Fighting in Photos: Roach stops McCrory to retain title

WASHINGTON, DC – Lamont Roach Jr. had the opportunity to defend the WBA super featherweight title for the first time in his hometown, and he did not disappoint his supporters at the Entertainment & Sports Arena as he defeated Feargal McCrory by technical knockout in the eighth round to retain the title that he won last November. Roach now has ten knockout victories in his career and his record improves to 25-1-1. McCrory suffered his first loss, falling to 16-1.

Roach had a fast start overwhelming the challenger from Ireland, landing left hooks over the first two rounds. He had McCrory hurt at the end of the second round from a left hook, and then Roach carried that momentum into the third round when he landed a hook to score the first knockdown of the fight. McCrory became more aggressive after being knocked down, but that prompted Roach to respond by going to the body. The following round showed that Roach’s work to the body paid off as he knocked down McCrory twice due to body shots.

After scoring the knockdowns in the fourth round, Roach continued to land the harder shots as McCrory was still game but could not shift the momentum in his favor with any punches to affect the champion. The precision from Roach picked up at the end of the sixth round with flurries and then continued to punish him until the corner of McCrory threw in the towel.

Roach was pointing out that he wanted to back up the talk that he had been doing leading into the fight. “I was training for weeks to put on a spectacular performance for my fans,” he said. “I just want to be the baddest fighter on the planet.”