Alright, bear with me here.
Earlier this year, the WBA officially installed Jono Carroll as super featherweight champ Lamont Roach Jr’s mandatory challenger. They also named Otar Eranosyan, who won a later eliminator, as next in line.
This being the WBA, of course, neither of those fights are on the docket. ProBox TV announced today that Roach will instead face no. 12 Feargal McCrory on June 28th in Washington, D.C.
“Becoming world champion was the greatest feeling in my life,” Roach said. “I’ve been waiting for that for a long time, since I was a kid, so fulfilling a dream come true was amazing.
“Beating Hector Garcia was the culmination of hard work paying off. That victory was a testament to my skills. But I want to put the division on notice against McCrory.”
“I can’t wait to fight in D.C.,” he said. “We’ve been waiting for this for years, D.C. has been waiting for this. I’m the first world champion since Lamont Peterson to fight at home and on the big stage, so it’s going to be special.
“I’m going to show I’m on a different level than McCrory, and I’m training as if I’m fighting a unification and that I’m on a level to unify the division.”
Roach (24-1-1, 9 KO) has fought just twice since 2021, but the second win was his biggest to date, as he edged out a listless Hector Luis Garcia for the belt last November. McCrory (16-0, 8 KO) is, on paper, a joke of an opponent in comparison. The 31-year-old has been scheduled for six rounds in seven of his last nine fights and has yet to beat someone with a pulse.
Ah, well. Wouldn’t be a WBA title reign without something like this cropping up.