Lamont Roach vs. William Zepeda | DAZN - August 1, 2026

[Ruthless-RKO]

Bell wants Zepeda-Roach winner after unexpected title shot vs. Mason

Albert Bell didn’t see it coming, but he’s happy it happened.

The 33-year-old lightweight contender was a few weeks away from facing Andy Cruz in an IBF eliminator on July 18. Those plans, however, drastically changed as he’ll now get a crack at the WBO 135-pound strap held by Abdullah Mason on July 4 at Wolfstein Center in Cleveland.

Mason (20-0, 17 KOs), ranked No. 5 by The Ring, was scheduled to take on former world champion Joe Cordina, but the Welshman was denied a visa to enter the United States.

Bell will have to prepare for a stylistically different opponent, but having waited so long for a chance to become a world champion, the Toledo native jumped at the chance to face Mason, the youngest male world champion in boxing, who is 11 years his junior.

“If you know my story, this is the opportunity I've been waiting on,” Bell told The Ring. “To get a direct shot at the belt made too much sense. May the best man win.”

Bell (28-0, 9 KOs) has already been putting in the work during training camp. He'll be in fight shape. He could hardly stop himself from smiling. That grin isn’t solely because of what’s directly in front of him, but also because of what may come in the future.

He doesn’t want to get too ahead of himself, but he wants to face whoever has the WBC lightweight title next. William Zepeda and Lamont Roach will clash for the vacant strap on August 1.

“I feel like both would be tough fights,” Bell said. “I got big goals. All I want is big fights."

Mason vs. Bell will stream worldwide on DAZN and will be televised by TNT in the U.S.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Charles Conwell set for return vs. Paul Kroll on August 1

Charles Conwell is ready to get back in the saddle, 14 months after suffering the first loss of his professional career.

Conwell (21-1, 16 KOs) is set to face Paul Kroll (12-0-2, 8 KOs) on August 1 at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, a source with direct knowledge of the deal told The Ring.

The junior middleweight fight will be featured on the card headlined by a lightweight title doubleheader: Lamont Roach Jr. vs. William Zepeda for the vacant WBC title, and IBF champion Raymond Muratalla making the first defense of his lightweight crown against Robson Conceicao.

Conwell and Kroll are no strangers, as their amateur careers developed along parallel paths.

Conwell was a 2016 United States Olympian at 165 pounds while Kroll was the American 152-pound representative in the 2016 Olympic qualifiers but failed to qualify for the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Conwell also beat Kroll in the 2015 Golden Gloves finals, and they’ve previously sparred each other as well.
“The fight against Paul Kroll was offered, and I said yes,” Conwell told The Ring.

“I’m ready to get back into the ring. I’ve been locked in and ready. I’ve been training since March, and am ready to show everyone a new and improved version of myself.”

The last time Conwell, a 28-year-old Cleveland native, graced the squared circle was in April last year when he suffered a 12-round split decision loss against Jorge Garcia Perez.

Kroll has also been inactive. The 30-year-old from Philadelphia has fought only once in the last 30 months, a second-round stoppage win against Antoni Armas in March last year.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Roach-Zepeda card adds Gurgen Hovhannisyan-Uila Mau’u

Heavyweight contender Gurgen Hovhannisyan has a new date and a much more serious setting for his next showcase fight.

Armenia's Hovhannisyan (10-0, 9 KOs) will face New Zealand's Uila Mau’u (10-0, 9 KOs) on August 1 at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, a source with direct knowledge of the deal told The Ring.

The heavyweight fight was originally scheduled for the ill-fated and since-scrapped July 11 show in San Francisco, which was promising to shatter outdoor attendance records by surpassing 132,000.

Hovhannisyan-Mau’u will now have a solidified slot on the undercard of the lightweight title doubleheader between Lamont Roach and William Zepeda for the vacant WBC title, and IBF champion Raymond Muratalla’s title defense against Robson Conceicao. The show is presented by Golden Boy and Premier Boxing Champions and will broadcast on DAZN and TNT as part of the second installment of "The Fight."

"Big Gug" Hovhannisyan, ranked No. 8 by the WBA, last fought in March and scored a fifth-round stoppage win against Cesar Navarro. Hovhannisyan is coached by Hall of Fame trainer Joe Goossen and tied to Al Haymon's PBC.

"Mayhem" Mau’u will mark the first unbeaten that Hovhannisyan, 28, has faced in his five-year career. Mau’u, 34, has not fought outside of the New Zealand boxing circuit in his three-year career.

[Cent0089]

Surprisingly good undercard for golden boy standards

[Ruthless-RKO]

Roach vs Zepeda undercard adds: Curiel, Big Gug, Iriarte, more

The August 1 DAZN and TNT card has fully come together.

Televised:

Roach vs Zepeda for the vacant WBC lightweight title
Muratalla vs Conceicao for Muratalla's IBF lightweight title
Raul Curiel (17-0-1, 14 KO) vs Quintin Randall (17-3-1, 4 KO) in a 10-rounder at welterweight
Gurgen "Big Gug" Hovhannisyan (10-0, 9 KO) vs Uila Mau'u (10-0, 9 KO) in a 10-rounder at heavyweight

Also:

Joel Iriarte (10-0, 9 KO - what a popular record!) vs TBA in an eight-rounder at welterweight

Charles Conwell (21-1, 16 KO) coming back against Paul Kroll (12-0-2, 8 KO) in a 10-rounder at super welterweight, which is an interesting choice for Conwell to try and "get well," as Kroll is tricky and tough but has also never really made any strides as a pro, been about the same level of fighter for several years now and doesn't stay active.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Fight Week!!

