Need advice on promised promotion...

so last year during our annual reviews i asked for a promotion and my boss responded that i was at the cusp....i then talked to him to further explain that and asked him to specifically tell me what he wanted me to do to get the promotion. Fast forward a year later and i got the certification he asked me to get for the promotion. i got it a couple weeks before this years annual review ...i mentioned again that i feel after completing the talked about goals and working for the company this long and my commitment to keep growing here that i deserve a promotion...he did not mention anything about a promotion in the written review. So i then spoke with him in the phone since he was out of the office by the time i got to work ( i work second shift) and long story short he said he needs approval, ect...typical HR talk . He said he will fight for me and try to get some type of answer by this week ( we spoke last week) im already looking for jobs but i feel a robbed and lied to since he knew i was getting the certification and i got it just in time...any advice on what i should do next ? .... i told him during the talk that i just need to know so i can make the appropriate decisions based on the outcome....i been working here for almost 5 years now.... UPDATE: so i am getting the promotion :) ! ...i guess he was telling the truth or partial truth ....anyways thanks everyone for the input .