Tim Bradley says Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz was the victim of “Home cooking” in his controversial 12-round majority draw against Lamont Roach last Saturday, December sixth on the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas.
Bradley believes the rationale Roach was given a draw was payback for the victory he didn’t get in his last fight against Gervonta Davis last March. Many felt he deserved the win against Tank. So, Tim argues that Roach was saved from losing to Cruz to make up the difference for what the judges didn’t do for him against Tank.
Phantom Low Blow Controversy
The podhost Bradley says WBC interim light welterweight champion Cruz (28-3-2, 18 KOs) won the early rounds “definitively,” after which took the twelfth against a missing-in-action Roach (25-1-3, 10 KOs).
Where he believes it was “home cooking” is within the seventh when the referee took some extent from Cruz for a phantom low blow. Replays showed that the punch was on the belt line and that Roach had his trunks pulled up high. Bradley states that if not for the purpose deduction, ‘Pitbull’ would have won the fight. Indeed, he would have. The scores were:
“When that last round come, I’m like, ‘Where you at, Roach?’ ‘Pitbull’ closed the show, won the last round and won the fight. There’s little question in my mind that he won the fight,” said Tim Bradley on his channel, talking about last Saturday’s clash between Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz and Lamont Roach.
Roach Coasted within the twelfth
The twelfth was a wierd one for Roach, as he fought like he thought he had the victory within the bag. He didn’t even attempt to win the round by putting in some effort. His vision of how he thought the fight had played out as much as that time could have given him the idea that he could just coast.
After the fight, Roach repeatedly said he felt he had won handily, which explains why he made no effort to win the twelfth. He selected to box to maintain from getting caught. What a mistake that was.
“I’m taking a look at these rounds, saying, ‘That’s one other round for Pitbull.’ These rounds were being won definitively. It wasn’t like they were close. He even made him [Roach] touch the canvas together with his glove, which indicates a knockdown,” said Bradley concerning the knockdown Cruz scored in round three.
Cruz fought well enough to win the primary six rounds of the fight. So, for Roach to get the victory, he needed to win all six of the ultimate rounds. He definitely didn’t try this, as Cruz finished strong in rounds 11 and 12.
Replay Shows Legal Shot
“That is where the home-cooking come, because when it got to be a bit of later, you saw what happened. Roach was in there getting his a** whooped. Then impulsively, ‘Pitbull’ lands a few shots that strayed low. I get that. Nonetheless, the last shot that the referee took the purpose off was on the beltline, and the beltline was a high beltline,” said Bradley concerning the point deduction referee James Green took from ‘Pitbull’ Cruz in round seven.
“It wasn’t below the belt. I saw the fast replay. That shot was a legal shot, it wasn’t an illegal shot, and he took some extent,” said Tim.
Last Updated on 12/09/2025