Oscar Rivas made his long-awaited return to the ring, Tuesday night, dropping Sylvera Louis once en route to a knockout win after the conclusion of Round 3, at Hotel Plaza Quebec, in Quebec City, Canada.

Rivas improves to 27-1, 19 knockouts.

Tuesday’s fight was Rivas’ first since losing to Dillian Whyte, in July 2019, in a clash of heavyweight contenders. The loss to Whyte took place six months after Rivas stopped Bryant Jennings in an action fight.

Rivas, who represented Colombia at the 2008 Olympic Games, in Beijing, faced Louis in June 2012, winning by split decision. Despite currently being ranked No. 9 by The Ring as a heavyweight, Rivas is also the No. 1 contender in the WBC’s new bridgerweight division.

From the opening bell, it was all Rivas, who landed the more effective punches. Rivas scored a knockdown in Round 2 by landing a straight right hand to Louis’ head. After Louis took a beating in Round 3, he remained on his stool, not answering the bell for Round 4.

Louis drops to 8-6, 4 KOs and has now lost three of his last four bouts. Both Rivas and Louis currently reside in Montreal.

In the co-feature bout, welterweight Sebastien Bouchard, of nearby Baie-Saint-Paul, defeated Mexico City’s Mario Perez (20-8-5, 12 KOs) by unanimous decision.

Scores were 60-54, 59-55 and 58-56 for Bouchard, who improves to 19-2, 8 KOs.

Bouchard was fighting for the first time since losing by stoppage to prospect Ayaz Hussain in November 2019.

Super middleweight Patrice Volny, of Montreal, improved to 16-0, 10 KOs by stopping Calgary’s Janks Trotter (10-6-2, 10 KOs), at 1:56 of Round 5. Volny dropped Trotter twice in Round 2 and twice more in Round 5 before the fight was called to a halt, saving Trotter from receiving more punishment.

Heavyweight Alexis Barriere was successful in his pro debut, knocking out Colin Sangster (2-1, 2 KOs) at 1:20 of the opening round.

The card was promoted by Yvon Michel’s GYM Promotions.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @FSalazarBoxing.

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