Lamont Roach Jr. didn’t do much but it was more than enough.
Roach defeated Hector Luis Garcia by a split decision to take Garcia’s 130-pound title on the David Benavidez-Demetrius Andrade card Saturday in Las Vegas.
One judge had Garcia winning 114-113 but the other two scored it for Roach, 116-111 and 114-113. Boxing Junkie scored it 116-112, eight rounds to four.
Neither fighter was particularly active but Roach (24-1-1, 9 KOs) kept Garcia on his heels most of the fight, jabbing consistently and following with enough power shots — many to the body — to win rounds.
Referee Tony Weeks awarded him a knockdown in the 12th round but the punch that put Garcia on the canvas, a left hook, landed behind his head and shouldn’t have counted.
Had Roach been awarded a 10-9 round — instead of 10-8 — the fight would’ve been a split draw and Garcia would’ve retained his title.
Garcia (16-2, 10 KOs) simply wasn’t active enough, as he spent more time waiting to counter than he did letting his hands go.
The Dominican did have good moments when he decided to plant his feet and assert himself. He landed a number of those counters and also did good work to the body. It just wasn’t enough to get the nod.
Roach landed 118 of 409 punches overall compared to 93 of 468 for Garcia, according to CompuBox. Roach outlanded Garcia in power shots 79-62.
Roach was fighting for a major title for the second time; he lost a decision to then-champ Jamel Herring in 2019. Garcia, coming off knockout loss to Gervonta Davis at 135, was making his first defense.
