Lamont Roach Jr. can't seem to get the ringside judges on his side. On Saturday, Roach seemed to do enough to defeat WBC interim junior welterweight champion Isaac Cruz, but the judges scored the fight a majority draw.
The fight immediately brought to mind Roach's March fight with Gervonta "Tank" Davis, which also ended in a majority draw despite Roach seemingly having done enough to earn the victory. Now, the two biggest fights of Roach's career have ended in disappointment.
Cruz got off to a strong start in the fight, using his face-first style to force uncomfortable exchanges. Roach stood his ground in those early rounds, connecting with hard counter shots, but things took a big swing in Round 3. In that round, Cruz connected with a left hand that sent Roach stumbling before his glove briefly touched the canvas, resulting in a knockdown.
Roach continued to fire back as the rounds went on, and eventually Cruz stopped trying to march forward into the fire and began moving along the outside of the ring and attempting to box.
Roach seemed to continue building momentum as the rounds ticked by, boosted by a moment in Round 7 where Cruz's constant clinching and occasional punches to the hip led to a point deduction, essentially offsetting the earlier knockdown.
Despite Roach seemingly running away with the second half of the fight, when the scorecards were read, one judge gave Cruz the advantage 115-111, while the other two judges saw the fight even at 113-113.
The result left Roach clearly dejected as his breakout 2025 resulted in two highly-disputed majority draws and no victories.
"All I want is a fair shake, man," Roach said after the fight. "All I want is a fair shake. I think I pulled that out, a clear victory. All I want is a fair shake. ... It's some bullshit, man. I don't know what I've got to do. I don't accept this at all. I feel like I won a clear fight. This is bullshit."
For his part, Cruz believed he earned the victory and blamed the referee's point deduction for the draw.
"I did my job," Cruz said. "I did my work. The referee was on his side. I thought I won this fight, and the crowd in San Antonio saw this."
When asked if he would be interested in a rematch, Cruz accepted, though with one condition.
"Absolutely, with a different referee, though," Cruz said. "Not with the referee being on his side."
CBS Sports was with you throughout the entire way on Saturday with the live results and highlights below.
191 to 159 punches landed advantage for Roach, who landed 49% of his power punches and 21 more jabs over the fight.
This is the second consecutive fight that Roach appeared to win that ended in a majority draw.
Cruz came out aggressively, knowing he needed a big statement round to close out the fight. Roach responded by driving his jab into Cruz's face and then landing a good uppercut. Cruz landed a left hand in a big exchange, but Roach also landed a sot. Roach landed a three-punch combo and slid away from the return fire. Roach landed a hook before the bell.
Roach with a good uppercut as Cruz walked forward directly into the shot. Roach continued slipping Cruz shots that wildly missed. Roach began to move around the ring and land jabs as Cruz just followed, missing his own shots. Cruz connected with a big shot in the final seconds and Roach responded with some big shots of his own. Cruz may have stole that round but Roach had won so much of it that I disagree with that idea.
Cruz was warned for leading with his head. Cruz did land a left hand but then ate three jabs. Roach caught Cruz with a few left hands after the fighters exchanged taunts. Roach then popped several jabs as he seemed to have mentally derailed Cruz. Roach continued potshotting as Cruz tried to come forward. Cruz seemed content to taunt and posture rather than fight in the style that is his best.
Cruz landed a left to the body early. Roach landed a jab and a left hook. Cruz tried to circle around the ring and jab. Roach continued slipping Cruz's wild shots and popping back with return fire. Roach again landed with the left hook. Roach connected with yet another left hand.
The clinching continued early in the round. Roach landed a pair of left hooks as Cruz tried to walk forward. Cruz started going backward for the first time in the fight. Roach landed another short hook as Cruz stumbled foward. Roach landed a few jabs as Cruz continued moving backward and circling, abandoning his face-first style.
Roach worked a quick combination early in the round. A big left hand landed for Roach. Roach connected with a right hand. The fighters had been clinching frequently, bringing the referee into play. Eventually, the referee had to take a point from Cruz for clinching and hitting. Roach tagged Cruz with a two-punch combination. Cruz's effective offense has dropped over the past few rounds.
Cruz bent over at the waist after a clinch, allowing Roach to land a series of heavy shots. Roach landed two punches and Cruz fired right back. Roach landed a sharp jab and a bomb of a left hook behind it. That was a good round for Roach.
Cruz landed low again early in the round but continued to go to the body. Roach came back with a short right hand, but another Cruz left hand connected cleanly. Cruz ate a combination before landing a heavy right of his own. Cuz connected with a left again as his aggression continued to overwhelm Roach at times. Roach connected with a left hook counter shot. Roach landed another right but ate a wild right from Cruz.
The fighters stood toe to toe, trading shots in tight until Cruz landed a low blow leading to a break in the action. Cruz landed another left hook. Cruz landed a left hook before Roach ripped with some heavy counters and Cruz followed with a right-hand counter of his own. Cruz dug in to the body This is a fantastic action fight.
Cruz threw a rare jab and landed before charging forward again. Roach landed a counter right along the ropes. Roach continued to counter while Cruz threw wildly and missed most of his shots. Cruz forced Roach into the corner, where both men connected with a few punches. Cruz landed a left hand that stumbled Roach and Roach's glove touched the canvas, resulting in a knockdown. Cruz tried to pour it on, landing to the body as Roach talked to him.
Roach landed a right hand before Cruz came back with a left. Roach slipped a punch and landed a good right, and then came back with a left hand and another right. Cruz cracked Roach with a right as he continued to march forward. Another counter right landed for Roach, as did a left and then Cruz flurried hard. Another Roach left-hand counter landed well.
