Lamont Roach Jnr lands a double-rich opportunity Saturday by headlining a Las Vegas fight card and earning another chance to become a two-division champion.
After consecutive draws last year to WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis and WBC interim 140lbs champion Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz, Washington’s Roach 25-1-3 (10 KOs), tops the second edition of TNT/DAZN’s “The Fight” Saturday night at Virgin Hotels Resort Casino versus recent lightweight title challenger William Zepeda, 33-1 (27 KOs), of Mexico.
“To me, it’s being a two-division champion,” Roach said of which achievement means most to him. “It’s my dream and one of my goals to be a multi-division champion, so I’m working hard to achieve it.”
Following a 2019 junior-lightweight loss to Jamel Herring, Roach, 30, has tightened up, winning the WBA 130lbs belt in 2023 by knocking down Hector Luis Garcia in the 12th round to gain a split decision.
His moves up in weight have redefined Roach, boosting his strength and power punching. He was famously deprived of a knockdown that likely denied him of being the first to beat Davis.
And even though he endured his first career knockdown by stumbling backward and touching his glove on the canvas versus Cruz in December, Roach rallied through a hand injury to get the better of the Mexican brawler in the second half of the fight.
“Letting go of being a 130-pounder, we more naturally fit as a lightweight, and that gave me some room to put on more muscle and maintain it – not just to get big, but to let my body naturally flow with this weight class,” Roach explained to BoxingScene recently.
Considering his ability to box from multiple dimensions against the less refined volume power puncher Zepeda, Roach likes his chances to capture the vacant WBC title.
Combined, Davis, Cruz and Zepeda have 73 knockouts/stoppages in 98 bouts.
Roach has learned throughout the recent bouts and his history of how to avoid and survive the lethal punches his foes are throwing.
“Just being confident, trusting your instincts. I’ve been doing this for a long time, man, been in there with guys who can punch and guys who are strong,” Roach said. “It’s been a long, 21-year journey, being in there with guys who are physically strong with either brute strength or knockout power.
“I just trust my instincts and do what I have to do, and I’d like to say I’m pretty good defensively, too. I’m confident I can take a shot – because I have – and I’m ready to give it right back, as you’ve seen.”
Saturday’s match is compelling beyond the match. In facing an elite fighter from Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions’ stable coming off his first career loss versus four-division champion Shakur Stevenson, Roach is squaring off against his former promoter.
Roach and Golden Boy split as the fighter shifted to ProBoxTV and then to Premier Boxing Champions.
Reinvented by the weight increase, Roach leans into the fact he hasn’t been protected, coddled or favored by those running the sport as his maturity and experience take hold at this pivotal career hour.
He said it’s “very” rewarding and fulfilling to reflect on his road, showing the tattoos on his hands that read “self” and “made.”
“From day one, I just continue to set my own path and try to achieve my own goals no matter what it takes: hoops, loops, hurdles, bumps in the road, I’m still here,” Roach said. “And that means I’m still here for a reason. I cannot wait to accomplish what I have set out for me, and what I’ve put into fruition for myself.”
De La Hoya touting this as a fight-of-the-year candidate is more than standard boxing promotion, Roach says.
“Oscar knows what William Zepeda is up against,” Roach said. “He knows that when fire meets fire, you’re going to see what happens. My fire might just come in a different direction. I know I have the ability to switch it up.
“[Zepeda’s] volume and constant pressure set him apart. Sometimes, where I see his fault, he lets his heart carry him a little too far and too much. I’d like to think he only has one style. Once that style doesn’t work, what does he want to do?”
Roach said he feels assured he’s prepared for his opponent’s style.
“Until he presents something different – he’s almost a 40-fight veteran – every [fight] is the exact same,” Roach said.
Winning is of paramount focus for many reasons, starting with the belt and the distaste of the past two draws.
“Trust me, I’ve kicked myself a few times over those verdicts. I’m not going to lie,” Roach said. “To separate myself, we’ll see fight night. Every fighter is different. Styles make fights. I have to make the necessary adjustments to appear to be more in control every round.
“A lot of people said I won those two fights. You know what a lot of people don’t say? That I lost. So, there’s things we’ve been doing to push ourselves, and if there’s a gear we have to kick into, I know I can achieve it. We’re going to sweep this.”
The showcase of a major Las Vegas fight available to a national audience lifts Roach’s profile.
“Who would’ve known as a kid growing up, watching all these Vegas fights on pay-per-view, that I’m now one of those boxers to another kid? It’s awesome,” he said.
And victory opens the door to potential meetings including IBF lightweight champion Raymond Muratalla, who fights former 130lbs champion Robson Conceicao in Saturday’s co-main event, and new 140lbs champion Stevenson.
Roach doesn’t have a favorite.
“But it puts me in the driver’s seat for a lot of things. I want to soak up that victory so bad, appreciate my team. And then, events will come, and I’ll be in a very nice position. I will have potential options that will be lucrative and solidify a great legacy.”
Unlike Davis, who shied from a rematch amid alleged domestic violence issues, Stevenson is forthright in his interest to fight Roach.
“Absolutely. I definitely believe that some day it will [happen],” Roach said.
