will have to wait.

Rivas (28-1, 19 KOs) represented Colombia in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.