SAN ANTONIO – Boxing’s contentious decision trend continued Saturday night as Isaac Cruz’s WBC interim super-lightweight title defense against Lamont Roach concluded in a disputed majority draw at Frost Bank Center. The verdict sparked immediate protests from both camps, extending Roach’s unusual streak of inconclusive outcomes this year.
The Mexican champion (27-2-1) appeared to seize control in the third round, flooring Roach (24-1-3) with a devastating left hook that marked the American’s first career knockdown. However, Cruz’s momentum was compromised in the seventh round when referee Mark Calo-oy deducted a point for illegal kidney punches.
CompuBox statistics revealed Roach outlanded the champion 191-159 over twelve rounds, though Cruz consistently delivered more powerful connections. The official scorecards reflected the bout’s divisive nature: two judges tallied identical 113-113 scores while a third favored Cruz 115-111.
Roach, experiencing his second consecutive majority draw following March’s deadlock with Gervonta Davis, expressed profound frustration: ‘All I want is a fair shake. I clearly thought I won a close fight but don’t know what I must accomplish to get decisive results.’
Cruz simultaneously disputed the outcome, blaming officiating: ‘The referee stole this victory from me. I’ll grant a rematch only with different officiating supervision.’
On the undercard, O’Shaquie Foster (22-2) dominated Stephen Fulton (22-1) to claim the WBC interim lightweight title via lopsided majority decision. Despite the bout originally scheduled for Foster’s super-featherweight championship, Fulton’s failure to make weight (by 2 pounds) transformed it into a non-title affair. Foster’s masterclass performance earned scores of 117-111, 118-110 and 119-109, establishing him as mandatory challenger for the January 31 Lopez-Stevenson winner.
Meanwhile, 42-year-old Erislandy Lara (31-3-3) demonstrated ageless excellence with a commanding WBA middleweight title defense against late substitute Johan Gonzalez. The Cuban-American veteran scored knockdowns in the first and final rounds, cruising to unanimous scores of 118-108, 119-107 and 120-106 after original opponent Janibek Alimkhanuly failed pre-fight drug screening.