On Super Bowl Sunday, while almost everyone else was looking forward to the action on the gridiron between the Panthers and the Broncos, Lamont Roach Jr. found himself more interested in the commercials.
Sure, Roach was hoping that Carolina, the team he “really wanted to win,” would take down the Broncos and win the NFL’s most-prized trophy. But he was far more excited to see the game’s ads, and one in particular — a 30-second spot for Michael & Son Services, a Washington-area plumbing company.
That’s because the commercial would mark the acting debut for Roach, a professional boxer and former University of Maryland student — even if his on-screen appearance didn’t last long. Not to mention that it also starred Mike Tyson, arguably boxing’s and The Hangover’s most recognizable name, and a few of Roach’s family and friends. Not a bad conversation starter, huh?
“We had people over, sort of like a Super Bowl party,” Roach said. “The commercial part was funny, because everybody was looking for it. And of course I already knew where I was at, so I had to point myself out. My dad was in it too. A lot of the extras were people that I know.”
Despite being a regional ad and not a national one, the finished product became something of a viral sensation, largely due to Tyson’s performance. In it, the former heavyweight champion delivers a knockout blow to the “Vanilla Gorilla,” who was beating up Tyson’s son, Amir, before delivering Michael & Son’s tagline in his classic Tyson voice. Roach, meanwhile, can be seen a few times in Amir’s corner of the ring.
Overall, Roach said that the filming of the commercial took about five hours, and during some of the breaks, he was able to speak with Tyson. Coincidentally, Tyson’s promotional company, Iron Mike Productions, had tried to sign Roach when he was turning pro.
So Roach got to be on TV during a day when essentially the entire country is watching and continue to form a relationship with a transcendent athlete. He somehow managed to play the whole thing down, though.
“We talked boxing, we talked about life, growing up and stuff like that,” he said. “He’s really cool, down-to-earth, a funny guy.”
It wasn’t a flawless day for Roach, however. A real boxing match almost broke out when Roach accidentally ate some of Tyson’s personal Indian food, a mistake that sounds like the start of a horrible nightmare.
Luckily for everyone involved, another plate featuring the same meal was hidden right under the table.
“A guy came in there, and he was pissed,” Roach said. “He was saying, ‘Mike’s gonna be mad.’ I mean, I thought it was there for everyone.”
Luke Runion, who coached Roach on the university’s club boxing team and now works as his publicist, was the one who originally got the Washington native the gig. The company that produced the ad sought out Runion to help make the commercial look authentic, and he was the one that provided the ring and the extras, including Roach.
“I think it was good for Lamont to experience the filming environment when hopefully he will be the star in commercials one day,” Runion said.
With the “pretty cool experience” now in the past (how’s that for an understatement?), Roach is now focusing on his upcoming fight, which will be held March 5 at the D.C. Armory. He currently holds a perfect 9-0 record and will look to reach double digits in the area where he grew up.
And while Roach isn’t the type of guy to hype himself or his future up, Runion wasn’t shy about the boxer’s abilities and Roach’s future.
“He’s going to be a world-champion boxer and main event on pay-per-view fights. Mark my words.”
If that turns out to be true, perhaps we haven’t seen the last of Lamont Roach Jr. in a commercial on Super Bowl Sunday. And if we do see him again, maybe he’ll be the one who’s big enough to have his own Indian food.
