Lamont Roach says a fight with Shakur Stevenson would settle the question of who is the best lightweight in boxing, and he wants that discussion to wait until he has a championship belt in hand. Roach said Stevenson is the division’s standard-bearer, and that a meeting between them would define the top fighter at 135 pounds.
The timing matters because Roach is openly chasing a world title at lightweight now, while Stevenson has already moved on from the weight class. Roach said he is campaigning at 35, expects to stay there for a long time and is not interested in waiting around for the right door to open. He said he would even take opportunities at 40 if they come his way, but his focus remains on capturing a title at 135 pounds first.
Roach framed Stevenson as the benchmark for the division and the name that would give the lightweight picture its sharpest edge. “I think that’s a fight. I think that’s the best fighter in the division at 135 pounds, and I think that will define who’s the best at 135, which is one of the hottest divisions right now,” he said. He added that once he wins a championship, Stevenson will probably want to come back for the same belt and reclaim what he once had.
That is where the matchup gets complicated. Stevenson gave up the WBC title after moving to junior welterweight, leaving Roach to talk about a fight that is real in boxing terms but not yet real on a schedule. Roach said he wants to keep pressing forward at lightweight, even as he stays open to chances at 140 pounds if they appear. “You never know, man,” he said. “With talks in this business, money talks. So, we’ll see.”
Roach also made clear that Stevenson is not the only name he has in mind. He said he would love to get in the ring with Gervonta Davis if he can, another sign that he is thinking about the biggest available fights rather than a slow climb. Still, the clearest path he described runs through 135 pounds, where he believes a win and then a Stevenson fight could make the division’s pecking order impossible to ignore.
For now, the question is whether Stevenson ever returns to lightweight to test that claim. Roach has already put his name into the conversation and left no doubt about what he wants the next chapter to answer.
