Zab Judah

Former undisputed welterweight champion “Super” Zab Judah was awarded a narrow split decision victory over Lucas Matthysse Saturday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Judah (40-6-0-2, 27 KOs), who won his fourth consecutive bout since he lost to Joshua Clottey by a technical decision in August 2008, controlled the majority of the action against Matthysse (27-1-0-1, 25 KOs).

However, Matthyse rallied late and managed to knock a bloodied Judah to the canvas midway through the 10^th round.

Judah ultimately held on before Matthyse could land a knockout blow.

“He was a strong fighter,” said Judah, the 33-year-old southpaw who was born and raised in Brooklyn. “I kept my jab and that’s what worked for me in the end. I’m not ever going down, ever.”

The crowd booed lustily when the decision was announced.

“Zab never hurt me, I fought my fight and pressured him the whole time, and I closed the championship rounds. What more do they want?” said Matthysse, 28, a native of Argentina. “I clearly won. This must be because we’re in his backyard.”

Judah has a following in Brookline because he is a practicing Jew.

“It was a close fight,” said Nick Greene, 27, of Brookline. “But, I definitely think Zab deserved the win.”

Judah has expressed interest in battling the winner of the Devon Alexander versus Tim Bradley showdown in January.

Unfortunately for Judah, he is no longer in the same class as either Alexander (21-0, 13 KOs) or Bradley (26-0-0-1, 11 KOs). Both welterweights would punish him with ease.

At this stage, Judah is a slightly above average welterweight, and he’s delusional to proclaim he’s “not ever going down, ever.”

Zab Judah is far from a “super” pugilist.

This past Saturday was action-packed and had a lot of exciting fights. Now that I have had the chance to take a breath and dissect it all, I have one question. What does it all mean?

We start with the surprising knockout win for Glencoffe Johnson. I thought he would win the fight and he did just that. The knockout surprised me a whole lot and got me excited.

At first this knockout win of the underwhelming but strong-chinned Allan Green had me thinking Johnson is the automatic favorite to win the Super Six now. On second thought, not so fast.

He looked good and the weight loss didn’t seem to affect him at all. I thought he looked a lot more agile, and he just looked like he had a extra spring in his step.

He landed the right hand all night long and his work rate looked about the same as normal. He wobbled Green on more than one occasion and landed two beautiful shots to end the fight.

With that being said, if this fight went the distance, his chances of winning would have been about 50-50. He wasn’t beating Green badly and without wobbling him in a few rounds, he would have been far behind.

At the time of the stoppage he was behind on two cards. I have a hard time placing Johnson in the mix as far as the Super Six goes. He is a handful for anyone but can he beat a better fighter than Green at this point?

The Sakio Bika fight will tell us how Andre Ward deals with rough fighters like Johnson and that will give us a better idea of how Ward would handle Johnson.

A fight with Arthur Abraham would be highly interesting and a fight with Carl Froch would probably be exciting but really ugly. It's pretty clear Johnson shouldn’t be the favorite but he is a very live dog.

The Juan Manuel Lopez-Rafael Marquez fight is now the Fight Of The Year frontrunner and was a hell of a scrap. They went back and forth, and they left nothing back in the ring.

What we learned from this fight was Lopez is that special type of fighter that leaves it all in the ring every time he fights and isn’t afraid to take a chance to go for a knockout.

He is truly an elite fighter and has swayed my opinion as far as a fight between him and Yuriorkis Gamboa goes. After that brawl last night it is clear he will do anything to win and can take a massive punch.

He doesn’t always have the smartest game plan and it gets him into trouble, but he is fun to watch. More importantly we learned Marquez has a lot left in the tank.

He was fighting above his best weight and had Lopez hurt and if it wasn’t for a referee timeout to take a point away from Lopez he may well have knocked Lopez out.

On HBO, Zab Judah eked his way to a very close win over the tough, powerful, but limited Lucas Matthysse. It remains to be seen, but it appears Judah isn’t the fighter he once was.

