Last night’s Golden Boy on ESPN delivered three fights of varying quality from Puerto Rico. In the main event, Lamont Roach suffered the first blemish on his record in the form of a split draw against veteran Orlando Cruz. That decision isn’t without at least a little controversy, however. Jose Lopez and Magdiel Cotto picked up wins as well.
Neither man got a lot going early in the main event. Lamont Roach (16-0-1, 6 KOs) was trying to press a retreating Orlando Cruz (25-6-2, 13 KOs), but that isn’t necessarily his game. Through the first half of the fight Orlando Cruz was throwing slightly more shots while Roach was landing at the higher percentage. Neither man was pretty in there though.
The second half of the fight didn’t get much better until the ninth. Orlando Cruz was having a really nice round until a nice left hand wobbled him. The Puerto Rican stayed up after a funky step and tried to clinch, but ultimately his legs betrayed the rest of his body and down he went. The delay was enough to confuse the referee, however, and he mistakenly ruled the knockdown a slip. Orlando Cruz went into survival mode for the rest of the round and was clearly hurt, but his unbeaten prospect of an opponent is just not a finisher. He couldn’t get anything done in the tenth either.
I scored this fight 96-94 for Lamont Roach Jr, but it came back a draw on the official cards. I have no issue whatsoever with a five to five round split. I don’t even have issue with my card potentially reversed for Orlando Cruz as there were a lot of basically nothing rounds that could have gone either way. What is disappointing is the fact that the official cards came back a draw when such a blatant knockdown was missed in the ninth round. Had it been properly scored, Lamont Roach Jr would still be undefeated.
With that said, a lot of Roach’s limitations were exposed in the ring tonight. He’s never been a blue chip prospect, but his inability to fight effectively while coming forward is something basically any well rounded fighter will be able to exploit. He also isn’t a puncher at all despite hurting Cruz late.
In the co-main event, Cotto promoted local junior lightweight Jose Lopez (20-2-1, 14 KOs) scored a clear unanimous decision win over Miguel Gonzalez (22-4, 19 KOs) of Mexico. Gonzalez, bleeding from the first round on, fought a brave fight and was very competitive for a few rounds. Jose Lopez was too much long term, however. The last few rounds were particularly one sided in favor of the Puerto Rican.
Magdiel Cotto (9-0, 7 KOs) eked out a narrow majority decision win over Elie Augustama (6-8, 3 KOs) in the show’s opener. Cotto, no relation to island legend and show promoter Miguel Cotto, ultimately engaged in an entertaining fight here by the end, but not one that does a lot to any sort of idea that he is a major prospect.
