Zab Judah
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| Zab Judah | |
 |
|
| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Real name | Zabdiel Isaiah Judah |
| Nickname | Super |
| Weight | Welterweight |
| Nationality |  American |
| Birth date | October 27, 1977 |
| Birth place | Brooklyn, New York, USA |
| Style | Southpaw |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 39 |
| Wins | 34 |
| Wins by KO | 25 |
| Losses | 4 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 1 |
Zab "The Jab" Judah, (born October 27, 1977), of Brooklyn, New York, is a professional boxer. He is a former junior welterweight 140 lb (63.5 kg) champion, and former undisputed champion in the welterweight 147 lb (66.7 kg) division.
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[edit] Style
Judah's boxing style is that of a slickster — he is known for his speed of hand and foot, as well as power, especially with his left hand (Zab fights from a southpaw stance). He punches in combinations.
Judah is typically very relaxed in the ring, and consequently his punches flow more easily than those of most fighters. Judah has a tendency to lose concentration and showboat during contests, however, and sometimes can lose his composure when he is losing a fight.
[edit] Rise
Judah was the 1994 New York Golden Gloves champion, 139 pounds-novice, and the 1995 New York Golden Gloves champion, 139 pounds-open. He was also 1995 National PAL gold medalist at 139 pounds. He had a brilliant amateur career, in which he won 110 of 115 contests.
His trainer was his father Yoel Judah, an ex kick-boxing world champion, who is not known for training any other marquee fighters other than his son and, recently, Ricardo Mayorga.
Judah made his pro debut as an 18 year old on 9-20-96 in Miami, and TKO'd Michael Johnson in the second round. Judah's early promise manifested itself with 21 straight wins before the IBF put him forward as a contender for its world light-welterweight championship (140 lbs). He won, knocking out veteran Jan Bergman in four rounds.
Judah then notched up some impressive defences, against England's Junior Witter and fellow American Terron Millet, who many believed was the rightful IBF champion (the IBF had stripped Millet, after Millet was deemed to be out of action for too long, with injury). Zab removed any doubt as to who laid claim to the title, by destroying Millet in four rounds, though Zab did have to pick himself up off the canvas in round 1.
[edit] Judah vs. Tszyu
In November 2001, Zab Judah put his IBF junior welterweight title on the line against WBC and WBA champion Kostya Tszyu. There was much clamour in the boxing world to see the contest; many wondered whether Judah's speed and silky skills would negate the hardened Australian's power and strength. Judah was considered to have won the first round of the fight convincingly but appeared hesitant to engage his opponent in the second round. With only seconds remaining in the second round, Tszyu connected a right-handed blow to Judah's chin, which forced him to retreat. Tszyu then struck again, with a straight right, knocking Judah down flat on his back with his head slamming hard against the canvas. Attempting to beat the referee's count, Judah rose from the knockdown almost immediately, and unfortunately for him, a bit prematurely: almost as soon as he rose to his feet, his legs appeared to melt beneath him, and he stumbled awkwardly across the ring, falling once more. Referree Jay Nady waved the fight off.
[edit] Controversy and suspension
Judah's actions protesting the stoppage led to him being suspended and fined by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. As both camps flooded the ring following the stoppage, Judah protested Nady's decision. At one point, Judah pushed his gloved-fist into the throat of Nady, and then returned to his corner, picked up the ring stool and threw it across the ring at Nady. As a consequence of his outburst at Nady, Judah was suspended from boxing and fined.
[edit] Judah's return to boxing
After his suspension concluded, Judah challenged Demarcus Corley for the WBO Jr. Welterweight Title and showed that he was still the slick champ he was by winning an easy unanimous decision. In 2004 he challenged reigning undisputed Welterweight Champion Cory Spinks but lost a narrow decision. In the rematch, in Spinks's hometown of St. Louis, Judah connected with several of his big left hooks, TKOing Spinks in the ninth round to become undisputed welterweight champion. He showed grace in victory, saying he did not want to hurt Spinks and that Spinks was a great fighter.
Judah's first title defense was a third round blowout of Cosme Rivera, with Judah knocking Rivera down several times before the fight was stopped.
Judah was scheduled to defend his undisputed welterweight championship against Floyd Mayweather Jr. on April 8, 2006. However, that fight was put into jeopardy after Judah lost the WBC welterweight title by unanimous decision to mandatory challenger Carlos Baldomir on January 7, 2006. The IBF, however, continued to recognize Judah as champion even after the loss, since Baldomir did not pay a sanctioning fee to that organization.
