Hector Luis Garcia vs Lamont Roach Jr. November 25th, 2023
WBA Junior Lightweight Beltholder Hector Luis Garcia of the Dominican Republic defends his title for the first time when he meets Lamont Roach Jr of Washington DC this Saturday, November 25th. The 12-rounder from Las Vegas, Nevada can be seen live in America on Showtime pay-per-view as well as FITE TV on the undercard of the Demetrius Andrade vs David Benavidez fight. Garcia last saw action in January when he stepped up in weight to challenge WBA Lightweight Champion Gervonta Davis but was stopped in the ninth round. Roach last saw action in July when he beat Angel Rodriguez by a 12-round unanimous decision. .
Garcia vs Roach Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Lamont Roach +220
- Hector Luis Garcia -280
My Pick
The 32-year-old Garcia carries around an impressive record of 16-1 with 10 Ko’s and has pretty good power in his fists as 62.5 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage. He’s boxed an even 100 rounds since turning pro in 2016 after a fine amateur career. Garcia, who is a southpaw, measures in at 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 67-inch reach. As an amateur, he fought in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where he was beaten by Dmitriy Asanau in the bantamweight division.
He won a silver medal at the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games where he was beaten by Robeisy Ramirez in the final. He also captured silver at the 2015 Pan American Games and at the 2015 Pan American Championships where he lost to Andy Cruz of Cuba in both finals. Garcia has looked impressive in two of his last three outings with wins over Chris Colbert and Roger Gutierrez but was out of his depth and weight class against Davis.
Garcia won the WBA Title with his unanimous decision victory over Gutierrez in August, 2022. He’s also beaten the likes of Manuel Garcia, Rafael Hernandez, Antoni Armas, Leonel Lugo, Ronal Ron, Jose Luis Graterol and Miguel Moreno. He won the vacant WBA Fedelatin Featherweight Title in 2018 when he stopped Robin Zamora in the second round.
Oddly, Garcia has also fought to three no-contests during his pro career as these came against Marco Acevedo, Charlie Serrano and Alfonso Perez. He has quick hands and good mobility in the ring but his power hasn’t been very evident lately as he’s gone the distance in his last three of his last four outings with a 3-1 record and and has just one stoppage in his last seven bouts.
Roach Jr. is 28 years old and has an impressive mark of 23-1-1 with 9 Ko’s and has boxed 152 rounds since making his pro debut in 2014. He stands 5-feet-7-inches tall with a 68-inch so gives up two inches in height to Garcia but has a minimal one-inch reach advantage. He isn’t a power puncher or KO artist by any means as just 39.1 per cent of his wins have been by stoppage and he’s gone the distance in five of his past seven bouts. Roach has been boxing since he was nine years old and had a fine amateur career with more than 100 victories.
He was named the most outstanding American boxer in 2013 by USA Boxing when he won the National Golden Gloves Title in the 132 lb division. He’s also a five-time Ringside World Champion, the 2011 National PAL Champion and a two-time Junior National Golden Gloves Champion. Since turning pro his best wins have been against Rene Alvarado, Jonathan Oquendo, Alberto Mercado, Rey Perez, Luis Hinojosa and Alejandro Valdez.
As a pro he’s won the vacant WBC Youth Silver Super Featherweight Crown with the win over Valdez as well as the vacant WBO International, NABF, and WBO NABO Super Featherweight Belts. Roach Jr’s lone draw was a 10-round affair with Orlando Cruz in April of 2018 for the vacant WBO International Title. His lone defeat came at the hands of Jamel Herring via a unanimous decision in November, 2019 in a shot at the WBO Super Featherweight Title.
Prediction…
Garcia is a fine boxer with an aggressive style and he’ll need to utilize that style to beat Roach as Roach has the better pure boxing skills. Garcia won’t win this fight unless he lets his hands go in volume as he’ll be outboxed. Roach doesn’t really have the power to keep him at bay for the entire 12 rounds so as long as Garcia takes the fight to him, I’m expecting him to retain his title.
Garcia needs to be the aggressor from the opening bell.
Play: Davis -280 @ BetOnline.ag
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Hector Luis Garcia betting • Lamont Roach Jr. betting