Lamont Roach Jr. had his first professional weigh-in on Friday in Washington at 134 pounds. “You always have to have a plan to fall back on,” the freshman mechanical engineering major said.   

WASHINGTON — He walked through a crowd of trainers and boxing coaches, up the stairs and past the 10-foot-tall inflatable bottle of Corona Light on the stage. Then Lamont Roach Jr. ripped off his sweat suit, stripping down to light-blue compression shorts.

The man with the microphone announced Roach’s name, and the 134-pound 18-year-old stepped onto the scale for his first professional weigh-in at the Renaissance Washington, D.C. Downtown Hotel on Friday afternoon as a loud cheer filled the grand ballroom.

“It made me feel good,” Roach said, smiling. “It made me feel like I could get used to it.”

Plus, he said, stepping in front of about 300 fans beat the precalculus class he was sitting through the day before. And that’s not a thought any of the other 15 boxers at the weigh-in had that day.

While Roach begins a promising professional career — he won his first professional fight Saturday by a unanimous decision — he’s taking on a challenge nearly unheard of in boxing by remaining a full-time student at this university.

Roach won the 2013 USA Youth National Championship at 132 pounds, finished his amateur career with a 125-15 record and aspires to be a world-renowned boxer. But the freshman mechanical engineering major isn’t compromising his educational goals, either. He takes 15 credits while training two to three hours a day. 

Stephen Espinoza, executive vice president and general manager of Showtime Sports and Event Programming, said that in 20 years of covering the sport, he can only remember one other boxer who was enrolled in college while fighting professionally. Juan Diaz was a part-time student at the University of Houston when he was actively boxing about eight years ago. 

Roach isn’t sure whether he’ll remain a full-time student after this semester — he could enroll part-time or take a semester off. As for now, though, he’s as committed to essays, labs and exams as he is to turning heads in the boxing community.

“I’m very proud of that, more for going to school than boxing,” his father, Lamont Roach Sr., said. “It takes a lot of dedication and hard work. He’s been focused, so it’s so far, so good.” 

PULLED IN

About 10 years ago, Jermaine Roach wanted to try boxing and asked Lamont Sr., his uncle, to take him to the gym. Lamont Sr. asked his son, then 9 years old, if he wanted to come and try it too.

Lamont Jr. agreed and joined his cousin and father for a training session at No “X” Cuse Boxing Club in Capitol Heights. The two kids hit punching bags and worked on traditional boxing footwork.

“We seen it right away that he had a gift,” Lamont Sr. said. “And he’s been rolling ever since.”

After that first day in the gym, Lamont Jr. decided to continue training. He spent five days a week at the gym during his middle school years and developed under the tutelage of his father and his uncle, Bernard Roach.  

Still, Lamont Jr. didn’t commit fully to boxing during his preteen years because he didn’t want to give up playing football. 

Once he got to Henry A. Wise High School, however, that changed. 

“When I got to high school, I noticed there was a lot of bigger, better guys here,” Lamont Jr. said. 

In boxing, Lamont Jr. would be matched up only with fighters in his weight class. And he knew pound-for-pound, he could contend with any competitor he faced. 

So he stopped playing football, spent more time training at No “X” Cuse and traveled to boxing matches rather than football games on weekends. At first, it was an odd transition for the Roach family, which was used to watching Lamont Jr. compete on a team. 

“Boxing is one-on-one,” Lamont Sr. said. “No teammates, no help. So it’s a lot different.”

But Lamont Jr.’s success eased his family’s nerves. He won the Junior Golden Gloves national title at 125 pounds at age 14 in 2010, the National PAL Championship at 132 pounds in the 15- and 16-year-old division in 2011 and the Golden Gloves tournament again last year at 132 pounds. 

In late March, about five months before his 19th birthday, Lamont Jr. signed with Golden Boy Promotions to end his amateur career and begin his journey as a professional. 

“It’s surreal,” Lamont Sr. said. “We’ve been waiting for this moment for years, and then it finally came true. He put a lot of work in as a youngster, and now it’s starting to pay off.”

STUDENT-ATHLETE

 Espinoza travels around the country to produce boxing broadcasts, and he watches dozens of young fighters try to build successful careers each month. None of them faces the challenge Lamont Jr. does, though. 

“Once you get in the ring, people don’t care if you had a final last week or you had a paper due or if you skipped training a couple times,” Espinoza said. “No, there’s no forgiveness once you get in the ring.”

But Lamont Jr. hasn’t missed any training sessions and said he’s not behind on school work. Every weekday, he’s either in class or studying from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. When he’s done with school, he hops in his car and drives to Capitol Heights to train from 6 to 8:30 p.m.

Then he drives back to his university dorm for some sleep and repeats his schedule the next day. 

“It’s either I’m doing school, or I’m doing boxing,” Lamont Jr. said. “Not much else.”

Lamont Jr. concedes he’s in a tough situation. And to chase his dream of making a living as a boxer, he may need to take some time off school or reduce his workload at this university. 

Either way, Lamont Jr. is confident he’s put himself in a positive position. His endless hours of training have provided an opportunity as a boxer, while the English, precalculus and communication courses he’s enrolled in this semester will help him earn a degree. 

If Lamont Jr.’s boxing career doesn’t prove fruitful, he hopes to become a mechanical engineer like his father.

“You always have to have a plan to fall back on,” Lamont Jr. said. “I feel school is the perfect thing to fall back on. It’s a nice cushion, and I already have a year of school in the bank.”

Last weekend, Roach’s experience convinced him that his unusually hectic schedule was worth it. He accepted the shower of cheers at the weigh-in Friday and then beat Victor Galindo at the D.C. Armory on Saturday afternoon, several hours before Bernard Hopkins defeated Beibut Shumenov in the nationally televised main event. 

And in the same week he earned his first professional win 15 miles from his home in Upper Marlboro, Roach wasn’t staring down any essay due dates or upcoming exams. So what more could he ask for?

“Yeah,” Roach said. “It’s been a pretty good week.”