Roach Eyes 140-lb Takeover After Pitbull Cruz Fight

Lamont Roach predicts that he’s going to make a “great statement” while dethroning WBC interim light welterweight champion Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz on December 6th in their headliner on Amazon Prime PPV.

Roach (25-1-2, 10 KOs) says his victory over Cruz (28-3-1, 18 KOs) will result in the other top fighters at 140 wanting to fight him. Even if they don’t, he states he can use the WBC interim title to force a fight against the winner of the Subriel Matias vs. Dalton Smith clash.

From 130 to 140: Chasing Bigger Fights

Roach didn’t say whether he’s going to float among the 140, 135, and 130-lb divisions, trying to hustle whatever fight pays the most. He still holds the WBA super featherweight title, which he hasn’t defended in 16 months. It’s realistic to assume that the WBA will strip Roach soon due to his abandoning his title.

Cruz vs. Roach is headlining at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas. There’s no word yet on the price for Prime Video PPV, but it’s likely to be around $74.99. For a lot of fans, they won’t be happy about paying that kind of price to watch Cruz defend his interim WBC light welterweight title. That’s not even a full belt, and Roach isn’t ranked at 140 or 135.

“It’ll be a great statement. Obviously, they’ll be looking at me, ‘Oh, he’s a smaller guy coming up.’ So, they might be eager to fight me,” said Lamont Roach during today’s press conference, talking about how the fighters in the 140-lb division’ll look at him following his clash against Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz.

Pitbull’s Relentless Pressure

If Cruz applies the kind of pressure he did in his fights against Omar Salcido. Angel Fierrero and Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero, he’ll defeat Roach. He hits too hard and never stops attacking. Those are the type of fighters that Roach struggles with.

“When I win this fight on December 6th, I’ll be in line for the WBC champion Subriel Matias, and the other champions will be looking at me like, ‘Hey, maybe we can fight Lamont Roach if we don’t have anything lined up.’ I want to prove that I’m one of the best fighters in the world,” said Roach.

In Roach’s last fight against Tank Davis, he didn’t look like one of “the best fighters in the world.” He resembled a finesse fighter with no power, who took advantage of Tank’s low punch output to get a draw. Davis landed the much harder, cleaner shots throughout the fight. What kept him from winning is he didn’t throw the way he needed.

Gervonta’s success during his career has been attributed to his ability to knock out opponents with his powerful punches. He never had to wear his opposition down with an accumulation of punches. Against Roach, he couldn’t take him out with his best shots, but he did land a lot. Roach hung in there due to his punch resistance and wound up doing enough to get a draw.

Dan Ambrose has followed boxing since 2011, sharing his passion for the sport’s biggest stars and battles.