Lamont Roach Jnr didn’t win a fight in 2025.
O’Shaquie Foster was deprived of a title defense.
Yet both fighters’ stock rose on Saturday night thanks to their performances on the Premier Boxing Champions pay-per-view card in San Antonio.
On the heels of his controversial March 1 draw with Gervonta “Tank” Davis, in which he was deprived of a clear knockdown that should’ve won him the bout, Roach faced even more adversity against former 140lbs champion Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz. Roach tasted the canvas in the third round, then broke his hand in the fifth, but staged a stirring rally that secured him another draw.
“Considering how we thought of Lamont Roach before 2025 … he raised his stock quite a bit regardless of two draws,” ProBoxTV analyst Paulie Malignaggi said on Monday’s episode of “BoxingScene Today.”
Roach, 25-1-3 (10 KOs), let his WBA super-featherweight belt go to Jazza Dickens by fighting the popular Mexican in Cruz, 28-3-2 (18 KOs), in a 140lbs bout that effectively sold out the San Antonio Spurs’ home arena.
And by willingly going toe-to-toe with Cruz, he not only subjected himself to the third-round knockdown, but endeared himself to fight fans by making the second consecutive move up in weight and performing as an eager brawler, not a smooth technician.
“I thought Lamont could control Cruz better than that,” analyst and former 140lbs champion Chris Algieri said.
The point was that Roach wasn’t interested in that type of evasive performance, prompting analyst and returning trainer of the year Robert Garcia to say Roach’s two draws have been “a win” for the Washington, D.C.-born fighter because he not only showed his resilience, but helped produce an entertaining scrap that can sell as a rematch.
The cast was less impressed with how Cruz performed down the stretch, getting a point deducted for holding Roach as he fatigued during the fight’s second half.
“‘Pitbull’ arguing against the point deduction is ludicrous, but it’s a solid setup for the rematch,” Malignaggi said.
Algieri said Cruz must address that flaw before the next meeting.
“Cruz tends to fall off a cliff … that precipitous dropoff can really hurt you at this level [as he found] Roach has a good gas tank,” Algieri said.
“If he doesn’t fall off that cliff, he beats a one-handed Lamont Roach,” Malignaggi said.
Garcia speculated that Cruz’s tough fights and rugged sparring zap him of consistent energy, as the punching frenzy of the early rounds faded.
“He came out in a sprint, and it was a mile run,” Malignaggi said.
“This fight will benefit Roach in the rematch,” Garcia predicted. “Roach can be better in the second half, and he won’t have the broken hand.”
Meanwhile, Houston’s Foster, 24-3 (12 KOs), made his Texas homecoming in a scintillating showing. He dominated WBC featherweight champion Stephen Fulton on the scorecards, flashing impressive hand speed and the ability to fight well from both orthodox and southpaw stances.
Fulton missed weight for the bout, forcing it to become an interim lightweight title bout.
Algieri said prior criticism over Foster’s consistency, “allowing space in rounds” was nonexistent Saturday. Malignaggi labeled it his “career-best” performance and praised “the way he directed the fight with that lead hand from both stances.”
With fellow 130lbs champions Emanuel Navarrete and Eduardo Nunez meeting February 28 for the unified WBO and IBF title, Foster is in prime position to meet the winner for three belts as Mark Magsayo and Michael Magnesi will fight to become his WBC mandatory challenger.
WBA middleweight champion Erislandy Lara saw his Saturday unification versus two-belt champion Janibek Alimkhanuly scrapped by Alimkhanuly’s positive test for the banned substance meldonium last week, but Lara’s unanimous decision win over replacement fighter Johan Gonzalez was a yawner, despite Lara scoring two knockdowns.
“Forgettable, but get the money next time,” Algieri said.
Lara could potentially do just that by next fighting five-division champion Terence Crawford, a cleared Alimkhanuly, WBC champion Carlos Adames, or contenders Vergil Ortiz Jnr and Jesus Ramos.
