Lamont Roach vs. William Zepeda is a showcase for what boxing can be opposite Zuffa in the modern era
Boxing spent decades allowing rival promoters to prevent its best fights from happening, but Lamont Roach Jr. believes those days may be over when he challenges for the vacant WBC lightweight world title this Saturday in Las Vegas.DAZN, which airs the show, was once derided by former Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe as an app nobody knows how to pronounce, yet has, in the space of eight years, cornered the bulk of boxings U.S. broadcast market during an era when ESPN and Showtime Sports shuttered most of their own prizefighting programming.The Roach vs. Zepeda event, in particular, shows that cards once dominated with in-house promotional matchups have, perhaps, become a relic from the past, considering the involvement within DAZN of so many companies no longer considered rivals.A lot of people in boxing right now are in a comfortable place and this card alone is put together by TGB Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions, ProBox Promotions, and Top Rank, Roach told Uncrowned. This is how boxing should be.TGB and Golden Boy worked together on numerous events this year, specifically landscape-changing headliners like Mario Barrios vs. Ryan Garcia and David Benavidez vs. Gilberto Zurdo Benavidez.Roach (left) and Zepeda collide for the vacant WBC lightweight title Saturday in Las Vegas.Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy via Getty ImagesGolden Boy headman Oscar De La Hoya told Uncrowned late last year that the sports biggest promotional figures better leave their egos at the door if they hope to thrive, not just survive, as Dana Whites Zuffa Boxing enters the fray. De La Hoya even said hed happily merge with Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) and/or Top Rank if it improved the sport as a whole.A source with knowledge of how PBC operates told Uncrowned back then that PBC felt little need to announce such a plan, preferring instead to co-promote alongside Golden Boy without the need to declare it so publicly.While Zuffa spent 2025 threatening to isolate boxings traditional promoters as well as the sanctioning bodies, it seems more willing in 2026 to work with others.But whether thats because the TKO-backed Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act has not yet passed remains to be seen. For now, Zuffa is one of many regular promotional entities working within the sports traditional framework, not yet permitted to operate alone as the Unified Boxing Organization (UBO) it hopes to be under a new legal construction.For now, one thing for Roach, at least is clear. Boxing is in a good spot, he said.Fighters shouldnt be having a difficult avenue to make a fight happen. And even Zuffa is partaking in it. So boxing is in a good space.Roach, himself, wasnt always in such a good space. Not when he suffered back-to-back controversies in draws last year, against Gervonta Tank Davis and Isaac Cruz, fights he and many believed he should have won.Many believe Roach (R) should be 2-0 over his past two fights against Cruz and Davis.Omar Vega via Getty ImagesIm healed now, he said. But obviously, I was robbed. I still feel the same. The plan is to continue to move forward.Boxing is a fickle, results-oriented sport. A win can change everything. Losses change even more.Tank Davis built a reputation as one of the most menacing knockout artists in the game, earning highlight-reel wins over Ryan Garcia, Leo Santa Cruz and Rolando Rolly Romero.But against Roach in March 2025, he appeared bamboozled. Davis touched the canvas with his glove mid-fight, which per the rules should have been ruled a knockdown, and even turned his back on his opponent, risking disqualification.Davis received no infraction. He escaped with a draw, and hasnt fought since as domestic violence allegations continue to seemingly compromise his career.Had Roach gotten that win, a box-office baton could have passed from Davis to his fellow American. The draw, instead, ensured Roachs paydays would remain largely the same. Regardless, Roach refuses to stay stagnant, even if he laments the decisions.He returns to the ring Saturday against Zepeda as a better and upgraded version, he said, and remains confident he can put anybody away after he and his team made necessary adjustments for 2026 judging be damned.Roach watched many of Zepedas fights, including his lopsided July 2025 loss to Shakur Stevenson, which told Roach a lot. What he does good, what he does bad, Roach said of Zepeda. What his opponents succeed with and how we can capitalize. But while he anticipates a finish, Roach emphasized that he isnt worried about what [Stevenson] did in that fight. My objective is just to get my own hand raised.From there, options should open up. Options Roach perhaps could have had sooner had it not been for the draws. Or robberies, as he puts it.Ive moved on from Gervonta Davis, he said. After this, someone might bring it up, but I dont see that fight happening. At all. I dont think he wants to take the risk. Until theres concrete evidence that theres motion with that, were not worried about it.Moving on from Tank makes sense when this weekends multi-promoter event contains two world title fights in the same division, as if an unofficial Final Four has borne fruit.Just before Roach and Zepeda make their walks, Raymond Muratella and Robson Concaicao battle for the IBF lightweight championship.If Roach and Muratella win and retain their respective belts, a possible unification could be made for later this year. It would be another event in which TGB, through PBC, works alongside Top Rank.Its very appetizing, Roach said. If Muratella handles his business and I handle mine, it makes business sense. Its common sense. We, at least, have somewhere to go for talks.With Abdullah Mason and other fighters floating from 135 pounds to 140 pounds and beyond, like Stevenson, Dalton Smith and Gary Antuanne Russell, Roach is spoiled for choice. Its really hot, he said of the division, and going to be on fire after this weekend.Only Zepeda could extinguish the flames.
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