Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN results: Lamont Roach Jr, Avery Sparrow pick up victories

Lamont Roach Jr successfully returned home to the Washington, DC area tonight, picking up a win in a 10-round main event on Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN.

Roach (16-0, 6 KO) defeated Rey Perez (21-9, 6 KO) of the Philippines by unanimous decision, winning on scores of 99-91 across the board. Perez was down in round five.

Roach was simply too slick and too classy a fighter for Perez, who was game and came to fight, but was overmatched against the talented 22-year-old prospect. It’s a solid win to close a strong 2017 for Roach, who went 4-0 on the year and heads into 2018 with some good momentum.

Roach landed 136 of 446 (30% of his total punches), compared to just 81 of 341 (24%) for Perez.

In the co-feature, Philadelphia’s Avery Sparrow scored what could be termed a minor upset with a decision win over Puerto Rico’s Jose “Wonder Boy” Lopez, winning on scores of 96-94, 96-94, and 97-93.

Sparrow (9-1, 3 KO) is now someone to keep an eye on at 126/130, as his only career loss came on a DQ in 2015. In this fight, he was the shorter man, giving up what appeared to be plenty more than the listed two inches of height between them, but he was craftier, fought with poise, and just outfoxed Lopez (19-2-1, 14 KO) over the distance.

It’s a big setback for Lopez, 23, who was working on a four-fight win streak coming in. For Sparrow, also 23, it could be a jumping off point.