Garcia Believes Roach Let ‘Pitbull’ Off the Hook Late

Ryan Garcia says Lamont Roach made the mistake of not continuing to swing away with nonstop punches in the 11th and 12th rounds against Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz last Saturday night.

Garca believes that Roach’s decision to stop throwing occasionally allowed Cruz (28-3-2, 18 KOs) to win rounds 11 and 12 to salvage a 12-round majority draw in their main event fight in San Antonio, Texas.

“I would say that he [Roach] was fighting his style for most of the fight. But then Lamont did the right thing, which I thought was the smart thing to do. People were trying to bash him, but stepping to ‘Pitbull,’” said Ryan Garcia to Ring Magazine, analyzing last Saturday’s fight between Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz and Lamont Roach.

Pitbull’s Second Wind in 11 & 12

What Ryan is failing to understand is that Roach’s success in rounds 7 through 10 was due to Cruz’s fading. His high-pressure style caught up to him in those rounds, causing him to let his foot off the accelerator.

However, when ‘Pitbull’ got his second wind beginning in the 11th, he retook control over the fight, chasing Roach down, battering him with shots. Those last two rounds resembled the first half of the fight with ‘Pitbull’ Cruz getting the better of Roach, who lacked the power and inside game to stop him.

“‘Pitbull’ can’t fight [going] back to save his life,” said Garcia. “So, once Lamont started doing that, he started breaking ‘Pitbull’ down a little bit. ‘Pitbull’ got uncomfortable and didn’t really know what to do with it. He decided to go on his bike, act like he was boxing. He can’t box.”

The Controversial Low Blow Call

Ryan is talking about the success Roach had when Cruz gassed out in the middle rounds. Interestingly, he didn’t mention the controversial low blow, no-warning call by the referee James Green in the seventh.

Replays showed that the punch was on the beltline, not low, meaning the referee made a mistake in penalizing Cruz.  That mistake cost Cruz the victory and saved Roach from a loss.

“When the 10th or 11th round came, I think ‘Pitbull’ caught him again with and kind of shook him, that kind of made the fight a draw because then ‘Pitbull’ stole the 11th and 12th, which is mind-blowing because Lamont had the momentum. But he didn’t go into, ‘I’m making a statement now.’ He could have kept hitting him, but he would stop,” said Ryan.

Why Roach Stopped Letting His Hands Go

Roach had to stop throwing because he was getting hit back when he was throwing combinations. He’d already been knocked down by Cruz in the third and hurt multiple times. He couldn’t just swing away mindlessly without worrying about the punches ‘Pitbull’ was throwing back. Ryan’s perception of the fight is off, suggesting he wasn’t watching closely enough to see what was actually happening.