Jordan Roach, Making His Pro Debut, Is ‘Excited to Start Dropping People’

Jordan Roach will turn professional on the undercard of a main event featuring his older brother, junior lightweight titleholder Lamont Roach Jr., in a fight promoted by their father and trainer, Lamont Roach Sr., as he looks to continue the family fighting tradition. 

Jordan Roach competes on the Lamont Roach Jr.-Feargal McCrory card tonight at the Entertainment & Sports Arena in Washington, D.C., on a card to be broadcast on ProBox TV.

Jordan, 20, believes his professional career will have much in common with that of his brother, drawing similarities that he expects to become apparent over time.

“Yeah, it’s going to be a lot of parallels in our careers,” Jordan said. “With time, it’ll show.”

Lamont Sr. noted that the two brothers have been training together in preparation and observed that Lamont Jr. has been pushing Jordan harder, emphasizing the changes required to make the transition from the amateurs to the pros.

“Lamont has been on him a little bit more, letting him know it’s a different level,” Roach Sr. said. “He was training with him when he was an amateur. But now, you know, it’s picked up, and Lamont tells him when he is sparring, ‘Hey, man, we can’t do that.’”

Jordan is most excited for people to see his power, as professional boxing’s smaller gloves and absence of headgear should make for a better showcase of his punching ability. 

“I’m excited to see my opponents dropping from my shots, because I hit people hard,” Jordan said. “A lot of people say I hit hard, but I’m excited to start dropping people with smaller gloves, no headgear. I think I’ll be a very hard puncher.”

Jordan also offered a bold prediction for his brother’s title defense, based on his own amateur experience.

“He just looks like a little rugged Irish guy,” Jordan said of McCrory. “I actually fought an Irish guy in the Czech Republic, just straight coming forward, while my shoulder had issues. I felt absolutely terrible after that fight. He looks like the same kind of guy. Come forward, fighting spirit, and I think he’s going to go down with his fighting spirit.”