[edit] Judah vs. Mayweather
After Zab Judah was upset by Baldomir, a future bout with Floyd Mayweather, Jr., appeared to be memory. In a risky move, promoters Don King and Bob Arum agreed to move forward with the April pay-per-view for Mayweather-Judah.
The hype for the event revolved around a friendship between both fighters that went sour when Judah became jealous of Mayweather's quick rise in the sport. In a surprise to many, the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, sold thousands of tickets within a few days and the anticipation for the bout remained strong.
Despite what many experts had predicted, the fight turned out to be competitive, and packed action from the fighters and their camps when a riot broke out at the end of the tenth round.
The fight started off well for Zab Judah (34-4, 25 KOs), who used his southpaw style, speed and reflexes to get off first with his punches and won three of the first four rounds. As the fight went on, Floyd Mayweather (36-0, 24 KOs) figured Judah out and dominated the remainder of the fight with accurate punches to the body and head of Judah. Mayweather’s accurate punches caused Judah's mouth and nose to bleed profusely for most of the fight.
As Mayweather began busting Judah up with hard punches in the tenth round, Judah landed a vicious low blow that caused Mayweather to crumble in pain, followed by a punch to the back of Mayweather's head. As Mayweather went down from the low blow, his uncle/trainer Roger Mayweather charged the ring to go after Judah which prompted Yoel Judah to charge the ring and a riot broke out in the ring between the camps of both fighters. Mayweather stood in a corner, while Judah engaged in the riot. As the punches flew from the camps, police and security charged the ring to break up the melee. Roger Mayweather was thrown out of Floyd's corner for charging the ring.
Once order was restored, the fight was restarted with 5 seconds left in the tenth round. Mayweather stuck to his game plan by winning the remaining rounds to win the IBF welterweight title by way of unanimous decision. The final scores were 116-112, 117-111, and 119-109, all for Mayweather.
On May 9, 2006, Zab and his father and trainer, Yoel Judah, were fined and had their licenses revoked by the Nevada Athletic Commission for their roles in an April 8 melee that erupted during Zab's fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. Zab was fined $250,000 which was his entire cut of the $1 million paid by Top Rank to promoter Don King to deliver Judah for the fight. Yoel Judah was fined $100,000 and also had his license revoked for a year. He and Zab can reapply for licenses April 8, 2007.
In February 2007 Zab signed on to face explosive undefeated Puerto Rican WBA Welterweight champion Miguel Cotto in June of that year.
| Preceded by Terron Millett (stripped) |
IBF Light Welterweight Champion 12 Feb 2000– 3 Nov 2001 |
Succeeded by Kostya Tszyu |
| Preceded by DeMarcus Corley |
WBO Light Welterweight Champion 12 Jul 2003– 2004 Vacates |
Succeeded by Miguel Angel Cotto |
| Preceded by Cory Spinks |
WBC Welterweight Champion 5 Feb 2005– 7 Jan 2006 |
Succeeded by Carlos Manuel Baldomir |
| WBA Welterweight Champion 5 Feb 2005– 7 Jan 2006 Title vacated after loss to Baldomir |
Succeeded by Luis Collazo |
|
| IBF Welterweight Champion 5 Feb 2005–8 Apr 2006 |
Succeeded by Floyd Mayweather, Jr. |
[edit] Olympic Highlights
- Attempted to qualify as a Light Welterweight for 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. Results were:
- Defeated Hector Camacho, Jr. points
- Defeated Ishe Smith
- Lost to David Diaz (points)
- Defeated Larry Nicholson (points)
- Lost to David Diaz (points) at Box-Offs
[edit] Relations & Aquaintances
Judah is rumored to be related by blood to late rap superstar Tupac Shakur and actor Denzel Washington.
He appears on Outlawz 2001 album Ride Wit Us Or Collide Wit Us on a skit. He is a cousin of E.D.I. Mean of the Outlawz. He has an outlaw tatto on his arm like 2pac and the Outlawz.
He is good friends with Mike Tyson and female rapper Lil' Kim.
Called into the Wendy Williams national radio show on January 19, 2007 and angrily threatened a young female college student (identified as "China") who claimed that she had a sexual relationship with him. To ease the tension the interview was abruptly ended.
Also has a cousin named Roger Judah who is a convicted con and to evade NYPD, moved to Nashville Georgia. Zab has been quoted saying "My little cousin Roger is probley the craizest nigga to come from Brooklyn."
[edit] Future Career Prospects
Judah is currently scheduled to take on WBA Welterweight champion Miguel Cotto June 9th 2007 in New York City at Madison Square Garden
