When is Isaac Cruz vs. Lamont Roach?

Isaac Cruz vs. Lamont Roach is on Saturday, December 6. The pay-per-view will begin at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (1 a.m. GMT). 

What channel is Isaac Cruz vs. Lamont Roach on?

Isaac Cruz vs. Lamont Roach is a pay-per-view available via Amazon’s Prime Video, PPV.com, and traditional cable and satellite outlets. The free preliminary undercard will stream for subscribers and nonsubscribers alike on Prime Video.

Where is Isaac Cruz vs. Lamont Roach?

The fight is taking place at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas.

Who is Isaac Cruz?

Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz, 28-3-1 (18 KOs), is a former junior welterweight titleholder who now holds a secondary belt in the weight class. The 27-year-old from Mexico City has an aggressive style that is friendly to fans and less so to his foes. 

Cruz attracted attention at lightweight in 2020 and 2021 as he defeated Diego Magdaleno (KO1), the previously unbeaten Jose Matias Romero (UD12), and Francisco Vargas (UD10). He then stepped in with knockout puncher Gervonta “Tank” Davis. With Davis hampered by a hurt hand, Cruz lost a competitive decision in one of Davis’ most difficult fights to date.

Cruz then notched four straight victories, the last being an eighth-round stoppage of Rolando “Rolly” Romero in March 2024 to grab the WBA belt at 140lbs. Alas, Cruz lost in his first defense to Jose Valenzuela about four months later. 

Cruz returned this past February, facing Angel Fierro on the David Benavidez-David Morrell undercard. Cruz won the competitive firefight via unanimous decision, and the two signed for a rematch – this time with the WBC interim title on the line – to take place on the undercard of Mario Barrios vs. Manny Pacquiao. 

Except Fierro withdrew because of health issues believed to be caused by his weight cut. Cruz instead widely outpointed his late replacement opponent, the 20-2 Omar Salcido Gamez. The WBC still allowed its trinket to be available because, well, sanctioning fees. Which means the winner of Cruz vs. Roach will be in line to challenge the winner of January’s bout between primary titleholder Subriel Matias and Dalton Smith.

Who is Lamont Roach?

Lamont Roach, 25-1-2 (10 KOs), is the WBA junior lightweight titleholder, though he is heading into his second straight fight above 130lbs. Roach fought lightweight titlist Gervonta “Tank” Davis to a controversial draw in March many believed he deserved to win and now is moving up to 140 for this bout with Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz.

Roach, a 30-year-old from Washington, D.C., has improved since losing unanimously in his first title shot to Jamel Herring in 2019. His second title shot came against Hector Garcia in November 2023, and this time Roach triumphed via split decision punctuated by a late knockdown. He’s only defended the belt once, stopping the 16-0 Feargal McCrory in eight rounds in June 2024.

Roach was the underdog against Davis but fought with hunger, confidence and skill. The fight included a bizarre and hotly debated sequence in the ninth round after Roach landed a jab. Davis voluntarily took a knee and then walked to his corner, where one of his trainers used a towel to wipe something from his eye (Davis said afterward that it was a substance from having his hair treated a couple days before the bout). The referee not only stopped his count, canceling what should’ve been a knockdown call, but also failed to penalize Davis for his team member coming onto the ring apron.

Roach and Davis had been in discussions for a rematch before Davis opted to go in a different direction – a lucrative exhibition with Jake Paul that was later called off after new domestic violence allegations against Davis.

Roach owed a mandatory defense back down at junior lightweight to Albert Batyrgaziev, who subsequently lost the WBA’s interim belt to Jazza Dickens. Roach has instead opted for the bigger payday and higher profile match with Cruz.

What other fights are on the undercard of Isaac Cruz vs. Lamont Roach?

The pay-per-view undercard includes two title fights, plus a match with an interim belt on the line. 

Erislandy Lara, 31-3-3 (19 KOs), will defend his WBA middleweight title against late replacement Johan Gonzalez, who is stepping in on short notice after unified IBF/WBO titleholder Janibek Alimkhanuly tested positive for a banned substance. Lara's last fight was a ninth-round TKO of Danny Garcia in September 2024. Gonzalez, 36-4 (34 KOs), is coming off a split decision win over Jarrett Hurd in March. Prior to that, Gonzalez had a pair of TKO losses to Yoenis Tellez and Jesus Ramos, plus a victory over a gimme opponent.

Junior lightweight O’Shaquie Foster, 23-3 (12 KOs), is defending his WBC belt against Stephen Fulton, 23-1 (8 KOs). Fulton is seeking to become a three-division titleholder, having previously unified two titles at 122lbs. He currently owns the WBC belt at 126.

And back at middleweight, the WBC interim title will go to either Shane Mosley Jnr, 22-4 (12 KOs), or Jesus Ramos Jnr, 23-1 (19 KOs). The WBC’s primary titleholder at 160lbs is Carlos Adames.

The three-bout free preliminary undercard is topped by Frank Martin vs. Rances Barthelemy. Martin, 18-1 (12 KOs), is back nearly 18 months after getting knocked out by Gervonta Davis. He will compete as a junior welterweight against former two-division titleholder Barthelemy, 30-3-1 (15 KOs), who himself is returning 19 months after his unanimous decision loss to Jose Ramirez. Plus junior middleweight Isaac Lucero, 17-0 (13 KOs), faces Roberto Valenzuela Jnr, 31-5 (29 KOs), and junior lightweight Luis Reynaldo Nunez, 21-0 (14 KOs), is in with Hector Andres Sosa, 18-3 (9 KOs).

The full list of undercard fights can be seen on BoxRec.

David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.