Results from San Antonio where Cruz vs Roach Ended in a Stalemate

A battle between two of boxing’s stronger fighters, Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz and Lamont “The Reaper” Roach, ended in a majority draw for the interim WBC super lightweight title on Saturday at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio.

The fiery Mexican Cruz (28-3-2, 18 KOs) came out blazing with his two-fisted attack against Roach (25-1-3) and dominated the first half of the fight.

But that was just the first half.

Though Cruz stalked in his familiar jaguar crouch and managed a knockdown of Roach in third round with machete left hook, it was obvious that the fighter from D.C. was not overwhelmed nor in trouble. But he wasn’t winning.

“I knew I had to bully the bully,” said Roach on his fighting inside.

Roach daring to fight fire with fire in the first half despite the body blows and left hooks to the head he was absorbing at hurricane pace. One thing going for him was the referee warning Cruz for hitting below the belt on occasion. After repeated warnings it was obvious that a point deduction would come.

In the seventh round, referee James Green penalized Cruz one point for hitting the side of the waist on the belt. From that point on Roach had changed tactics and used a jab and quick left hook to beat Cruz to the punch.

It was an effective weapon and changed the momentum and strategy of the fight. Roach was in control in the second half.

Cruz adapted to the new tactics too and began moving around and using a jab on occasion. Both connected but the change in strategy favored Roach who was more comfortable fighting on the move than the Mexico City fighter.

Though Cruz was able to connect with big shots on occasion, Roach was landing the less dangerous snap left hooks that had little power but scored. Each fighter mocked the other but it was obvious the fight would be judged closely for Cruz in the first half and Roach in the second.

Both fighters attempted to dominate with their preferred style. Cruz looked for the home run and Roach looked for the triple. After 12 rounds, neither had dominated more than six rounds. One judge saw Cruz the winner 115-112, but two others scored it even 113-113 for a majority draw.

Punch stats were wrong as usual with Cruz not getting credit for body punches, only head shots. Punch stats had Roach dominating overall punches landed. It’s one major reason I never use them as a source. They are not accurate and analysts using them are often confused when using them as a reference.

Both fighters felt they won after the decision was rendered but that’s understandable. Neither fighter belittled the other. Each had their moments.

“Hats off to a tough Pitbull,” said Roach.

Cruz was not surprised by Roach’s approach.

“I knew he was going to fight toe-to-toe,” said Cruz adding that the referee was the enemy for taking a point away for a low blow.

Both fighters had sought to fight Gervonta “Tank” Davis in a rematch so they fought each other. Could a Roach-Cruz rematch be on the horizon?

Other Bouts

It was Texan O’Shaquie Foster (24-3, 12 KOs) versus Philadelphia’s Stephen Fulton (23-2, 8 KOs), the former two-division champion, but the taller Foster whipped his long left jab like a spear all night to win the interim WBC lightweight title by unanimous decision.

An overweight Fulton who was moving up in weight to face Foster could not find the antidote for the jab and remained at arms-length for all 12 rounds trying to find the answer. Foster jabbed and connected with rapier like one-twos that left no doubt about who was the superior fighter on this night.

Foster was declared the unanimous decision winner by a wide margin: 119-109, 118-110, 117-111. He now holds the interim WBC lightweight title. Fulton moved up in weight from 126 to 130 but was two pounds over the limit. Thus, the WBC super feather world title was not at stake, but the interim title was inserted instead.

In a 12-round fight between middleweight contenders, Jesus Ramos (24-1, 19 KOs) was effective mostly with counter left hooks and banged out a unanimous decision win over Shane Mosley Jr. (22-5, 12 KOs).

Both fighters had their moments with Ramos slightly busier. But neither fighter was able to create distance in an ebb-and-flow fight. Each time Ramos seemed to gain the upper hand, Mosley would rally back with big right hand counters. Mosley’s big rounds were the fourth and eighth with rights that had Ramos clinching.

Ramos also seemed on the verge of knocking down Mosley but the chin of the Pomona fighter remained as resilient as the Matterhorn.

After 12 rounds all three judges saw Ramos the winner 116-112, 117-111 twice.

WBA middleweight titlist Erislandy Lara (32-3-3, 19 KOs) knocked down Johan Gonzalez (36-5, 34 Kos) in the first and in the 12^th round. In between those rounds were a lot of posing by the champion and Gonzalez attempting to penetrate the Cuban’s guard.

The crowd booed and whistled in protest.

At the end of the fight that almost saw Lara win by knockout from double lefts, he was declared the winner by unanimous decision 118-108, 119-107, 120-106. That last score declared Lara won every round despite his lack of action in many rounds.

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