The two boxers best known for giving lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis his toughest pro tests to date will square off against one another on Saturday as Mexican star Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz and Lamont Roach Jr. meet in a pay-per-view clash in San Antonio.   

The interim WBC junior welterweight title bout will serve as the headline bout of a Premier Boxing Champions card (Prime Video PPV, 8 p.m. ET) from the Frost Bank Center. In the co-main event, Stephen Fulton Jr. looks for a title in a third division when he faces WBC junior lightweight champion O’Shaquie Foster.

Cruz (28-3-1, 18 KOs), the diminutive slugger from Mexico City, fought Davis on short notice in 2021 and largely built his professional reputation upon the strong performance he gave in a close decision loss. Roach (25-1-2, 10 KOs), an amateur rival of Davis from Maryland who still holds the WBA 130-pound title, fought “Tank” on even terms in a March lightweight bout but was forced to settle for a disputed majority draw. 

Davis (30-0-1, 28 KOs) initially activated his immediate rematch clause with Roach until pulling out and instead signing for a November clash with YouTube star Jake Paul. That fight was canceled after Davis, who has a decorated history of legal issues, was named in a civil lawsuit by an ex-girlfriend accusing him of domestic violence. 

Cruz, 27, a former 140-pound titleholder, will be headlining his first PPV card and is expected to have the Texas crowd very much on his side. But the 30-year-old Roach, who will be moving up in weight for the second straight fight, is no stranger to playing spoiler and enters as the betting favorite for a fight in which both headliners have the opportunity to truly announce themselves as independent stars.

Where to watch Cruz vs. Roach

• Date: Saturday, Dec. 6 | Location: Frost Bank Center — San Antonio, Texas
• Start time: 8 p.m. ET
• Streaming: Prime Video PPV | Price: $74.99

 “I could have never imagined five years ago when I was fighting in San Antonio that I’d be here now, but this is the fruits of my hard work,” Cruz said at Thursday’s final press conference. “I want to keep progressing and evolving and doing big things. I know what my fans expect of me, and I’ve done everything I could in training camp to deliver.

“I hope [Roach] doesn’t run. It’s all about the fans and they want to see us go toe-to-toe. I’ll be ready to go for as long as he’s able to withstand the pressure.”

Many in boxing believe Roach was robbed out of a second title in as many divisions against Davis, not just by the divisive scorecards but due to a voluntary knee “Tank” took in Round 9 that was incorrectly not ruled a knockdown by referee Steve Willis and would’ve resulted in a Roach upset win. Yet, Roach never harped one bit on the controversy, even during the immediate post-fight interview, and has kept an even keel about the experience that fuels him entering the Cruz fight. 

“It gets to a point where I’m very accepting. I had been through things in life that were similar or worse,” Roach told CBS Sports on Tuesday, looking back at the Davis fight. “It’s alright. I know that me doing what I have to do, me continuing on the path that I’m on, everything is going to be OK. I can’t dwell on the past, it just don’t work like that. It’s not going to change anything. The only way you get better is to learn and move on. 

“I consider that a bump and bruise on my path. It brought a little light and that’s all I needed. Now we are advancing and getting bigger and getting better.”

Roach said a victory over Cruz could lift him to any number of marquee fights across the 135 and 140-pound divisions. Cruz, meanwhile, believes the winner of Saturday’s fight should draw the winner of the Jan. 31 bout between WBO junior welterweight titleholder Teofimo Lopez Jr. and three-division champion Shakur Stevenson. 

Either way, the stakes are high in a fight that is expected to be contested at a high pace, featuring a mixture of technical boxing and two-way skirmishes. 

Below is the complete PPV fight card for Saturday night in San Antonio with the latest odds.

Cruz vs. Roach fight card, odds

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

• Lamont Roach Jr. -235 vs. Isaac Cruz (c) +180, interim WBC junior welterweight title
• Stephen Fulton -115 vs. O’Shaquie Foster (c) -110, WBC junior lightweight title
• Erislandy Lara (c) -700 vs. Johan Gonzalez +450, WBC middleweight title
• Jesus Ramos -1400 vs. Shane Mosley Jr. +700, junior middleweights