Lamont Roach Jnr has been here before, but the feeling never gets any easier.
For the second time in as many fights, he was forced to settle for a majority draw that could have easily gone his way. This one stung particularly hard, as Roach appeared to have outboxed Isaac Cruz enough to have deserved the nod Saturday evening at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio.
None among judges Chris Tellez (115-111, Cruz), Cory Santos (113-113) and Nathan Palmer (113-113) seemed to agree with that perception. Roach – who was stripped of his WBA 130lbs title once the bell sounded to begin the fight – is now left with nothing to show for two straight performances in which his stock rose in PBC on Prime Video pay-per-view headliners.
“I’m disappointed, but … for real, I just don’t know what to say,” Roach told “BoxingScene Today” shortly after the fight. “I [thought] it was my night.
“We should be celebrating, but it is what it is. That’s what comes with the sport.”
Roach, 25-1-3 (10 KOs), overcame a third-round knockdown to apparently take control of the fight – or so went public perception. Compubox’s unofficial punch statistics supported the theory. Cruz, 28-3-2 (18 KOs), was the busier fighter (159 of 544 total punches landed, 29.2 per cent), but Roach (191 of 467, 40.9 per cent) landed more and at a much higher percentage.
Furthermore, Cruz was deducted a point for excessive holding and hitting. The squat boxer from Mexico City retained a secondary version of the WBC 140lbs title with the stalemate, even though he believed he deserved the nod.
Conversely, Roach was forced to give up his alphabet title after fighting outside of junior lightweight for the second consecutive time. He moved up earlier this year to challenge WBA 135lbs titlist Gervonta “Tank” Davis, 30-0-1 (28 KOs), on March 1 in Brooklyn, New York.
Roach was robbed of a ninth-round knockdown in that fight when Davis voluntarily took a knee but was permitted to call his own timeout (no such rule in boxing exists) in a bizarre piece of officiating by Steve Willis.
The sequence cheated Roach out of a 10-8 round on the cards. It would have been the difference between a majority decision in his favor and the majority draw verdict that came from the night.
A rematch between Davis and Roach was eyed for this summer and even landed on an unannounced August 16 date in Las Vegas. However, those plans were ruined by Davis, who instead opted to sign for an exhibition match with Jake Paul – also subsequently canceled, though due to far more pressing issues involving Davis’ legal troubles.
There were talks of an immediate rematch with Cruz shortly after the conclusion of Saturday’s show. It’s not only the most lucrative option for Roach right now, but perhaps the only one. He’s open to the idea – though in a more neutral setting or even in his Washington D.C. home region – but will gladly settle for a decision to simply go his way.
“All I want is a fair shake,” said Roach. “This is some bullshit.”
