Lamont Roach insists he’s not overlooking William Zepeda, but that hasn’t stopped him from already thinking about what could come next at lightweight.
Roach will face Zepeda on August 1st in Las Vegas for the vacant WBC lightweight title in what many consider to be the toughest assignment of his career. While discussing the bout, however, the former WBA super featherweight champion predicted not just a win, but a dominant one, before turning his attention to a potential showdown with IBF champion Raymond Muratalla.
“But now, after I beat Zepeda in dominant fashionand we don’t overlook him. Trust me, I train my ass. Trust me, exercise my ass. But if it were to line up, we would love to have that fight,” Roach told InsideRingShow.
“I know that fight will probably be for, you know, Ring Magazine or something like that. You know, it’s it’s it’s a lot on the line, man. It’s a lot on the line at 135. And I just want to fulfill that just for sure.”
Roach fought Gervonta Davis to a majority draw in March 2025 before moving up to light welterweight and fighting Isaac Cruz to another draw. The 29-year-old now returns to lightweight in search of the vacant WBC title against Zepeda.
Muratalla is scheduled to defend his IBF lightweight title against Robson Conceicao on the same August 1 card. Victories for both champions would set up another high-profile bout in one of boxing’s deepest divisions.
Roach also revealed that Muratalla had previously emerged as a possible opponent before his eventual fight with Cruz.
“Even being ready for Pit Bull, I think one of the options was Muratalla, and I think we reached out. I just don’t know what happened,” Roach said. “I’m not saying that, you know, people use the duck word too loosely. I just don’t know what happened.”
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Last updated on 2026/06/11 at 17:32
