Lamont Roach Jr.: The victim of the dark side of boxing

When a professional boxer puts in 10 rounds of good, hard work, against a tough opponent in their backyard, they should not have to worry about poor officiating.

Indeed, this is pie in the sky thinking, and it is exactly what happened to Lamont Roach Jr. when he laced ‘em up against Orlando Cruz in Puerto Rico. This fight was scored the draw, despite the fact that Roach Jr. won at least seven rounds. And Lamont Roach Jr. is getting zero justice.

Now, I am not talking about boxing justice. Long before Lamont Roach Jr. became a professional, poor/incompetent judging has been normalized in the Sweet Science. When bad behavior is normalized it never does anyone any good. However, when a bad scorecard is read, one that reeks of something nasty, like a toilet that has not been flushed for a week; just like the Roach-Cruz fight, it is typically taken in stride in boxing.

When I spoke to Roach Jr., he felt Cruz won at best three rounds, but at the same time he put more blame on himself, for not winning more convincingly, “I didn’t execute as well as I should have”, is what Lamont told me.

Now, I understand what Roach Jr. was saying, but when you are the clear winner of 7 of the 10 rounds, how much more convincing does paid professionals need?

Roach Jr. said he did not plan to protest and explained that, “At the end of the day we knew what we were up against when we accepted the fight…Orlando Cruz was from San Juan, the fight was in San Juan we knew the judges where going to be from Puerto Rico and most likely the referee would be from Puerto Rico.”

That is like justifying a burglary for not having the best home security. Then discussing with your neighbors, ‘well my robbery was worse than yours because they took all the cash I had under the mattress and the smart TV.’ This is the kind of thinking boxing has had when it comes to poor judging, and as a result it will never stop.

I remember having a conversation with a well-respected individual, who is now in boxing media, about the first Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley fight. A match that virtually nobody felt Bradley won at the time but was awarded the decision.

I told this individual after a few days of outcry, nothing will really happen, and boxing will go back to its shenanigans. This individual responded ‘no, no, no, not this time, it will be different. I know I have been talking to a lot of people and big changes are going to be made.’

Well, nothing has changed. Has it? In fact, the announcers of ESPN Top Rank Boxing constantly refer to Bradley beating Pacquiao as a legitimate victory.

So, I was not expecting any real boxing justice for Lamont Roach Jr. With that said, what did I expect was more of an outcry on social media. It would be the perfect platform for some genuine outcry against a true crime committed.

Because not only was Lamont robbed on the scorecards, he was cheated out of a clear knockdown by referee Luis Pabon. I scanned through the various fight groups on Facebook and saw next to no protest about this incident. There were some objections about the decision, but that was about it.

It is a sad day in boxing when such a blatant show of corruption goes by the boards. I have not seen much written from all the wonderful boxing scribes about this incident either. When we start normalizing corrupt behavior from a referee, well then, we go well beyond the sunken place in this sport.

Not everyone has been ho hum after this fight. When I spoke with Lamont Roach Sr., he had this to say:

"I think the decision was absolutely awful! Clear robbery and a homeland decision. We clearly knocked him down in the 9th round with a beautiful short left hook. We actually knocked him down twice in the 9th round and the referee didn’t call either. The ref did a very bad job all night. Allowing Cruz to excessive hold and foul without warning. He didn’t allow us to work in the inside. I believe we won the fight without the knockdown. I will give Cruz 3 rounds at best. Cruz came in shape, but he was really in there trying to survive for 10 rounds. I will exercise all options as it relates to this unfair decision. Hopefully we get an immediate rematch at home in DC or Maryland. Next time we will not leave it to the judges."

I followed up with Lamont Roach Sr. to see if there has been an ordered rematch.

“The WBO ordered an immediate rematch,” said Roach Sr. “Should have more news this week.”

Great news, indeed, but there is nothing that can be done to reverse the erroneous decision rendered in Puerto Rico and give Lamont Roach Jr. the victory he worked so hard for. And what will be done about referee Luis Pabon?

He has had a checkered past yet keeps working. Pabon has not worked a fight since that nightmare in Puerto Rico, so perhaps there has been consequences handed out. I could not find anything definitive on this manner.