Boxing
Isaac Cruz defended his title after a majority draw against Lamont Roach
Published
3 months agoon
Lamont Roach Jr. Saturday night at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio. and Isaac Cruz fought to a majority tie.
Cruz defended his interim WBC junior welterweight title, while Roach exited this year with a second straight majority draw.
One judge scored the fight 115-111 in Cruz’s favor, while two judges scored it 113-113.
It was still early in the fight, and Cruz scored a third-round knockout to come within an inch of the fight. However, Roach made a strategic change to seemingly take control of the second half of the fight. But it wasn’t enough to prevent him from winning his final two fights.
Later, Roach vented his frustration.
“I just want a good shake, man. That’s all,” Roach said. “I think I’ve pulled this fight. … I don’t know what to do. But it’s back to the drawing board. I don’t accept it at all. I clearly thought I won a close fight and I’m tired of this s—, man.”
Fighting in Washington, Roach (25-1-3, 10 KO) scored a controversial majority draw with Gervonta “Tank” Davis in March. Unable to secure a rematch, Roach had to look elsewhere and opted to move up to 140 pounds to face Cruz (28-3-2, 18 KO). He entered the fight as the WBA super featherweight titleholder, but was stripped of the title when the bell sounded for his fight with Cruz.
Cruz, who went the distance against Davis in 2021 after a thrilling decision loss, has won six of his previous seven fights, winning the vacant interim WBC junior welterweight title in his last fight, beating Omar Salcido.
Cruz attacked Roach from the opening bell, throwing looping punches. The constant aggression was effective from the beginning, although Roach found places to counterattack with his left hand. Roach picked his seats while Cruz moved forward with reckless abandon. During the exchange in Round 3, Cruz’s left hand knocked Roach off balance, knocking him down for the first time in his career when his glove touched the canvas. Roach was uninjured, but the damage was done and forced him to change his approach.
“I knew he wouldn’t give up and would fight toe-to-toe,” Cruz said. “But guess what? I boxed too, and people didn’t realize I could do it. I boxed.”
The knockdown caused Roach to struggle in the pocket from then on, leading to furious exchanges inside. Cruz worked well to the body while Roach slipped in counters that caught “Pitbull” in the chin. Roach landed a left hook to Cruz’s face in round 6, which was his best punch of the fight up to that point. However, he chose to fight on Cruz’s terms rather than trying to play to his strengths by boxing to the outside and interrupting his opponent’s attacks.
Roach made minor changes in the middle rounds, using a catch-and-shoot strategy to lure Cruz. The changeup was effective because he caught Cruz both coming in and going out. Cruz was also deducted a point for excessive clinching in round 7, which brought the fight to neutral ground and offset the earlier knockdown. Roach upset Cruz with a change of strategy and began to take control of the fight, nullifying Cruz’s offense and completely taking the crowd out of the fight. However, Cruz came alive in the championship rounds, taking the fight to Roach.
It was a close fight that ended in an unsatisfactory draw, although Roach defeated Cruz 191-159. Both fighters seemed interested in a rematch, but Cruz would only agree to it if there was a different referee.
“Yes, absolutely [I want the rematch]”, Cruz said. “But with a different referee and without the referee standing on his side. I won that fight and the referee took that fight away from me.
In the co-main event, O’Shaquie Foster dominated Stephen Fulton and made a unanimous decision to become the interim WBC lightweight champion.
The fight was originally scheduled for Foster’s WBC junior world title, but Fulton was 2 pounds overweight. The WBC inexplicably changed the stakes of the fight to an interim 135-pound title fight, with the winner being the mandatory challenger to Shakur Stevenson.
Foster (24-3, 12 KO) brilliantly outclassed the former two-division champion throughout the entire 12 rounds. He subdued Fulton (23-2, 8 KO) with a edged jab and kept him on the outside for a long time. The champion expertly held the court in the middle of the ring while Fulton struggled to get inside or land anything of value.
As the rounds wore on, Fulton’s frustration showed in his approach as Foster began using combination after jab as his opponent tried to get inside.
The judges scored the fight 117-111, 118-110 and 119-109, but it could have easily been a win due to Foster’s dominance.
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Boxing
Gervonta Davis is close to returning to action, according to her opponent’s name
Published
30 minutes agoon
March 10, 2026
It looks like Gervonta Davis is one step away from confirming her return to the ring.
Davis last fought in March 2025, when he earned a majority draw with Lamont Roach to defend his WBA lightweight title.