He looked slow and was getting hit often and not responding well to it at all. He could have over trained, but his next fight out will tell us a lot about him.

In my favorite result of the night, perennial underdog Gilberto Keb Baas (34-20-4 21 KO) upset Omar Nino for the WBC light flyweight title.

Interestingly enough, this was the second time he beat Nino in the pro ranks. He upset Nino earlier in his career when he was an unbeaten prospect. This was his third shot to win the title and he took advantage.

At 33 years old, he becomes a titlist and he has the most losses of any title holder by six losses. This proves that on the right night any fighter can win and take home a title. Congratulations to Gilberto Keb Baas.

This was originally written for and published on www.kissingthecanvas.com. 

Everyone, at some point, has faced or will face trying moments in life. This truth is inescapable. What matters most during such difficult times is we learn from them and continue on our journey. As painful as it may be, we must remember to not allow our plight to prevent us from future progress.

When those moments arrive, many people criticize and disregard us. The very same people who once rooted for us now disapprove. The ones who were our number-one supporters now devalue us because we are no longer "on the top."

But when we get to this point, we must look within and ask ourselves if whatever we are pursuing is worth the battle. If our answer is no, we should cease our pursuit and began in a different direction. However, if what we are pursuing is worth the battle, we must get up, learn from our mistakes, and continue.

Zab Judah showed us a great example of this. He returned to the ring on July 16th at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ and scored a TKO victory over Jose Armando Santa Cruz.

Within the first two rounds, Judah sized up Santa Cruz and timed him brilliantly. If there was a question of ring-rust on the part of Judah, his movement against Santa Cruz loudly answered that question.

Not only was Judah stepping back and moving off to the side, but he also began stepping inside Santa Cruz' looping punches. As he stepped inside of those punches, he was slowly setting up an opportunity to land a devastating blow.

Judah strategically turned Santa Cruz' own attack against him. Every barrage of punches Santa Cruz attempted was broken up by Judah's attack. And in the third round, Santa Cruz gave Judah another opportunity by throwing an additional wide, looping punch.

Judah stepped inside again and landed a beautiful left uppercut right on the point of Santa Cruz' chin that dropped him to the canvas. Santa Cruz begged for more by beating the Ref's count. Judah rushed in to finish him off and landed a few more power shots until Referee Benjy Estevez stopped the bout at two minutes and thirty-three seconds of round three.

Zab Judah's example was not simply his defeat of Santa Cruz. His example was the transformation he underwent prior to entering the ring and his climactic transformation at the end of the bout.

His example was the ability to rise from his trials and tribulations. Whether everything we heard or read about Judah was true or false, he admitted to making mistakes and bad decisions.

Judah, like all of us, has made mistakes and has gone through trying times.

Judah, like all of us, has been criticized and disregarded by people who were once his number-one supporters.

Judah, like all of us, came to a point where he had to determine he would not give up.

Moreover, he had to learn from his mistakes and continue pursuing his passion. As the new Judah stated, "...that was the old Zab Judah. I've made sure I'm doing things the right way. I've been through my trials and tribulations and I've learned from it...Now I'm back, the sky is the limit."

We don't know if his transformation began at church or at home. Maybe his transformation began in the gym or in the street. What we do know, however, is that the ultimate transformation took place in the sanctuary of the squared circle. And his transformation climaxed when he landed that beautifully timed uppercut on Santa Cruz' chin.

However, Zab did not throw his fist for Santa Cruz alone. His fist was for all his critics who said he was washed up. His fist was for all his fans who had turned their back on him. His fist was for all the boxing experts who said he would never return to the ring. And ultimately, his blow was to the old Zab Judah.

And with that final blow to all his enemies, his transformation was complete. The left uppercut was a rising punch symbolizing the upward direction of Zab's new life. And with this punch, all the glow and the flare Judah once possessed, was immediately renewed.

