Roach Claims Injury vs Pitbull Cruz — But Did It Even Matter?

Lamont Roach sounded insecure and defensive, showing his injured left hand, saying, “imagine if I had both my hands” in his fight against Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz last Saturday night.

Showing off his injured hand after the contest made it sound like Roach was using it as an excuse for why he failed to win. In other words, he was rationalizing for his failure to get the victory. He mentioned that the injury occurred in the fifth round.

Did Injury Change Anything?

Lamont hadn’t fought well before the injury, so it didn’t matter to the fans that he told them he’d been hurt in the fifth. They saw Roach get dominated by Cruz before the injury. He looked overmatched before getting hurt, and never took control. it was Pitbull that finished strong in the 11th and 12th.

Roach (25-1-3, 10 KOs) was fortunate to get a 12-round majority draw out of his headliner fight against WBC interim light welterweight champion ‘Pitbull’ Cruz (28-3-2, 18 KOs) at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas.

Point Deduction Saved Roach

Lamont was saved by the referee deducting a point from Cruz for a low blow in the seventh round. If not for that, Roach would have lost the fight. The problem with the penalty is that the ref didn’t warn Cruz previously.

“Y’all talk about a participation trophy… y’all wanna see my bank account (pre-fight check balance at that)? Lol,” said Lamont Roach on X today.

Roach’s pay doesn’t erase the lackluster performance from him. It doesn’t work to validate his worth by pointing out that he was paid a lot of money. Fans saw a fighter who couldn’t separate himself from a guy who had beaten him a year ago by Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela.

All the talking that Roach has done about being put on the pound-for-pound list, winning world titles, and wanting to fight the big names, he painted a false picture of himself that didn’t match his performance.

Hospital Bed Video Drops

“Imagine if I had both of my hands. Stop the noise,” said Lamont Roach in a video he posted, showing him posing with a bandaged left hand in a hospital bed after his grueling fight against Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz last Saturday night.

Lying in a hospital bed, Roach looked like he had more than just a hand problem. He was all beaten up, his speech sounding like he had a mouth full of broken glass, and a beat-up appearance. Cruz really worked him over. Roach’s condition wasn’t that of an elite-level fighter.

“We need to start a movement. They got it out for me in boxing or something,” said Roach, sounding like a person in denial, not liking the fans’ judgments of his performance. “I’ll be right back. You hear me?”