On Thursday, April 19, 2018, Lamont Roach Jr. (16-0-1, 6 KOs) traveled to Puerto Rico to take on hometown veteran, Orlando Cruz (25-6-2, 13 KOs) in the headlining bout of the latest edition of Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN.
For Roach Jr., a strong outing against Cruz would catapult him into a contender as he openly stated before the bout that he hopes to fight in a title eliminator or title bout by the end of 2018.
Unfortunately for Roach Jr., a slow start in addition to a botched call by referee Luis Pabon ended the evening in a stalemate.
Both Roach Jr. and Cruz were patient in Round 1, looking for their chance to land counterpunches.
As Roach Jr. looked to press the 36-year-old Cruz in Round 2, he began shooting right hand leads which got Cruz’s attention.
Towards the end of the second round, Roach Jr. used his well-timed feints and found more success via his right hand as he wobbled Cruz momentarily.
Still, Lamont Roach Sr. stressed to his son in between rounds to establish his range—ideally behind his jab which he didn’t use often.
Cruz had some success in Round 3 with two-and-three punch combinations that didn’t hurt Roach Jr., but landed cleanly and could have won the counterpunching chess match in the third stanza.
Bernard Hopkins, who alongside Bernardo Osuna called the bout for ESPN2, wanted to see Roach Jr. become more aggressive with combination punching.
The middle rounds were hard to score as quick one-and-two punch bursts from either man could have swayed the judges.
As the fight entered the eighth, Hopkins reiterated that Roach Jr. needed to throw more punches and win the final three rounds to really show that he is ready to take the next step up in class.
Roach Jr., although still patient, stepped up his activity in Round 8 as he finally began firing off more two-and-three punch combinations that connected on Cruz to the body and head.
Both corners stressed to their fighters that they needed to win the final two rounds as the fight moved into Round 9.
Roach Jr. certainly got the memo as he fired a short-left hand midway through the round which caught Cruz flush and knocked him down cleanly.
Referee Luis Pabon saw it differently, though. Pabon called the knockdown a slip, allowing Cruz to escape the round without losing an extra point—a decision that would ultimately affect the outcome.
Still shaken up from the previous round, Cruz came out looking to survive in the early part of Round 10 as Roach Jr. stalked his veteran opponent.
The final three-round stretch seemed to give Roach Jr. the bump he needed as the bout headed to the scorecards.
In the end, both Osuna and Hopkins saw it as a close victory for Roach Jr., but the official judges saw it differently.
The final scores were 97-93 for Roach Jr., 96-94 for Cruz and 95-95, ending the bout in a draw.
After the bout, Roach Jr. discussed the decision and the potential of a rematch against Cruz.
“I think I should have won, but I showed that I was a true champ by going into his backyard,” said Roach Jr. “We didn’t get the decision we wanted, but that’s boxing. DC would be fine for a rematch, but whenever I get back in the ring with him I’m going to destroy him. The shot I landed in the ninth round should have been a knockdown, but sometimes you get the short end of the stick in the sport of boxing.”
Osuna labeled Thursday night as one of missed opportunities, which speaks to Roach Jr.’s performance, but also Pabon’s poor call.
Pabon missed a clear knockdown that would have given the Washington DC fighter a 10-8 round in the ninth and ultimately a split-decision victory.
As for Cruz, he also expressed his interest in a rematch.
“Roach is a young, talented fighter, but I made him miss a lot,” said Cruz. “Either way, I must continue working and training. I definitely want the rematch.”
Header photo by Hector Sanchez Guia
