{"id":729337,"date":"2026-06-11T09:20:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T09:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/729337\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T09:20:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T09:20:12","slug":"battle-tested-lamont-roach-jnr-determined-to-produce-convincing-title-triumph","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/729337\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Battle-tested’ Lamont Roach Jnr determined to produce convincing title triumph"},"content":{"rendered":"

However, the persistence has transformed Roach to a coming-of-age pound-for-pound talent who has seemingly sent the once imposing Davis hiding from a rematch.
\u201cJust his maturity — those two draws that easily could\u2019ve been wins and made him a three-division champion — think about that,\u201d Roach promoter Tom Brown said.
\u201cHe didn\u2019t lose those fights. This guy\u2019s as battle tested as any fighter can be. He\u2019s got confidence now and he\u2019s a dangerous fighter going into the Zepeda fight. This kid will be the WBC lightweight champion on August 1. He can do whatever he wants to do: stand in there and trade, or box.
\u201cI believe this fight is going to be very violent.\u201d
Although he now promotes Zepeda as the Mexican seeks to recover from a July loss to unbeaten four-division champion Shakur Stevenson, De La Hoya said he\u2019s been drawn by Roach\u2019s rise since they parted.
\u201cWhat excites me about this fight is the hunger, the styles, the discipline,\u201d De La Hoya said at Tuesday\u2019s news conference at his offices.
\u201cThere is no shame in their past fights. I thought Lamont Roach won against \u2018Tank\u2019 Davis and \u2018Pitbull\u2019 Cruz.
\u201cYou have two guys so motivated to get into the winner\u2019s circle. I\u2019m going to call it right now: Fight of the year. This is a fight I can\u2019t wait to watch. The hunger from both fighters \u2013 coming off the draws and loss, meeting great fighters \u2013 gives you an extra motivation. I say that from experience. When you get the call to meet a great fighter, you don\u2019t hesitate because you want to be great. We know talent, know fighters. The fact we helped Lamont Roach to open the doors in his career is a blessing, and I\u2019m very proud.\u201d
Reflecting on his time with Golden Boy, Roach said candidly, \u201cStrictly as a boxer, I was too high on myself. I was just relying on pure talent and what I\u2019d done before [as an amateur champion]. After I lost to Jamel Herring, it hit me that that\u2019s not enough. Everybody at that level is going to be good. I had to work my ass off.
\u201cI had to rededicate myself to the sport, realizing they\u2019re not going to give me anything. I have to go take everything. That\u2019s what led to this run.\u201d
Following the disservice of the arbiters in his past two bouts, Roach said, \u201dI feel like I can get a fair shake. But I\u2019m not counting on it. I\u2019m relying on my hard work. I\u2019m relying on my skills. I\u2019m relying on my ability to win decisively, to win clean \u2013 a landslide or a knockout. That\u2019s my whole disposition.\u201d
He praised Zepeda, also 30, as a formidable foe to gain a second division belt \u2013 an accomplishment that distinguishes.
\u201cZepeda\u2019s a tough customer. I wouldn\u2019t want to fight anyone but someone like the caliber of fighter he is,\u201d Roach said. \u201cI\u2019ve worked my ass off in camp to do everything I can to bring this belt home with me.
\u201cThe draws haven\u2019t sat too well with me, but life goes on. When it comes to fighting guys, there\u2019s no one I wouldn\u2019t fight. Obviously, he\u2019s a dangerous fighter. I\u2019m sure nobody\u2019s going to forget this fight. No one.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"However, the persistence has transformed Roach to a coming-of-age pound-for-pound talent who has seemingly sent the once imposing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":729338,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,1920,6653,122025,85,176278],"class_list":["post-729337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-boxing-news","tag-boxingscene","tag-lamont-roach-jr","tag-sports","tag-william-zepeda"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=729337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/729338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=729337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=729337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=729337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}