Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz battled Lamont Roach Jr. in front of 10,000 fans at the Frost Bank Center. Credit: Premier Boxing Champions / Dylan Trevino
In front of 10,230 fans at the Frost Bank Center Saturday night, Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz (28-3-2 with 18 KOs) battled Lamont Roach Jr. (25-1-3 with 10 KOs) to a majority draw that left fans fuming.
Two of the judges scored the bout 113-113, while another had it 115-111 for Pitbull. The Current’s card was 116-116.
With the interim WBC super lightweight title on the line, the PBC pay-per-view event was an exciting fight with two different halves: up until Round 6, when Pitbull was deducted a point for low blows, the Mexican was controlling the event with his usual fast start, an all-out aggression that had Roach in trouble. This was evident in the third round, when Cruz scored a knockdown with a left hook that caught Roach off-balance and caused his glove to touch the canvas.
After that sixth round, Roach and Cruz took turns punishing each other, but the Mexican seemed to tire towards the end of the fight, to the point that he uncharacteristically started boxing in Round 9.
“I knew he would stand his ground and go toe-to-toe, but I know how to box too,” said Cruz, the crowd’s overwhelming favorite, after the fight. “People don’t realize I can box.”
It was a close fight that could have gone either way, but a 115-111 for Cruz — courtesy of judge Chris Tellez — seemed an exaggeration.
“I did my job,” Cruz said. “I did my work. The ref was on his side. The judges too. The crowd in San Antonio saw I won this fight. Absolutely, I’d do a rematch. With a different referee who is not on his side. The referee [James Green] took this fight from me.”
Roach was, understandably, the more frustrated of the two with the decision, coming from a ridiculous draw against Gervonta Davis in his last fight.
“All I want is a fair shake,” Roach said after the fight. “I think I should have won a close victory. All I want is a fair shake. That’s it. It’s some bullshit. I don’t know what I got to do. I don’t accept this at all. I clearly thought I won a close fight. I’m tired of this shit. Hats off to Pitbull. He’s a great champion himself. I gave the fans a great fight. Back to the drawing board.”
In the televised undercard, Houston’s O’Shaquie Foster (24-3 with 12 KOs) put on a masterful performance against Stephen Fulton, Jr. (23-2 with 8 KOs) and won a unanimous decision for the WBC interim lightweight title.
Cuban-born, Houston-based Erislandy Lara (32-3-3 with 19 KOs) scored two knockdowns to earn a unanimous decision against last-minute opponent Johan González (36-5 with 34 KOs), thus retaining the WBA middleweight title.
Jesús Ramos, Jr. (24-1 with 19 KOs) won the WBC interim middleweight title with a unanimous decision against Shane Mosley, Jr., the son of Sugar Shane Mosley.
The non-televised portion of the undercard had two four-rounders featuring four Texas fighters:
Hugo Mendez (from Pflugerville, 6-0 with 3 KOs) outpointed Houston’s Nelson Hampton (11-11 with 6 KOs) in the lightweight division, and San Antonio’s up-and-coming super lightweight Adrian Neaves (4-0 with 1 KO) defeated Roberto Castro (Harlingen, 3-3 with 1 KO).
Subscribe to SA Current newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
Related Stories
Competitors from every U.S. state and 25 countries will participate in the big race this Sunday.
The PPV boxing match will take place Dec. 6 at Frost Bank Center with more on the card.
Admission starts at $20, and the attraction will remain open through Jan. 4.