Roach: “This Year It’s All the Way Up with Me”

Lamont Roach Returns in March

Looking to quickly wash the taste of defeat from his mouth, super featherweight Lamont Roach will return to action this March 19 in Hollywood, California. On that date, Roach will come back to face the challenge of Neil John “The Beast” Tabanao (17-7, 11 KO’s). The event will air live on DAZN and Facebook.

Clearly, Roach is seeking a bit of a soft touch in Tabanao, who is currently on a three-consecutive-fight losing streak and is 4-6 in his last ten fights. Although, for what it’s worth, five of these six losses came at the hands of undefeated fighters.

“I’m looking forward to this fight against Lamont Roach Jr. I know that he’s coming off his first loss and that he wants to fight for a world title again. However, I’m more experience than he, and I know how to score an upset. We’ll see you all on March 19.” ~Neil Tabanao, super featherweight

BACK ON THE HORSE

To put a little extra sting on his first professional loss was knowing that it was a title shot. Back on November 9, 2019, Roach went head to head with WBO super featherweight Jemel “Semper Fi” Herring (21-2, 10 KO’s) in Fresno, California. The bout stood as Herring’s first defense of the title.

Unfortunately for the Washington DC native, over the course of twelve rounds he was outworked in route to a unanimous decision loss. Roach took the defeat in stride and vowed to return even better. Not wanting to sit on his hands pining about the missed opportunity at a world title, Roach has opted to get right back in the ring against Tabanao.

“I’ve been itching to get back in that square to show that I’m the best at 130. My last fight was just a glimpse, but this year it’s all the way up with me.” ~Lamont Roach, world title challenger

It’ll be interesting to see if the loss and time in the ring with Herring will result in Roach adding some new wrinkles to his game.

By: Bakari Simpson