Now that Lamont Roach Jr. has made the first defense of his WBA world title – with a technical knockout victory Friday over Feargal McCrory – he is looking forward to the opportunity to take on his fellow titleholders.
Foremost for Roach is O’Shaquie Foster, a 30-year-old from Texas who won the vacant WBC belt in early 2023 with a unanimous decision over Rey Vargas. Since then, Foster has defended with a 12th-round TKO of Eduardo Hernandez (a fight in which Foster was behind on the scorecards going into that final round) and this past February’s split decision over Abraham Nova.
Foster’s next defense is scheduled for Saturday against Robson Conceicao.
“The top guy on my list is definitely O’Shaquie Foster, because he’s a good fighter and we was talking s*** to each other. I’mma whoop him,” Roach said in a post-fight interview. He later added: “Everyone knows that O’Shaquie Foster fights next week. I wish him the best, and if he wins, hopefully we can get the business together so we can fight.”
Another name that came up was Emanuel Navarrete, the three-division titleholder who now has the WBO belt at 130. Marco Antonio Barrera, the Hall of Fame former fighter, was working on commentary for Roach’s fight on Friday and asked Roach about Navarrete in a post-fight interview.
“It would be a total, all-out war,” Roach told Barrera. Later, Roach said more to the rest of the media about Navarrete, the 29-year-old from San Juan Zitlaltepec, Mexico.
“That fight interests me a lot. He’s a fan favorite all across the board. He’s exciting, and that’s what I want, to be in big, exciting fights,” Roach said. “I think his style plays into my game very well anyway. I think he has a lot of flaws, but he’s proven to be a force to be reckoned with.”
The fourth titleholder in the division is Anthony Cacace, who upset Joe Cordina in May for the IBF belt and could defend it this September against Josh Warrington.
Roach wasn’t specifically asked about Cacace, but the 35-year-old from Belfast would nevertheless fall under Roach’s answer about unification opportunities.
“All the champions. I want all the champions,” Roach said. “I think every champion is an exciting fight.”
Follow David Greisman on Twitter @FightingWords2. His book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
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