Everyone who wrote off Zab Judah better pay attention.

Judah said the "bad boy" image is behind him, and he's ready to climb that mountain again.

The junior welterweight fighter is on the way back to respectablilty, something he lost about three years ago.

He's comfortable at his natural weight of 140 pounds and ready to gain the respect back.

Boxing fans lost confidence in Judah after his suspension in 2006 after scrapping in the ring with Roger Mayweather, the uncle of Floyd, Jr., after Judah hit Floyd, Jr. below the belt in their fight during the 10th round.  Judah lost that fight.

Judah was bloodied by Miguel Cotto in an 11th-round knockout loss in 2007.  Joshua Clottey beat Judah by technical decision in 2008.

In the first 28 fights of Judah's professional career, he was undefeated before losing to a lesser-skilled Carlos Baldomir.

So what did all this mean for Judah?

Apparently, he turned over a new leaf. Judah is trying to silence the critics, and it was showcased Friday.

In a 10-round junior welterweight fight on ESPN against Jose Armando Santa Cruz, he flashed images of his old self.

Entering the matchup in Newark, NJ at 38-6 with 26 knockouts, Judah, the undisputed champion in 2005, continued to work on his transformation from bad boy to good boy. Santa Cruz was a safe and tough opponent for Judah, who predicted it would be an easy day at the office, if the game plan worked.

Judah worked the body of Santa Cruz early in the fight. He noticed that Santa Cruz was reaching in and left his face open.

In the third round, when Santa Cruz reached in again, Judah caught him slipping and dropped Santa Cruz with a left uppercut. After Santa Cruz took a standing eight count, Judah rushed Santa Cruz, knocking him down, and the referee stopped the fight.

Now Judah is 39-6 with 27 knockouts.

For Judah, don't call it a comeback but a rebound from a setback. 

At this point, it doesn't matter to Judah who's next. A confident Judah is ready for Timothy Bradley, Devin Alexander or Amir Khan, and in no particular order.

So, out of those three fighters, who will step up and take a loss to Judah?

sparkstroy@hotmail.com

This weekend, on July 16, former undisputed welterweight kingpin Zab "Super" Judah will look to begin his quest for pugilistic redemption at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. Judah's quest will be tested by the rugged Jose Armando Santa Cruz. The last time Judah fought was in June 2009 when he stopped Ubaldo Hernandez in just two rounds at the Palm Resort in his relocated home of Las Vegas, Nevada.

This fight is at welterweight, but after this, Judah plans on dropping down to the light welterweight division. This is where Judah seeks his redemption. Stating a new outlook on life and a newfound motivation, Judah's determination and focus is intense right now. Judah addressed his past in a recent press conference and promises, "In this fight you are going to see the best Zab Judah ever!"

Fight fans can't help but salivate over future matchups with Devon Alexander and Timothy Bradley, both of whom Judah has called out. Judah's blend of speed, power and experience would allow him to be competitive and dominate at his old weight.

I had the opportunity to speak with Zab "Super" Judah last week as he was finishing training in his newly opened gym in Las Vegas. Judah has opened a gym called "The Hit Factory" where he trains with his father Yoel Judah and Eddie Mustafa Muhammad.

Other fighters who train at the gym include his brothers Josiah, Joseph and Daniel Judah, Michael Grant, Chad Dawson, Ishe   Smith and "Lightning" Lonnie Smith. The gym is occupied by pros from 12pm-3pm. After 4pm the gym is open to kids, where they are taught fitness, boxing skills and discipline.

Judah pointed out his extensive amateur career and pro career, where he faced just about every style of fighter. He is ready to fight 10 hard-fought rounds with Santa Cruz if need be. This is obviously the tone of an inspired man, not looking past his present challenge. If he can win impressively (and there's little doubt he will), we can begin the count down to Judah-Alexander or Judah-Bradley.