“I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’” WBA super featherweight champion Lamont Roach Jr. might or might not be familiar with this quote from the greatest to ever do it—Muhammad Ali. But he definitely embodied its essence in the days before fighting WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis. 

It’s no secret that the Baltimore native is the poster child for boxing. He is long considered the best of his generation, but that image came crashing down on March 1 in New York. ‘The Reaper’ defied all odds to not only take ‘Tank’ Davis to his limits but also, according to many, win the fight. But in reality, the fight had come to a majority draw, a first for Davis. Nobody in the previous 29 fights had managed to expose the holes in Davis’ armor. This perhaps made him overlook Roach Jr. Nevertheless, the fight saw the 30-year-old perform his career worst. Regardless, Davis’ fall signaled Roach Jr.’s rise in the sport. While the Washington native was known around serious boxing circles, to the wider public, he was just another fighter.

That changed after the Davis fight, as he became the man who brought the powerful Gervonta Davis to his knees. His social media following skyrocketed, and fans and experts alike acknowledged his skills. But those aren’t the only things that have changed since the fight for Roach Jr. “Bro, literally, overnight [everything] changed,” Roach told co-host Naji during the ‘It Is What It Is’ podcast. 

“I gotta walk around with security. I walk around with my people… like it’s crazy,” Roach continued. “I can’t do the same stuff that I used to do. I can’t go to the grocery store. I can’t go nowhere, bro. I can’t do [anything] and it’s crazy. It’s just crazy.” Roach Jr. knew such things would happen if he fought at the level he was supposed to. Even then, the changes in his life felt surreal to him.

“When it really happened to you—you sit back and look at it like, ‘Damn. This really happened off of this one performance,’” he confessed to Naji. Roach Jr. recalled working day and night since he picked up a pair of gloves in the No ‘X’ Cuse Boxing Club at the age of nine. “I’ve been working my a** off my whole life, but after this one performance, my whole life changed.”

While Lamont Roach Jr. is enjoying the fruits of his labor, he has also revealed what’s stopping a rematch from happening.

Lamont Roach Jr. implies that Gervonta Davis’ side is slowing down the rematch

Since the controversial ending to the first fight earlier this month, all people are talking about a rematch between the two boxers. Unlike the first time, there’s quite the excitement and anticipation surrounding the bout. Despite that, no official word on the rematch has come to light. Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix had previously claimed a June 21st date could see the rematch.

However, there are still doubts surrounding the fight, with no response from Gervonta Davis. Amid this radio silence, Roach Jr.’s claims during the same ‘It Is What It Is’ podcast have shed more light on why an announcement hasn’t been made yet. “It’s gonna be a rematch… it’s on the way” Roach Jr. said. “I’m gonna tell you right now, I’m signed and sealed. So we waiting on the other half, that’s all.”

That said, it took just one fight against the best of this era, Gervonta Davis, to change Lamont Roach Jr.’s life. But could Roach Jr. be celebrating too soon? Can Davis come back in a rematch to blow Roach Jr. away?