Lamont Roach is certain that he forced Isaac Cruz to box Saturday night.

Roach contended after their debatable majority draw that his aggressive approach frustrated Cruz and made the rugged slugger change strategies once he realized standing and trading wouldn’t work at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio.

Mexico City’s Cruz scored a knockdown, the first of Roach’s career, in the third round as his right glove touched the canvas to keep from falling. Roach wasn’t badly hurt during that sequence. He also landed plenty of flush punches while exploiting Cruz’s defensive flaws when they fought from close distances.

Cruz claimed Roach didn’t coerce him to box. It was a conscious decision because he wanted to prove he is more than just a pressure fighter who can be outsmarted and outmaneuvered by intelligent, technically sound opponents.

“I’m very happy with my performance,” Cruz said during their post-fight press conference. “And I’m glad that I was able to shut some people up that were saying that I wasn’t technical enough or not smart enough. I thought that I checked all the boxes tonight.”

Judge Chris Tellez rewarded Cruz with a 115-111 win on his scorecard. Judges Cory Santos and Nathan Palmer disagreed and scored the back-and-forth fight a draw, 113-113 each.

Referee James Green took a point away from Cruz in the seventh round for hitting Roach on his back. If not for that deduction, Cruz would’ve won a unanimous decision.

Roach (25-1-3, 10 KOs), of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, had a slight edge in CompuBox’s unofficial punch stats. The former WBA super featherweight champ connected on 10 more power punches (142 of 291 vs. 132 of 382) and 22 more jabs (49 of 176 vs. 27 of 162).

Roach is known as a better boxer than Cruz (28-3-2, 18 KOs), but he delivered on his pre-fight promise to exchange with a more reputable puncher in their Premier Boxing Champions pay-per-view main event.

“I wasn’t surprised at all,” Cruz said regarding Roach’s approach. “I was able to fight smartly, and I was able to adapt to whatever circumstances the fight brought my way.”

Cruz also dismissed the theory that he began boxing and moving more because he grew tired from winging power shots at Roach during the first half of their fight.

“It was in no way based on fatigue,” Cruz said. "I just showed that Isaac Cruz is no flintstone. I’m not just someone that throws punches. I’m someone that knows how to box and I proved that tonight.”