Tim Bradley says Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz was the victim of “Home cooking” in his controversial 12-round majority draw against Lamont Roach last Saturday, December 6th at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas.
Bradley believes the reason Roach was given a draw was payback for the victory he failed to get in his last fight against Gervonta Davis last March. Many felt he deserved the win against Tank. So, Tim argues that Roach was saved from losing to Cruz to make up the difference for what the judges failed to do for him against Tank.
Phantom Low Blow Controversy
The podhost Bradley says WBC interim light welterweight champion Cruz (28-3-2, 18 KOs) won the early rounds “definitively,” and then took the 12th against a missing-in-action Roach (25-1-3, 10 KOs).
Where he believes it was “home cooking” is in the seventh when the referee took a point from Cruz for a phantom low blow. Replays showed that the punch was on the belt line and that Roach had his trunks pulled up high. Bradley states that if not for the point deduction, ‘Pitbull’ would have won the fight. Indeed, he would have. The scores were:
“When that last round come, I’m like, ‘Where you at, Roach?’ ‘Pitbull’ closed the show, won the last round and won the fight. There’s no doubt in my mind that he won the fight,” said Tim Bradley on his channel, talking about last Saturday’s clash between Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz and Lamont Roach.
Roach Coasted in the 12th
The 12th was a strange one for Roach, as he fought like he thought he had the victory in the bag. He didn’t even try to win the round by putting in some effort. His vision of how he thought the fight had played out up to that point may have given him the belief that he could just coast.
After the fight, Roach repeatedly said he felt he had won handily, which explains why he made no effort to win the 12th. He chose to box to keep from getting caught. What a mistake that was.
“I’m looking at these rounds, saying, ‘That’s another round for Pitbull.’ These rounds were being won definitively. It wasn’t like they were close. He even made him [Roach] touch the canvas with his glove, which indicates a knockdown,” said Bradley about the knockdown Cruz scored in round three.
Cruz fought well enough to win the first six rounds of the fight. So, for Roach to get the victory, he needed to win all six of the final rounds. He certainly didn’t do that, as Cruz finished strong in rounds 11 and 12.
Replay Shows Legal Shot
“This is where the home-cooking come, because when it got to be a little later, you saw what happened. Roach was in there getting his a** whooped. Then all of a sudden, ‘Pitbull’ lands a couple of shots that strayed low. I get that. However, the last shot that the referee took the point off was on the beltline, and the beltline was a high beltline,” said Bradley about the point deduction referee James Green took from ‘Pitbull’ Cruz in round seven.
“It wasn’t below the belt. I saw the instant replay. That shot was a legal shot, it wasn’t an illegal shot, and he took a point,” said Tim.
Last Updated on 12/09/2025
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