It was a controversial result, with many feeling that Roach had done enough to get the nod, especially after a knockdown was not awarded in his favor after “Tank” voluntarily chose to take a knee in round nine.
The next 12 months left many in doubt as to whether Davis would return to play at all. A planned exhibition with Jake Paul in November has been canceled over the Baltimore man’s naming in a civil lawsuit over domestic allegations, the latest in a string of issues going beyond the ropes.
Another drama occurred after an arrest warrant was issued for “Tank”, citing similar accusations, which led to him being stripped of his WBA lightweight title.
Regardless, it looks like Davis is ready to make a comeback after this happened Reported by Mike Coppinger that he is in advanced talks about a fight with Isaac Cruz, the man whom “Tank” considered his number one target at the end of last year.
Davis has already secured a victory over Cruz, who last fought in December when he fought to a majority draw against former foe “Tank” Roach – a fighter he believes should be given a chance to face him again.
Boxing
The fight between Luis Nery and John Riel Casimero will take place on April 18 in Kyrgyzstan
Published
3 hours agoon
March 9, 2026
Neither player holds a title and neither has been part of any real championship talk in recent seasons. Nery has already held the bantamweight and junior featherweight belts, although his recent appearances at featherweight have shown that the path up is confined. At 126 pounds, he looked undersized and unable to apply the same pressure that once carried him through lighter divisions, which makes a return to 122 pounds a more practical move.
Saikou x Lush Boxing will promote the event as part of a three-day boxing show in the capital of Kyrgyzstan. The gala will be held at the Gazprom Sports Convoluted, an extraordinary setting for two players who regularly appeared on larger international stages at the beginning of their careers.
Nery (37-2, 28 KO) will fight in Kyrgyzstan for the second time in a row after appearing there in October last year. The 31-year-old Mexican southpaw defeated Sathaporn Saart by technical decision in the eighth round after an accidental head collision put the fight on the scorecards.
The win was his second in a row since Naoya Inoue stopped him in the sixth round in May 2024. Nery made a comeback earlier in 2025, stopping Kyonosuke Kameda in the seventh round before extending his rebound stretch with a victory over Saart.
Casimero (35-5-1, 24 KOs), now 37, built his reputation by winning junior flyweight, flyweight and bantamweight titles early in his career. Activity has been confined and results inconsistent over the past few seasons, leading to him being 2-1-1 in his last four fights.
His last fight was in December, when he defeated Tom Mizokoshi in the fifth round in Japan. Two months earlier, he appeared at the same October gala in Kyrgyzstan, where Nery fought Saart and lost to Kameda by unanimous decision of ten rounds.
The April meeting brings together two former champions who once operated at the forefront of the sport’s lighter divisions. At this stage, it could be read as more of a veteran clash between recognizable names rather than a fight expected to impact the junior featherweight championship race.
Tomek Galm is a boxing journalist covering the global fight landscape since 2014, specializing in heavyweight analysis, industry trends and fighter psychology.
Boxing
Oleksandr Usyk is naming the heavyweight fight he wants after Rico Verhoeven
Published
5 hours agoon
March 9, 2026
Oleksandr Usyk is taking Rico Verhoeven seriously, perhaps because he will face a bigger challenge later.
The elite southpaw will face kickboxing icon Verhoeven on May 23 in Egypt in a fight focused on spectacle after years of hard-fought victories on the road. Even though Usyk has strayed from his usual matchmaking, he has now assured fans that they can expect a return to top-level championship boxing later.
Speaking on DAZN’s Inside the Ring, Usyk revealed that after the fight, his goal would be to become the undisputed heavyweight champion for a third time, with his primary goal being either Daniel Dubois or Fabio Wardley.
“For me it’s a real fight. Yes, Rico is not a good boxer, ok, nice fight, no problem, but I want my next fight [against the] Daniel Dubois and Wardley winner.”
Wardley was promoted from interim to full WBO champion when the Ukrainian vacated the belt rather than face him as mandatory challenger. His first defense against Dubois, scheduled for May 9 in Manchester, is perilous.
This is a legacy-based strategy that Usyk has used in the past, dropping the IBF belt to allow Dubois’ elevation, defending against Anthony Joshua, and then facing him to regain the belt. If “DDD” defeats Wardley, he could expect a trilogy fight, but fan interest may wane given how the first two fights went.
It all depends on whether Usyk retains his three titles. Although the fight for the WBC belt with Verhoeven is highly controversial, the IBF and WBA leagues have not been mentioned yet. The sanctioning authorities may well decide to declare a vacancy in their belts.
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