On Saturday night, Lamont Roach Jr. (19-0-1, 7 KOs) beat Jonathon Oquendo (30-6, 19 KOs) of Vega Alta, Puerto Rico via unanimous decision becoming new WBO International & NABO Super Featherweight Champion in a 10-round battle.
Roach won with scores 97-92, 97-92 and 96-93.
The bout took place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, as part of the undercard to the Canelo Alvarez-Daniel Jacobs middleweight unification, which was streamed by DAZN.
It was a very tough fight for Roach, who as hurt during the fight from a hard hook to the body.
Oquendo was his biggest and most experienced opponent to date, and now Roach wants to keep pushing a head to a potential world title shot in the near future.
"The fight played out good," said Roach. "I think it could have gone better of course. But I'm glad we got this experience, to go up to the championship level. The only guys that beat him became champions and I'm one of them.
"I knew that I was bleeding because I could feel the trickling, but I've been getting hit in the face since I was nine years old. It wasn't nothing I wasn't used to.He hit me with a clean body shot. I just got myself together towards the end of that round and stuck to the game plan and continued boxing. From round 1 to round 10, I was feeling all of the head butts.
"He's as tough as they come. He fought former world champions, he beat a former world champ, he brought the fight to me, and if someone else brings the fight to me, I'm ready. I can go ten, I can go twelve."
