Roach Eyes Matias, Shakur & Russell After Beating Pitbull?

Lamont Roach says he has his eyes on three fights “after” he beats WBC interim light welterweight champion Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz this Saturday night in San Antonio, Texas.

Already Looking Past Cruz

Roach (25-1-2, 10 KOs) states that he wants a straight title shot against WBC 140-lb champion Surbriel Matias after he detrones Cruz (28-3-1, 18 KOs). Given how Lamont has struggled in the past at 130, it’s presumptuous on his part to be already viewing the Cruz fight as a sure-thing win.

Roach never looked elite-level at super featherweight. He just had that one recent fight against a distracted, spaced-out-looking Gervonta Davis last March, in which he appeared impressive. That poor performance by Tank may have been a sign that he had lost his motivation for the sport, rather than a signal that Roach was exceptional that night.

Living Off the Tank Draw

With all the talking Roach has done, he’s going to look bad in the eyes of fans if he loses to ‘Pitbull’ Cruz on Saturday night in their headliner at the Frost Bank Center. He’s really gotten a lot of mileage out of his 12-round draw against Tank, going on a victory lap for the last eight months, even though he didn’t win. You don’t usually see fighters act like that. It shows how lackluster Roach’s career has been.

Backup Plan: Shakur at 135

“If we don’t get the Shakur, then of course, we’re looking at Subriel because we’re going to be in line for it. We’re going to press the issue. ‘We’re the interim champion. We want to fight. Give us a time frame, a timeline, and we’ll go from there,” said Lamont Roach to All the Smoke about wanting an immediate title shot against WBC light welterweight champion Subriel Matias if he defeats Isaac Cruz on Saturday.

What he’s really hoping for is that he’ll be elevated to the new WBC champion after Matias tested positive for a banned substance recently.

Roach’s Confidence or Delusion?

If neither of those things happens, Roach says he’ll return to 135 to face Shakur Stevenson for his WBC lightweight title. Shakur is coming back to lightweight, followed by a dark cloud if he loses his January 31st fight against WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez. Fighting Shakur under those conditions wouldn’t be ideal for Roach, but he may be needy if he loses to Cruz.

“It’s going to be a masterclass of boxing from my end. It’s going to be fan-friendly for sure. It wouldn’t be super fan-friendly without ‘Pitbull’ Cruz, the guy that’s in there with me,” said Roach. “I really like a fight against Gary Antuanne Russell at 140 as well. I really like that fight.”