Has Zab Judah still got it?
There was a time when Zab Judah looked like a potential boxing superstar and a future pound-for-pound king.
Yet he never fully lived up to his billing and since his loss to Floyd Mayweather in 2006 he has fallen off the radar totally.
Following his debut in 1996 it seemed like it was just a matter of time before “Super Judah” became a global phenomenon. He scored impressive wins over Mickey Ward and Junior Witter on the way to a 27-fight unbeaten streak that also saw him pick up the IBF light-welterweight title which he defended five times.
The cracks first began to appear when the Brooklyn-born fighter suffered a disastrous defeat to Kostya Tszyu in a 2001 super-fight. The Australian dropped him with a sparkling right hook in the second, giving Judah a stern case of cartoon legs.
As a fighter Judah was fantastically well rounded. He had lightning quick hands, powerful shots, good footwork and tight defensive skills. However questions began to be raised about his attitude.
Three years later and there was another defeat, this time to Cory Spinks as Judah stepped up to welterweight. However it was avenged in under a year and subsequently made Judah the undisputed champion, the panicle of his career.
Super Judah only managed one defence though as he once again failed to rise to the occasion by losing to Carlos Manuel Baldomir in an upset just three months before the Mayweather clash. This was another example of Judah failing to reach standards he had previously set and struggling when under pressure.
It didn’t bode well for the Mayweather clash, but for once Judah lived up to his braggadocio and dominated the early rounds. In fact Super Judah almost achieved something no-one else has done before or since by knocking down Mayweather. It was however ruled a slip and wasn’t exactly a pole-axer, but in slow-motion replays Mayweather doesn’t appear to slip and his glove touches down.
Then pandemonium marred the occasion when the corners ran into the ring following a low blow and a rabbit punch from Judah. The resulting melee saw the former champion fined heavily and banned for a year. The cards also didn’t do him justice as Mayweather took a unanimous decision in a tight fight.
That was about it for the best of Judah. He returned a year later for a damp squib against Ruben Galvan which was ruled a no contest after a round and he followed it up with a destructive defeat to Miguel Cotto. In fact since his loss to Mayweather, Judah has only fought seven fights, the only other fighter of any note he fought during this time was Joshua Clottey, who beat him over nine rounds in a bloody affair. Other than that he scored four victories over second-tier fighters.
Why this decline for Super Judah? He has always suffered from attitude problems, the curse of many a talented fighter. He also may have lost a bit of heart and focus. In a recent interview he said: "Everybody comes to a point in their lives where they have to be a man someday. I was spoiled as a kid from boxing. It doesn't help being 18 years old and having so much money. They say from 18-25 are your peak years, and those were years where I thought I was invincible. I had a great career, money, fame. I had everything."
Some criticism has been levelled in him not being surrounded by the right people, but he’s addressed this by recently adding Eddie Mustafa Muhammad to his team in order to move in the right direction. One of his biggest problems is the fact he can often fade in fights, numerous times, such as against Mayweather, he’s storms out the blocks but can’t keep the tempo for the duration.
Perhaps Judah’s lack of stamina has something to do with the fact that he struggles with the weight. Judah is also looking at returning to light-welter having never really looked entirely at home as a welterweight. He even fought Ryan Davis all the way up at light-middleweight in 2007 and struggled to victory over a fighter nowhere near his calibre. The power hasn’t really carried as he’s moved up the divisions and settling back down to light-welterweight is a good “back-to-basics” approach to finding his old form.
In his last fight in November 2009, which was fought at catch-weight, Judah took on a tomato can in Ubaldo Hernandez and obliterated him in two rounds. The New Yorker showed glimpses of the old Judah with good shot selection and explosive quick hands, dumbfounding Hernandez with his speed before catching him in the corner and dropping him with a right-left-right combo.
Hernandez was well out of his depth that night and similarly tonight’s opponent Jose Armando Santa Cruz is not in the former champion’s league. These are tune-up fights before properly re-launching himself back on the scene.
At 32 years of age and sporting a record of 38(KO 26)-6 there is no reason why it should all be over for the American and a comeback is certainly on the cards. He’s been linked to the likes of Marcos Maidana and Devon Alexander and Judah could certainly return to gatecrash the talented light-welterweight party and reassert himself as a genuine talent.
Super Judah maybe in a stupor, but if he can find his form of old we could see Fab Zab once more.
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