The 30-year-old from Washington D.C. believes that he’ll have little to no trouble beating William Zepeda on August 1 at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas for the vacant WBC lightweight title, live on DAZN. But while Crawford reveres Roach’s skills, he doesn’t like his chances.

“Zepeda might be too much,” Crawford wrote on his X account.

Both Zepeda (33-1, 27 KOs) and Roach (25-1-3, 10 KOs) had high-profile years in 2025.

Zepeda followed up a shaky points win against Tevin Farmer with a wide unanimous decision defeat to Shakur Stevenson, the first of his career, on The Ring III in July.

Roach, on the other hand, couldn’t get in the win column last year. He settled for rare draws in back-to-back fights against Gervonta Davis and Isaac Cruz. Many thought he won the fight with Davis. Had the ninth-round knockdown been correctly called by referee Steve Willis, Roach would've been declared the winner.

Even after those two results, Roach is already looking ahead. The former WBA 130-pound champion doesn’t see a world where The Ring’s No. 3 ranked 135-pounder, Zepeda, competes with him. He’s openly discussed future lightweight unification bouts as well.

Crawford, though, knows what Zepeda brings to the table and believes Roach should be focused on what’s in front of him.

The former pound-for-pound star shouted ringside instructions to Stevenson during his July bout against Zepeda. Although his good friend was successful, Crawford has seen enough of Zepeda’s damaging handiwork and high-volume attack, averaging over 90 thrown punches per round, to consider him the favorite.

The WBC 135-pound title became vacant after Stevenson refused to pay a six-figure sanctioning fee following his Ring and WBO junior welterweight title win against Teofimo Lopez in January.