Lamont Roach Jr.

Lamont Roach Jr. (born August 18, 1995) is an American professional boxer. He held the World Boxing Association (WBA) super featherweight title from 2023 to 2025.

Roach was a decorated amateur, winning gold medals at the National Golden Gloves and USA Boxing Youth National Championships in 2013. He made his professional debut the following year, shortly after signing with Golden Boy Promotions, while studying at the University of Maryland. He went undefeated in his first 20 fights (19 wins, 1 draw), collecting three minor belts before he unsuccessfully challenged Jamel Herring for his WBO super featherweight title in 2019.

Early life

Born in Washington, D.C., Roach was raised in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. When he was nine years old, he accompanied his father and his cousin to No “X” Cuse Boxing Club in Capitol Heights, where he got to hit a punching bag for the first time and learn some of the basics of boxing. He enjoyed it so much that he decided to continue training under his father and his cousin Bernard, and by middle school was in the gym five times a week. Although he had also been playing football throughout his youth, he dropped it to focus on boxing once he reached high school.

As an amateur, his record was 125–15, with two of those losses coming from Gervonta Davis. He won two Junior National Golden Gloves Championships, a national PAL Championship and five Ringside World Championships. In 2013, he was the USA Boxing Youth National Champion and the National Golden Gloves champion, both at 132 pounds (60 kg). He also claimed a bronze medal at the Klitschko Brothers Tournament in Ukraine and was honored with the USA Boxing Outstanding Boxer award for his performances that year.

Professional career

Early career

In March 2014, he signed with Golden Boy Promotions to begin his professional career with his father Lamont Sr. serving as his manager. Roach made his professional debut on April 19, 2014, defeating Victor Galindo by unanimous decision at the D.C. Armory. Just 18 years old at the time, he was still a freshman at the University of Maryland studying mechanical engineering, following in his father's footsteps. Two months later, he defeated Miguel Antonio Rodríguez in Boston when his opponent failed to answer the bell for the second round. In his first televised match he faced Herbert Quartey, cousin of former world champion Ike Quartey, in Philadelphia on January 20, 2015. Roach dominated the more experienced fighter, scoring three knockdowns before the fight was stopped in his favor by the referee in the fourth round, extending his winning streak to six.

Super featherweight

On January 28, 2017, he stopped Alejandro Valdez inside of two minutes in Indio, California to capture the vacant WBC Youth Silver super featherweight title and move to 13–0. He dedicated the win to his recently deceased cousin Jermaine, who had accompanied him to his first boxing session more than a decade earlier. He successfully defended the belt against Jesús Valdez five months later, also in Indio. Just days before his next fight, a non-title bout versus Dominican veteran Luis Hinojosa in October, his cousin and life-long trainer Bernard "Boogaloo" Roach died of a heart attack. With his father taking over as his head coach, he went on to beat Hinojosa with a first-round TKO for his third stoppage victory in four fights. A month later Roach headlined his first professional card when he faced Rey Perez at the MGM National Harbor in Maryland, just 20 minutes from his hometown of Upper Marlboro. He defeated the Filipino journeyman by unanimous decision in the 10-round main event of the ESPN Deportes/ESPN2 telecast.

By the beginning of 2018 Roach had a record of 16–0. He was rewarded with an opportunity to challenge for the vacant WBO International super featherweight title, traveling to Puerto Rico to face former world title challenger Orlando Cruz. In what was his first fight outside of the continental United States, he fought Cruz to a controversial split draw in the main event of a Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN card. It was a close fight until the ninth round, when Roach hit the 36-year-old with a left hook to the head that made him stagger and fall, seemingly a knockdown. However, it was ruled a slip by Puerto Rican referee Luis Pabon, a crucial point that would have given him the victory. Three months later he defeated Deivis Julio Bassa for the still-vacant WBO International belt in Cancún, after the Colombian contender stayed in his corner at the conclusion of the sixth round. The victory catapulted him to No. 5 in the WBO rankings. On December 15, he defeated Alberto Mercado in his first title defense by unanimous decision on the undercard of the Canelo Álvarez–Rocky Fielding world title bout at Madison Square Garden. This further moved him up the WBO rankings to No. 2 in January 2019.

Roach faced veteran Puerto Rican fighter Jonathan Oquendo in a WBO junior lightweight final eliminator during the Álvarez–Daniel Jacobs undercard at T-Mobile Arena in May 2019. He retained his belt while also taking Oquendo's WBO–NABO belt with a unanimous decision victory.

Roach vs. Herring

On June 21, 2019, the WBO mandated Jamel Herring (20-2, 10 KOs), the recently crowned WBO super lightweight champion to make his first defence against Roach. The teams were given 30 day negotiation period before purse bids would be called. Herring won the title a month earlier dethroning Masayuki Ito via decision. On September 9, ESPN reported the fight was set to take place on Veterans Day weekend on November 9, at the Chukchansi Park in Fresno, California. The card aired on ESPN+. The two where known to each other having sparred in recent years. Herring did not disclose anything about the sessions, but believed he had the edge based on the time shared. Roach praised Herring for his accomplishments and was happy the location picked for the fight was neutral. He said, “He’s a tough and crafty fighter. He deserves to be a champion as he won his championship but his time is ticking. On November 9th - I will be champion soon.” Herring weighed 129.8 pounds and Roach was 129 pounds, in what was his first world title fight.

Roach was defeated in his quest to become world champion via unanimous decision. Herring, who had a height and reach advantage, used his range and jab, while Roach, who was shorter, had to rely on landing hooks and counters whilst fighting on the inside. Herring forced Roach into uncomfortable positions, having controlled the early and mid rounds. Roach did find success in the later rounds, notably landing a right hand in the eleventh round. The scorecards read 117–111 (twice) and 115–113 in favor of Herring, who retained his belt. Herring dedicated the win to the US Troops. According to CompuBox, Herring connected 143 of 665 punches (22%) and Roach landed with 84 of 403 (21%). Herring earned $300,000 for his defence and Roach took a $100,000 fight purse. This was Roach's first 12-round fight a professional. He felt the scorecard were sightly wide, but stated he would return stronger. Roach said he wished he’d pushed harder earlier in the fight. Missing that chance left him frustrated. His trainer, Joel Diaz, wasn’t happy and called Roach out for playing it too safe.

In December 2025, Roach looked back on the fight and called it a turning point. He admitted he hadn’t given Herring enough credit, and losing taught him a lot. The loss changed how he approached the rest of his career.

He was scheduled to face Neil John Tabanao (17–7, 11 KOs) at the Avalon Hollywood on March 19, 2020, but the fight was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Back to winning ways

The fight with Tabanao was rescheduled to take place on October 30, on the Jaime Munguia vs. Tureano Johnson undercard. During the build-up, Tabanao stated he contacted coronavirus, which affected his training and preparation. Roach was a heavy favorite going into the fight. Roach dominated and won the fight by a third-round knockout.

Roach next fought Daniel Rosas (22-4-1, 14 KOs) on July 9, 2021 on the undercard for the Gilberto Ramírez vs. Sullivan Barrera at the Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles, California. From the opening bell, Roach pushed forward, not allowing Rosas to settle. In the second round, he landed a sharp left hook to Rosas’ head, followed by a right hand to his body. Rosas hit the canvas. Referee Jerry Cantu stopped the fight at 2:14 of round two. After the fight, Roach called for a fight against the winner of Roger Gutiérrez vs. René Alvarado, which was a rematch for the WBA junior lightweight title.