[Ruthless-RKO]

"Self-made" Lamont Roach Jnr ready for delayed lightweight belt

Lamont Roach Jnr lands a double-rich opportunity Saturday by headlining a Las Vegas fight card and earning another chance to become a two-division champion.

After consecutive draws last year to WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis and WBC interim 140lbs champion Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz, Washington’s Roach 25-1-3 (10 KOs), tops the second edition of TNT/DAZN’s “The Fight” Saturday night at Virgin Hotels Resort Casino versus recent lightweight title challenger William Zepeda, 33-1 (27 KOs), of Mexico.

“To me, it’s being a two-division champion,” Roach said of which achievement means most to him. “It’s my dream and one of my goals to be a multi-division champion, so I’m working hard to achieve it.”

Following a 2019 junior-lightweight loss to Jamel Herring, Roach, 30, has tightened up, winning the WBA 130lbs belt in 2023 by knocking down Hector Luis Garcia in the 12th round to gain a split decision.

His moves up in weight have redefined Roach, boosting his strength and power punching. He was famously deprived of a knockdown that likely denied him of being the first to beat Davis.

And even though he endured his first career knockdown by stumbling backward and touching his glove on the canvas versus Cruz in December, Roach rallied through a hand injury to get the better of the Mexican brawler in the second half of the fight.

“Letting go of being a 130-pounder, we more naturally fit as a lightweight, and that gave me some room to put on more muscle and maintain it – not just to get big, but to let my body naturally flow with this weight class,” Roach explained to Boxing Scene recently.

Considering his ability to box from multiple dimensions against the less refined volume power puncher Zepeda, Roach likes his chances to capture the vacant WBC title.

Combined, Davis, Cruz and Zepeda have 73 knockouts/stoppages in 98 bouts.

Roach has learned throughout the recent bouts and his history of how to avoid and survive the lethal punches his foes are throwing.

“Just being confident, trusting your instincts. I’ve been doing this for a long time, man, been in there with guys who can punch and guys who are strong,” Roach said. “It’s been a long, 21-year journey, being in there with guys who are physically strong with either brute strength or knockout power.

“I just trust my instincts and do what I have to do, and I’d like to say I’m pretty good defensively, too. I’m confident I can take a shot – because I have – and I’m ready to give it right back, as you’ve seen.”

Saturday’s match is compelling beyond the match. In facing an elite fighter from Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions’ stable coming off his first career loss versus four-division champion Shakur Stevenson, Roach is squaring off against his former promoter.

Roach and Golden Boy split as the fighter shifted to ProBoxTV and then to Premier Boxing Champions.

Reinvented by the weight increase, Roach leans into the fact he hasn’t been protected, coddled or favored by those running the sport as his maturity and experience take hold at this pivotal career hour.

He said it’s “very” rewarding and fulfilling to reflect on his road, showing the tattoos on his hands that read “self” and “made.”

“From day one, I just continue to set my own path and try to achieve my own goals no matter what it takes: hoops, loops, hurdles, bumps in the road, I’m still here,” Roach said. “And that means I’m still here for a reason. I cannot wait to accomplish what I have set out for me, and what I’ve put into fruition for myself.”

De La Hoya touting this as a fight-of-the-year candidate is more than standard boxing promotion, Roach says.

“Oscar knows what William Zepeda is up against,” Roach said. “He knows that when fire meets fire, you’re going to see what happens. My fire might just come in a different direction. I know I have the ability to switch it up.

“[Zepeda’s] volume and constant pressure set him apart. Sometimes, where I see his fault, he lets his heart carry him a little too far and too much. I’d like to think he only has one style. Once that style doesn’t work, what does he want to do?”

Roach said he feels assured he’s prepared for his opponent’s style.

“Until he presents something different – he’s almost a 40-fight veteran – every [fight] is the exact same,” Roach said.

Winning is of paramount focus for many reasons, starting with the belt and the distaste of the past two draws.

“Trust me, I’ve kicked myself a few times over those verdicts. I’m not going to lie,” Roach said. “To separate myself, we’ll see fight night. Every fighter is different. Styles make fights. I have to make the necessary adjustments to appear to be more in control every round.

“A lot of people said I won those two fights. You know what a lot of people don’t say? That I lost. So, there’s things we’ve been doing to push ourselves, and if there’s a gear we have to kick into, I know I can achieve it. We’re going to sweep this.”

The showcase of a major Las Vegas fight available to a national audience lifts Roach’s profile.

“Who would’ve known as a kid growing up, watching all these Vegas fights on pay-per-view, that I’m now one of those boxers to another kid? It’s awesome,” he said.

And victory opens the door to potential meetings including IBF lightweight champion Raymond Muratalla, who fights former 130lbs champion Robson Conceicao in Saturday’s co-main event, and new 140lbs champion Stevenson.

Roach doesn’t have a favorite.

“But it puts me in the driver’s seat for a lot of things. I want to soak up that victory so bad, appreciate my team. And then, events will come, and I’ll be in a very nice position. I will have potential options that will be lucrative and solidify a great legacy.”

Unlike Davis, who shied from a rematch amid alleged domestic violence issues, Stevenson is forthright in his interest to fight Roach.

“Absolutely. I definitely believe that some day it will [happen],” Roach said.

[Perkin Warbeck]

Lamont Roach will very likely win by decision.