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Isaac Cruz Questions Seriousness of Lamont Roach’s Hand Injury
Ring Magazine
Article
Keith Idec
Keith Idec
RingMagazine.com
Isaac Cruz Questions Seriousness of Lamont Roach’s Hand Injury
Isaac Cruz doesn’t believe Lamont Roach hurt his right hand as badly as he described after their fight Saturday night.

It’s quite a coincidence, according to the fighter nicknamed "Pitbull," that Roach and Gervonta Davis claimed hand injuries hindered them during difficult fights against him.

Roach and Cruz fought to a majority draw in San Antonio almost four years to the day from when Davis defeated him by unanimous decision in a closely contested 12-rounder in Los Angeles.

Mexico’s Cruz expressed skepticism during an interview with The Ring regarding Roach’s hand injury.




“It’s just that it seems anytime someone has a hard fight against me, or can’t beat me, they’re supposedly injured,” Cruz said. “Just look at Gervonta. When he fought me, he was like, 'Oh, I couldn’t win the way that I wanted because I was injured.’ Now Lamont says the same thing. So it just seems a little suspicious to me.”

Roach recalled that he first felt pain in his right hand in the fifth round. It didn’t prohibit the Upper Marlboro, Maryland native from excelling in exchanges and overcoming a slow start to push the durable Cruz for his WBC interim junior welterweight title.

“I honestly don’t remember what exactly did it,” Roach said during their post-fight press conference. “But I know when I came back to that corner I told [my father], 'I broke my hand.’ And I knew like when I came out the next round, he jabbed me and I like blocked it and it hurt. I still continued to try to throw it. There was openings, but my hand was really, hurting.

“I’m not trying to make that as an excuse. I used everything else I had and succeeded. I did well. I got out of the way of his punches, for the most part. And when I wanted to exchange, I was winning the exchanges. Other than that, I was catching and slipping his punches. I don’t really wanna make this an excuse. I did well enough to win with one hand.”





Referee James Green correctly credited Cruz (28-3-2, 18 KOs) for a knockdown in the third round, when an off-balance Roach (25-1-3, 10 KOs) touched the canvas with his right glove to prevent himself from going down. Green deducted a point from Cruz in the seventh round for illegally hitting Roach on his back.

Judges Carla Caiz (115-113), Max DeLuca (115-113) and Zachary Young (116-112) all scored Davis a winner over Cruz. Baltimore’s Davis stated afterward that he hurt his left hand while training for their WBA lightweight title fight and it worsened when repeatedly hitting Cruz on the top of his head.

“I don’t wanna put it on my hand,” Davis said. “I did what I did. It’s about boxing. I knew I was coming in [with a hand injury in] this fight. Forget the hand. I did what I had to do.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer and columnist for The Ring. He can be reached on X @idecboxing
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