SAN ANTONIO, TX – OCTOBER 08: Lamont Roach speaks during a press conference before his fight with Isaac Cruz at Frost Bank Center on October 8, 2025 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images)
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Lamont Roach Jr. he’s proven he can hang with the best fighters in the world, but he’s yet to win one of those fights. On August 1st, Roach will get another chance when he clashes with William Zepeda in Las Vegas. The fight will headline a DAZN boxing card and all signs point to a potential war that could be the fight of the year.
When and where is Lamont Roach Jr. Vs. William Zepeda?
Roach-Zepeda will hail from the Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. The bout will headline TNT Sports and DAZN’s new boxing series.
The 12-round bout is set for Saturday, August 1, 2026, with the vacant WBC world lightweight championship on the line following Shakur Stevenson’s retirement from the division. Tickets go on general sale Friday June 5th at 10am. PT, ranging in price from $30 to $300.
The card launches “The Fight,” a new monthly boxing series from TNT Sports and DAZN — a true statement of intent for a partnership that wants to bring boxing back to accessible platforms.
How to Watch Roach Vs. Zepeda?
This won’t be too hard for fight fans to spot. American fight fans can watch on TNT and truTV, while worldwide streaming access will be live on DAZN.
TNT and truTV’s basic cable carry is the primary win in accessibility — a 12-round title fight that reaches far more US households than the typical pay-per-view or premium streaming model. The card is presented by Golden Boy Promotions in co-promotion with TGB Promotions and ProBox Promotions.
The Ring reports that IBF lightweight titleholder Raymond Muratalla will defend against 2016 Olympic gold medalist Robson Conceicao in the co-feature, although that bout has yet to be officially announced. If it holds, the card carries two world title bouts at 135.
Why could this be the match of the year?
Stylistically, this has the makings of a war. Roach is a slick boxer, but he does his job in the pocket. He has an excellent chin and is a very accurate counter-puncher. Zepeda is an all-action fighter who comes forward and throws with volume. It will be interesting to see which man is made to support. In any case, there should be no shortage of action and strategy.
The records support it. Roach (25-1-3, 10 KOs) won the WBA super featherweight title in 2023 and spent his last two life-and-death fights with bigger names, landing a controversial draw with Gervonta Davis in March 2025 and again with Isaac Cruz at 140 pounds. Zepeda (33-1, 27 KOs) has only lost to Stevenson — a unanimous decision last summer — and brings the kind of southpaw bulk that historically punishes anything less than a perfect game plan.
When a high-IQ counter with a granite chin meets a southpaw pressing machine who never stops bowling, the math works towards chaos.
What’s at stake for Roach and Zepeda?
Action potential aside, the stakes are high for this fight. The WBC 135-pound title is on the line and the winner will dominate one of the glamor divisions in the smaller weight classes.
For Roach, the win upends a narrative that has hung over his career. Two consecutive draws against bigger names have positioned him as the most avoided “almost guy” in boxing. a clean win here makes him a two-division world champion and puts him directly in the path of Devin Haney, Teofimo Lopez and Keyshawn Davis. For Zepeda, this is a chance to graduate from interim belt territory to full WBC champion and validate the marketing investment Golden Boy has made in him since 2021.
Whichever side comes out on top, the lightweight division gets the kind of definitive champion it’s been missing — and the loser falls into a kind of valley that’s hard to climb out of.
