The Rollercoaster Ride of Zab Judah
Judah has lost seven times in his career, usually to top tier fighters, but a lack of preparation and focus has cost him bouts against lesser men…
According to “Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable,” the saying “a cat has nine lives” stems from the train of thought that they are “More tenacious of life than many animals.” It can be argued no boxer exemplifies this kind of tenacity more than former undisputed champion Zab “Super” Judah (41-7, 28 KOs).
On March 24th, on boxing’s newest television platform, “NBC Sports Network’s Fight Night,” Judah will be featured in an IBF junior welterweight eliminator match. If victorious, he will have once again positioned himself for another lucrative payday and one more title shot.
What’s alarming about this scenario is that in Judah’s last fight, which many thought would be his final run in the spotlight, he was thoroughly outclassed over five rounds before being knocked out, in his first defense of that very same title.
Earlier this week, longtime boxing stalwart Main Events (Judah’s promotional company) put in a winning bid of $70,110 to stage the eliminator for the IBF #1 position in the division. The #3 ranked Judah is set to face the #4 ranked Vernon Paris (26-0, 15 KOs), with the winner becoming the mandatory for the champion. The division’s top two spots are currently vacant, because the previous #1 fighter, Lamont Peterson (30-1, 15 KOs), successfully captured the championship in Dec. 2011 and the #2, Danny Garcia, was dropped from the ratings because he’s scheduled to fight for Erik Morales’ WBC junior welterweight title.
The IBF, which is based in New Jersey, the home of Main Events, for some unfathomable reason only dropped Judah to #3 in its rankings, despite his failure to put up much of a fight in “defending” the title against then-WBA champion Amir Khan (26-2, 18 KOs). In that July 23rd bout from Las Vegas, Judah was counted out by the referee, after he claimed to have received a low blow. Television replays contradicted his claim and clearly showed the punch to be legal. Judah filed a formal appeal to the Nevada State Athletic Commission and asked the sanctioning bodies to mandate a rematch, but it fell on deaf ears.
Judah earned the vacant IBF junior welterweight strap, the third time in his career he’s held a belt from the organization, when he knocked out Kaizer Mabuza in seven rounds in March 2011. Main Events obtained the rights to promote the fight, after submitting a pedestrian bid of $50,000, which eventually landed Judah in the aforementioned bout with the biggest star in the division. Amir Khan chose to fight Zab because he had name recognition and more importantly, it would take him one step closer to unifying all of the belts in the division. The one-sided beat down that he received equaled a half-million dollar payday.
Judah’s rollercoaster ride in the sport has been well chronicled. He’s engaged in some of the most high profile and engaging fights in boxing over the last 15 years. In Feb. 2000, he knocked out Jan Bergman to win the vacant IBF junior welterweight title, the first title in his career. Judah’s ride has been an up and down affair since then with the highlight coming when he knocked out Cory Spinks (37-6, 11 KOs) to become undisputed welterweight champion of the world.
Rock bottom came when he lost a decision to Floyd Mayweather (42-0, 26 KOs); instead of continuing to take punishment in the ring, he resorted to illegal tactics in an attempt to prevent himself from being knocked out. The Nevada State Athletic Commission punished Judah by revoking his license for a year and fining him $350,000.
Judah has lost seven times in his career, usually to top tier fighters, but a lack of preparation and focus has cost him bouts against lesser men.
In Vernon Paris, Judah will face a young, undefeated fighter with a good amateur background and some very impressive boxing skills, having gotten his start in the fabled Kronk Gym in Detroit. Paris has unfortunately had a litany of issues that have derailed his career at times, including having received three gunshot wounds, suffering from a collapsed lung in a stabbing, and having three victories ruled no contests because of positive tests for marijuana. In Paris’ last three fights he was victorious over the best opponents of his career, though none of them had the talent or resume of Judah.
Main Events and the IBF have given Judah what appears to be his last chance at glory in the ring. Even with a loss, don’t be surprised if Judah gets a shot at another high profile fight. Another setback in the ring would mark his eighth career loss, but we all know that cats have nine lives.
